Strength tip :: Toot! Toot! That’s me, your trusty editor and coach, sounding my horn. For some great strength tips designed specifically for walkers get a copy of MORE magazine that is now on stands. There is a pull-out section on walking and walking exercises designed by me and featuring me as model! You might not recognize me since I had a make-up artist at my beck and call but it is, in fact, me.

Nutrition Tip :: The evidence is becoming incontrovertible that highly processed sugars in our diet, especially high fructose corn syrup, is a leading cause of the tidal wave of obesity facing North America. Researchers are discovering that the metabolism of fructose results in the deposition of fat to our abdominal area. As a double whammy to our waistline, fructose impairs the ability of the hormone leptin to let us know that we have eaten enough. In other words, we can’t say ‘no” to fructose once we start eating it. High fructose corn syrup is in so many foods you can’t imagine – including Powerade! Fruit juices are also high in fructose. Sugar is 50% fructose. It’s a complex issue because the human body and nutrient metabolism are complex but this area of research will likely serve up more interesting insights into why we gain weight even when we are active. It may also have us rethinking what we eat as fuel while endurance training. Certainly, it’s not as simple as calories in equal calories out.

Race news :: Walking divisions are showing up everywhere and we are so thrilled! We need to remind you about A Midsummer Night’s Run on the evening of Saturday, August 21. The organizers have offered a 15k walk division since the inception of the race and it has become one of our favourites especially when we dress up and really get in the spirit of all things fairy and midsummer. On August 29 walkers have two races from which to choose! Ah, the abundance! The Chocolate Race in Port Dalhousie features walk divisions in the half marathon, 10k, and 5 k and The Bayshore Race in Owen Sound also features walk divisions for 5k, 10k and half marathon. On Labour Day you can be entered in the walking divisions of the Oakville Half Marathon (Half or 10k). Finally, saving the best for last, register TODAY for the one and only walk-only event in Canada – the Kitchener Waterloo Walking Classic on September 26.

In the interest of fair reporting, we have to note that even races with walk divisions continue to experience difficulty making it clear to participants that walk MEANS walk. Notably, the recent Mississauga Half Marathon and the Ottawa Marathon posted results of participants who were clearly not walking the entire race. This situation needs to be rectified. While I believe in neither ruining a participant’s race nor making life supremely difficult for race organizers, it is vital that we offer feedback to organizers that will help them communicate the purpose and intention of walk divisions. Our purpose is to encourage excellence in walking – doing one thing really well. We do not need to be as technical as race walking events, but we need to set a standard that allows people to compete on a relatively level field.

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

View from the Back by Janey Cawley::
Athletes get injured and dogs are loyal. One of these declarations is true. I scoff at the latter. On a mild sunny afternoon this past January, I decided to take my roommate, The Dog, for a joy-filled run in High Park. ‘Oh, what fun we'll have,' I mused. Smudge will scamper and romp happily on the trails, and I will chuckle and chortle at his antics.

Off we headed into the woods. Smudge frolicked joyfully, enlivened by the spring-like day and the freedom to pursue off-leash adventures. He sprinted ahead of me, heading down the slight slope, frisking about. The middle of the track was icy, so I strode, sure-footed, through the mud on the edge. Up ahead, however, the mud glittered in the sunlight, indicative of it being rather more ice than mud.

'No way am I going to fall on that.' I was confident. 'I'll just skittle across the path to that muck on the other side.' Unfortunately, my little skittle turned into a great slide which accelerated into a terrific skid which resulted in a magnificent slip and was followed by an impressively executed flip. A solid SLAM on the very point of my left elbow was where it all ended. Covered in the coffee I was trying so desperately to keep from spilling on my newly cleaned jacket and paralysed by pain, I lay stunned on the evil ice. There was no one around, but I felt comforted by Smudge's empathic and synchronous whimpering until I realized his vocalizations were thinly-veiled demands to get up and continue walking with him.

That made me mad enough to lurch up with gritted teeth and dangling arm. I marched home dragging my ungrateful beast with my good arm. He spent the next week tethered to the television watching a continuous loop of Lassie episodes.

I'm not sure how elite athletes feel when they are stopped in their individual pursuits, but I may now have a glimpse. I've been struggling with describing my thoughts and feelings around not being able to power walk. When a wise friend indicated that I was focusing purely on the negative: frustration, hopelessness, sadness, anger, despair, and impatience, she suggested I concentrate my energies upon getting back to walking, rather than being swallowed by lamentation. And, so, I am looking at my progress and my plans to get back into action.

Although my healing is slow, it does continue. I exercise and stretch as prescribed and, using the necessary walking of The Ingrate as impetus, I still power up hills in beautiful High Park. I have signed up for races. I will try for PBs (Personal Bests) in a new sense - remaining positive and accepting where I am now and continuing onward.

Races :: Calling all happy faces! The OTMH Classic (supporting the Oakville Trafalagar Memorial Hospital) needs your help on race day. Volunteers are desperately being sought to act as marshals at each corner of the race. To marshal you must possess a cheery disposition in the effort to keep race participants following the course! I know that all WOW Power Walkers have a cheery disposition, so I am calling out to you for assistance. Helping on the race course is fun and easy! Support the Oakville hospital and your friends who are walking the 5k power walk. Please email me asap so that you can be assigned to a beautiful corner location in downtown Oakville on race day, June 20.

Words to walk and live by . . .
And since all this loveliness can not be Heaven,
I know in my heart it is June.

~Abba Goold Woolson,
American writer and poet (1838–1921)