November 23, 2005
WoW this fall went by fast and so did WoW Power walkers! Be sure to look at all the results on our website. There have been many steps taken, medals collected and fun to be had. Barely a weekend has gone by this season without a WoW Power walker entering a race. Many of us enjoyed the largest fall races in southern Ontario including the Scotiabank Waterfront half and full marathons, Toronto Marathon (half) and the Niagara Fallsview International Marathon. We’ve waxed enthusiastic over the Run for the Toad and we had walkers branch out to some of the smaller events including the Port Perry Half Marathon, the Prince Edward County full marathon, the Angus Glen Half Marathon and the Ajax Waterfront 10 mile. Congratulations to everyone who made it through the sweltering summer of 2005 to train for these events!! Special congratulations go to Myra
Rodrigues. Krista calls her Mighty Myra. And mighty
inspiring she is. I met Myra in May of 2004 when I talked to the
Achilles Track Club about power walking. The Achilles Track Club
is a worldwide organization that assists people with all types of
disabilities to participate in mainstream sport. Myra is vision-impaired
and she wanted to learn more about power walking because she had
signed on to walk the  Speaking
of the Achilles Track Club … many Achilles athletes
require guides to accompany them along the race routes. This past
fall Nancy Downing, a long-time WoW Power Walker, offered her services
as Myra’s guide in the Niagara Falls Half Marathon. WoW Coach
Vera Guthrie acted as Myra’s guide for both the Run for the
Toad and the New York City Marathon. In addition, Vera volunteered
to guide an Achilles athlete through the recent half marathon event
at the Toronto Marathon. The Achilles
Track Club is always in need of volunteers to take on this role
and it is a fantastic way to expand the possibilities of your power
walking. Vera says that acting as a guide for Myra in NYC ranks as
the high point of her marathon experiences. She was both humbled and
inspired on seeing the more than 400 Achilles athletes from around
the world at a pre-race dinner. Crowd support along the NYC route
is famous. After calling Vera on her cell phone a couple of times
during the race I can say that all the cheering made me want to hop
on a plane and walk beside them.
WoW Fanatics are almost here. Back in August we promised the most dedicated of you something special and we have almost everything in place to offer those of you who find yourselves fanatical about the power walking experience: a new WoW membership. Starting in January you can belong to the WoW Fanatics! WoW Fanatic membership will be $100 + GST ($175 for a family membership – up to 4 family members) annually. For this membership you will get 15% off all WoW courses and clothing. In addition, we will offer 2 “Master classes” – one each in the spring and fall – free to all Fanatics. (Available at $40 + GST to everyone else) Keep an eye on the website over the next few weeks as we make the appropriate changes to the registration area of our website. |
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| WoW Walk of Fame: With our walking numbers growing, the inspiration just keeps growing with it. Every WoW Power Walker that crosses a finish line has a success story to tell and we would love to be able to recount every one. For the sake of space, you will find here the list of people who accomplished personal firsts this past fall season. Tricia Black: First marathon at Scotiabank and
second one month later at Niagara Falls! Making it better in 2006. We are thrilled to say that WoW is now heading into its fourth year of offering the best walking workout programs! Many of you have been with us since the beginning and we appreciate your continued loyalty. We plan to continue to provide the kind of workout, fun, and motivation, you have come to expect. In order to maintain this standard and because of the experience we have gained over the past few years, we have made a couple of small changes for 2006 that we believe will benefit you as much as us. While the cost of our courses will remain what they have been over the past 3 years, you will notice that a price increase will take effect one week before class begins. We hope this will encourage people to sign up at least one week before the course is scheduled to start. In addition, we will now require a minimum of 8 participants to hold a course. It has been our experience that having between 8 and 12 people in a Marathon Training program and between 8 and 20 people in the Just Get Outside programs offers the highest energy class - allowing everyone to enjoy a safe, yet motivating coaching experience. Of course, we welcome your feedback on these changes. Winter Solstice: This year we will hold our Winter Solstice Coffee and Muffin Walk in Oakville at the Sovereign House on Sunday, December 18, at 8 am. There is no charge for this event and all WoW Power walkers, past, present and future are encouraged to come out for a casual walk (8k route this time). Stay after in the warmth of the Sovereign House for coffee, muffins and famous Marathon cookies. RSVPs really appreciated but not essential. Directions will be available on the Walkers Talking message board. More fun stuff |
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WoW Tip :: What? Winter?! Yes, it’s here. For those of you facing your first winter of serious winter walking, you may be interested to know that countless people have mentioned over the years how winter walking actually helped them enjoy winter. Even though I have written tips on winter walking in previous newsletters, as Canadians we never seem to tire of talking about the weather. As Canadian walkers, we never seem to tire of talking about what to wear in that weather! Here are my best ideas. Reader be warned - I get cold easily and I don’t like being cold. You may need to adjust the foot to head suggestions below to suit your own thermostat. Feet: My socks and footwear stay the same throughout the year. Although when the thermometer tips below -20 degrees, I do switch my socks to thin wool socks. I get out of those shoes and socks as soon as possible after walking – often putting heavy boots in the car for after classes. Last year many of us walked with Yaktrax™ and other variations on ice gripping devices for shoes. I recommend them. Yaktrax™ in particular are lightweight, sturdy, yet easy to remove if you find you are walking more on asphalt and less on ice. Body: All winter clothing layers should be made of technical fabric that wicks the sweat away from your body. There is nothing like sweat next to your skin to make you very cold, very fast. During November when the temperature is somewhere between 5 degrees and -5 degrees, I will wear a pair of tights and/or light pant, a short-sleeve technical shirt, long-sleeve technical shirt and my WoW jacket, gloves and a baseball cap or fleece hat depending on weather conditions. When December arrives and we start experiencing drops anywhere from -5 to -15 degrees, I add a fleece vest over the top technical fabric shirt. Between -15 and -20, I will add a light ski pant, a fleece neckwarmer and a pair of mittens over my gloves. For the coldest winter days below -20 degrees, on my legs I wear silk long underwear, a layer of technical fabric tights and top it off with a thin ski pant. On my upper body I wear the silk long underwear, two layers of technical fabric shirts, a fleece vest and a jacket (sometimes if it is windy, I will add a down vest on top of the jacket). On my head, I will wear a balaclava with a fleece toque over top. Heavy fuity mittens are covering my hands, and Vaseline is covering any exposed skin (likely just the folds of my eyelids!) While this list may seem daunting (and heavy!),
remember the wise words: There is never bad weather, just
bad clothes. |
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 Lake Tahoe marathon: Check out Lee’s journal from her Lake Tahoe adventure last October. Honolulu! Stay tuned to the website to read reports from Lee’s trip with the Canadian Diabetes Association to the Honolulu Marathon on December 11. |
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 WoW Power Walking coaches are proud to wear New Balance shoes. Long-distance number 1-877-WOW-WALK (1-877-969-9255)! |
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Weekend
to End Breast Cancer. So, Myra got to business and joined WoW’s
High Park classes. Under the motivational and instructional guidance
of Vera, Myra has since walked two Weekend to End Breast Cancer
events, two half marathons at the Scotiabank Waterfront event, two
Niagara Falls marathons, the Run for the Toad, two New York City
Marathons, the St. Patrick’s Day Achilles race, the Bay Street
Rat Race and likely more that I have overlooked. At this year’s
Niagara Falls half marathon and the New York City full marathon
she shaved more than half an hour from her 2004 times. Myra we thank
you for continuing to inspire us with your commitment and your exuberant
attitude toward life.