Everyone needs a reason to get up in the morning. Just as certainly, we often need a reason to get out for a walk. Sometimes, the potential for joy just isn’t enough to rouse us out of bed when it’s still dark. As drastic as the measure may seem, registering to walk a half marathon is powerful motivation to follow through on good walking intentions. Yes, the goal is the thing.

This is how it works. You set the goal, giving yourself enough time to achieve it to the best of your ability and in good health. Once the goal is set, you lay out the best strategy. A coach’s advice can be invaluable (we happen to know some good ones!). Three of the four pillars for achieving a difficult walking goal are technique, challenge, and recovery. And the fourth pillar? Well, that would be following through. You can’t just think about it, you must walk it!

If it’s mid-March what would be some reasonable goals if you start walking today? In Toronto, the Sporting Life 10k recently announced walker-friendly changes to the event including separate registration, start time, and results posting. With a date of May 6, this is a reasonable training goal for new power walkers. For those of you that are contemplating a half marathon, consider events that are held toward the end of the spring or the early fall. Visit our upcoming events section of the website for ideas.

Speaking of races, this past weekend several hundred walkers reaped the benefits of their commitment to a goal – powering their way through the Chilly Half marathon in Burlington, Ontario. Proving that toughing it out through winter training can reap personal bests, we’ve heard from many of our walkers that the clock was their friend at the finish.

Stretch tip: If you are going to strengthen the gastroc, you may want to stretch it too. Those of you who have been working hard on hills this winter in preparation for Big Sur, are probably already suffering from tight calves even without the extra workout. The stretch we do at the end of class, facing a wall with both heels pressed back is the best. For a better stretch, do this in the shower with warm water running down the backs of your legs. (Sorry folks, no naked pics in this newsletter!) To increase the stretch, bend the arms at the elbows allowing the chest to move closer to the wall, while keeping your heels firmly planted on the floor. Also, self massage working from the ball of the foot and following all the way up to just behind the knee is excellent.

Nutrition tip: Don’t feed the power walker (too much)! Remember, after 90 minutes of full-out exertion in a race, you will have used your stored carbohydrates from the pasta dinner. You need a high glycemic snack as you move into fat-burning mode. Fat requires carbohydrate to metabolize. All you need is a little bite of your favourite high-glycemic carb (my favourite right now is Clif Shot Bloks) to allow your body to access the fuel in your fat. As always, too much of a good thing is no longer good. If your body has an overload of carbs, insulin levels become high and the body has trouble accessing fat. Bottom line: you won’t feel good and you certainly won’t perform well.

New stuff at WoW

We have new courses and new jackets for spring. Don’t miss out!

Words to walk and live by for the last few nights before Daylight Savings.

Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas. ~ J.K. Rowling, "The Egg and The Eye," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000, spoken by the character Mad-Eye Moody

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

View from the Back:: At six o'clock this morning, Smudge awakened me by licking my right ear.
"Oh, you're so sweet, Smudgie. You really are a "watch" dog."

I chuckled at my fine, fiercely-intelligent wit as I sauntered, yawning, into the kitchen.
"Brrrrrinnnnggggg on the coffee," I cheerfully beckoned to myself.
I looked at the coffee maker and to my HORROR, it brightly displayed the time as 7:24 a.m. WoW class starts at 7:30am.

My terror-filled eyes darted from the coffee maker, to the microwave, to the CD player. As I set my eyes on my bunny clock, I knew it was, undeniably, 7:24. I raced to the phone, tripping on my Snoopy pajama pants as I tried to undress while doing a 4-minute kilometer. Vera answered her cell phone on the first ring. I fancy I sounded very calm.
"Oh… hi Vera… I'm going to be a little bit late for class. Please just go on ahead without me. Oh yes, I'll catch up. After all, I am the one that should maintain my view from the back.”

While yanking numerous Dri-Fit garments over my head. Ha! I'll be at the back of the pack in no time!
I tore down the stairs, desperately grasping a moving pile consisting of: a jacket, hat, mittens, knapsack, water belt, Saturday "Globe", Yaktrax and kitchen sink. It was a record breaking descent. I grabbed for my keys to the car.
Okay. Not in right pant's pocket. Nor left. Fleece's right pocket: empty. Left pocket: stuffed with used tissues. When it was determined that they weren't behind the seventy books on the bookcase's middle shelf, I knew I had to initiate Plan B.

Mysteriously, the pile of junk near the top of the stairs parted for me as I went down again. I was still on point.

I cracked the fence to the landlord's backyard and on my tippy-toes, got the hidden key in the shed. Sweat was being drizzled about under my "technical" layers. My perceived rate of exertion was 97.

Well, well. Apparently, it's risky business washing one's car these days. The locks were frozen!

'Don't freak, Janet. There's lock de-icer in your junk drawer... or maybe, the Tupperware tub on the landing or... for sure, the tool box in the corner'.
It occurred to me: 'Lock de-icer is isopropyl alcohol!' All I needed was a bottle of rubbing alcohol. No problem!
Problem. No rubbing alcohol. Now, I had ransacked the entire place.

"Oh yeah, Smudgie! It pays to have worked in a poison centre! Mouthwash is 25% ethanol."

I lugged the 4 litre jug of "the ultimate clean and refreshing" mouthwash down to the car, and promptly doused my keys with the liquid. The locks were dripping green streams of "pure, crystal spearmint". The key turned instantaneously in every lock.

I wish I could say I enjoyed a great view from the back. Sadly, my fellow power walkers were tiny spots moving in the distance. I strained to catch up - ultra-interval speed - salt, pebbles, bits of snow kicking up everywhere. Until, that is, I realized those spots were actually flecks of dirt on my glasses.

Ah well, the view from inside the café while waiting for everyone to return was good too. And, as Jane said, I may have missed the class. But I was driving one fresh and minty car.

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