For more than 20 years I’ve been an exercise junkie. I like to move and I love how I feel when the movement has been a workout. In the last five years walking has become my foundation for fitness. I still enjoy other activities – aerobic classes, yoga, strength training, swimming, biking, boardsailing, and even running (shhh!) – but walking is number one for me. When I am walking something interesting happens to the clutter littering my mind. When I am out boardsailing or strength training, the clutter disappears to some deep recess because all my mental focus is on the task at hand. When I am running, the clutter disappears to that recess because all my mental focus is concerned with when the run will be over! While walking, the clutter organizes itself. I don’t return just refreshed, I return with new ideas.

I’ve taken special note of this since we added a blog to the WoW Power Walking website. I inevitably get inspiration for the blog when I am walking and not because it’s a blog concerned with walking. I think it’s because the repetitive and rhythmic motion of walking helps align my thoughts. Because the serotonin and endorphins are flooding my brain, those thoughts tend to be constructive and positive.

The blog is updated every Monday and Thursday. The feedback I’ve been receiving has been fun, although much of that feedback has been told to me directly rather than posted. Please join the blog online and post your comments. If you don’t know what to post, go for walk. I guarantee you’ll come back with an idea!

Strength tip:So many people want a strong “core” these days. This would explain the many outdoor athletes we’ve seen this summer doing crunches on the ground. As recently as the April newsletter I was warning people of the well-researched dangers to the low back (lumbar spine area) of doing crunches. If you refer to the April newsletter, you’ll see an alternative for “core” strengthening. Here is another. We call it the “side plank” and we’ve been doing variations on it in our Walk Circuit classes.

Lie on your side. Raise your body up on to your elbow or your hand. Hold in this position. For greater challenge. Dip the hip toward the floor and then pull it back up to the start position. Note: If you find it difficult to get into position, start with your legs bent at the knees in front of you. As you lift up onto your elbow or hand, straighten the legs. This exercise can be done at any time, you don’t need to be working out or even wearing workout clothes (see photo!)

Stretch tip:Sometimes a stretch just doesn’t seem to be enough. That’s when to call in the massage therapist. Of course, there isn’t always time for this. Here’s a neat do-it-yourself trick for your tired and tight calf muscles. Sitting on the ground or on a chair, reach for one leg placing both hands around the leg just above the ankle, with your fingers positioned over the muscles at the back of the leg. As you repeatedly flex and point your foot, work your fingers up the back of your leg to massage the soleus and the gastrocnemius (calf muscles). This works especially well if you are sitting in a hot tub or warm bath. Reducing the tightness in these muscles may improve the performance of your walk by allowing the leg to stay straight for longer on the back end of your stride.

Nutrition tip: Caffeine and exercise ward off skin cancer? Apparently, yes. According to a report profiled in the newspaper just yesterday, the combination of caffeine and exercise increase apoptosis, or programmed cell death that stops irreparably damaged cells from developing into tumors. Researchers at Rutgers University found that the combination of caffeine and exercise encourages sun-damaged skin cells to self-destruct. Ha! Don’t ya love it? Just the kind of scientific report we power walkers love. I always knew there was a good reason to hold our classes at coffee shops. Now there’s one more compelling reason to stay behind after class with walking buddies to share a cuppa java.

New. New. New.
Classes: Our new Walk Circuit class has been a hit this summer. We’ve had requests to hold it twice a week since that is the optimal number of times for strength training in a week. Keep an eye on the website for fall classes.

We’ve posted a video analysis workshop on the website for the Monday evening in the last week of August. This will be a great opportunity to consider your walk more analytically…just in time for fall training.

WoW in the Beach. We’re thrilled to say that one of our long time WoW Power Walkers, Jane Heath, was recently certified as a personal trainer. Congratulations Jane! She will be teaching a Marathon Training Level 1 class in the east end of Toronto beginning Monday evenings this fall.

View from the Back :: As WoW power walkers, we know that simply ambulating on two legs doesn't mean there is only one form of walking. There is runway walking, tight-rope walking, race walking, strolling, walking on the edge, and even “walking the line" (apologies to Johnny Cash).

My dog, Smudge, knows that simply ambulating on four legs doesn't mean there is only one form of walking. Though English is not his first language, my call of "Walkies!" instantaneously awakens him. It brings him dashing from an apparently dead sleep in the yard three houses down. Even so, he knows nothing of power walking. Smudge prefers his walking styles. He has three gaits: "Amble and Sniff", "Yank and Drag", and his paws-down favourite, "Dash-for-the-Cat" (whether or not there is an actual cat around).

I have found it difficult to teach Smudge my power walking ways. But I see a connection between my walks with WoW Power Walkers and my walks with Smudge. I walk with companions who power walk and one companion who doesn't.

It's that simple. Companionship. It's a really fine word. It’s a really fine feeling.

Janet Cawley

Races: Big Sur excitement is rising again! Registration opens on September 1. As many of you know, the race sells out quickly. We have gone down as a group the last three years and each year our numbers grow. Most people register for the 21 miler, although this year there are rumors that several 21 mile veterans are going to try their feet at the full marathon. Want to be inspired? Read Lee’s journals from Big Sur, visit the Big Sur International Marathon website, or talk to one of us. If you do register for one of the events in Big Sur, remember to book a pasta dinner ticket for the early seating, and then let us know you have registered.

Before Big Sur, there are lots of other fun local races. Next up for many us is the A Midsummer Night’s 15k Walk on Saturday August 18 by the outer-harbor in Toronto. Costumes on the Midsummer Night’s theme can win prizes – so dust off those twinkly wings. On August 25, the prestigious CRIM 10-mile race in Flint, Michigan has introduced a 10 mile power walk. Flint is a mere 4.5 hour drive from the GTA, if anyone cares to join me at the start! After that we’re heading into the fall marathon season including the first Oakville Half Marathon, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, the Toronto International Marathon, and the Niagara Falls Marathon. We’ve got some power walkers who will be reporting from the Erie, Pennsylvania and Detroit, Michigan Marathons. If you’ve got a new marathon on your horizon, be sure to let us know what you’re up to and how you like it.

Here’s a novel way to participate in a race: be a pace bunny! The organizers for the Oakville Half Marathon are looking for walking pace bunnies. This is a first as far as we know and we are excited and suitably impressed. There are often pace bunnies who run-walk with finishing times the same as walkers. But if you are a walker, it is not easy to pace yourself with a run-walk bunny. We are looking for walkers to pace walkers who want finish times of 2:30, 2:40, 2:50, 3:00 and 3:10. As a pace bunny, you should be able to walk a marathon comfortably about 10 minutes faster than your pace bunny time. For example, if you walk a 2:40 half marathon, volunteer to be a pace bunny for a 2:50 half marathon. Pace bunnies get complimentary race entry and a medal for completion. If pacing isn’t your thing, there is an opportunity to help out at a WoW water station. Volunteering for either of these jobs is a fun way to give back to your walking community. For more information contact Lee.

New. New. New.
Stuff: Our new peaked caps are breathable and stylish. They are in and they are selling fast! Coming in the fall are the latest addition to the WoW clothing – a mock turtle neck for fall and winter layering. This latest shirt will be manufactured locally from bamboo – an environmentally friendly alternative to many technical fabrics offering natural anti-microbial properties (that means it won’t stink), breathability, and sun protection.

Walking is the natural recreation for a man who desires not
absolutely to suppress his intellect but to turn it out to
play for a season. - Sir Leslie Stephen, English author and mountaineer.

WoW Power Walking coaches are proud to wear New Balance shoes.

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