Walk: Sat. Apr. 3 @ Tim's

Full marathoners, your schedule starts to kick up a few notches over coming weeks. For Chicago, it's 8K on Saturday; Reykjavik full, 13K. (Bob & I might do ours in two legs, 8K from Tim's and 5K at Harry's Spring Run-Off in High Park.) See you at 8 am.

Alert, all those who want to a) save $25, and b) do the KW Walking Classic Half in September. April 1 is the end of the earlybird rates! C'mon, let's have the Shore Things out in force for this first-ever walkers-only half marathon, or the 10K or 5K distances. If you think you're going to do it, then why not save the dough and register now.

April 1st is also the earlybird deadline for the SportingLife 10K and the Midsummer Night's 15K. Check my last message for links.

Happy Birthday to Sheila! Hope you have a good Good Friday.

Speaking of Easter, anyone who has Easter Monday off might want to walk in the morning rather than evening. We'll probably start at our usual long-weekend morning time of 9:30 am from Loblaws.

Walks: March 29 & 31

Lovely day for a long walk Saturday. March seems to be going out like a lamb, and the weather for Easter weekend, if it holds, looks spectacular. Like instant summer.

Bob & I have reconsidered our spring half marathon, as other commitments are developing for the weekend for the Waterloo half. We're now registered for the Harry's Spring 5K, April 3rd in High Park (8K is sold out). It's a beautiful place to walk, and a portion of the fees support prostate cancer research.

We're also likely to sign up for the SportingLife 10K – fees go up April 1st, so act quickly if that interests you. Olwyn and Lou-Ann are already registered. Anyone else?

April 1 is also the end of earlybird rates for the Midsummer Night's 15K (& 30K, too) on August 21st, same day as we'll be racing in Iceland. There's an interesting symmetry there! It's the 5th Anniversary of this fun race, which we probably would be doing if we were in Toronto, so I'd encourage you to sign up.

Let's do 8K and 6K on Monday and Wednesday to celebrate. Wednesday's schedule will include a few hills, but we'll aim for variety.

Did you know that we burn twice as many calories when we walk up hill? We're also doing good things for our heart and lungs. And when we challenge ourselves in this way once a week, we're telling our muscles to produce more mitochondria, the organelles that turn glucose and oxygen into energy. More mitochondria means more energy factories at work, so we have greater endurance on our long walks. So it's all a good thing, folks. We start 7ish.

Walk: Sat. March 27 @ Tim's

Olwyn gives a wave at the Achilles St-Patrick's Day 5K last weekend. It's a nice little race for a good cause, promoting sport for athletes with disabilities. We should give it a go next year.

By coincidence, watching a CTV News feature about the Achilles organization on our plane back from the DR, guess who we saw! Arlene and Libby walking up a storm.

Speaking of walking up a storm, that's one thing we hopefully won't have to contend with this Saturday, when 11K is on the schedule. See you at 8 am.

Gee, it was a year ago when the heavens opened on our 10+10. Good luck to Arlene and Ruth in Around the Bay on Sunday. We'll be doing our rain dance on your behalf.

For those who did our one-mile test this Wednesday, you might want to know how your time translates into different speeds. A while back, I posted this Speed Converter in the left-column links under Info on Walking and Fitness. Just plug your minutes-per-mile speed into the right slot and click any Convert button... you'll instantly know how your time translates into other speeds, even the speed of light! Give it a try.

Walks: March 22 & 24

This is what I brought back for you: a little glimpse of sunshine, sand and summer. Happy Spring!

Today's weather forecast looks a bit iffy, but if the deluge doesn't come, we have 8K on the schedule. See you at 7.

Wednesday has the same 8K distance, but has the added joy of a few hills.

However, we'll also hit the track on our way to do a 1-Mile Test, in which we walk four circuits of the track at a pace we know we can maintain for an extended period. It isn't about going as fast as we can during the test, it's about setting a benchmark for each of us so we can see if we're improving with our training. We'll repeat the test to compare later in the training season. To quote Martha Stewart (whom I missed at Canada Blooms this year): It's a good thing.

Walks: Week of March 15, 17 & 20

A blast of March winds blew us "hardy soles" to the lookout, just as the rain began to fall... but its stay was thankfully brief. In fact, by the time we reached Tim's again, we'd had a complete wash and blow dry. That distance was 10K. Sorry folks, my memory bank was faulty. Never mind. The distance felt right for the day.

Next week, you're on your own recognizance, with only one reminder message.

If you're training for the More or the Waterloo Half, the distances are 8K, 10K and 16K. Don't forget to do some hills. You can be sure that Bob & I will be doing our duty on the beach. ;^)

An advance birthday cheer to Ian – if he's out on Saturday, be sure to make a fuss.

And everyone remember to Spring Forward and set your clocks ahead an hour tonight before you go to bed. Next week, our evening walks will feel so much lighter!

Walk: Sat. March 13 @ Tim's

I wonder... will we match last Saturday's record turnout of 31? The weather might be a touch damp, they say.

Those training for the More or the Waterloo Half have 13K on your schedule. 

Everyone else, come on out anyway for the distance you prefer. Rainwater is supposed to be a great rinse for our hair.

Walks: Mon. March 8 & Wed. March 10

An incredible 31 Shore Things turned out for Saturday's walk... and what a day for it. Captured at the turnaround are Eva and Cheryl, who will be amongst our major Iceland expedition this August. Now, Stacey also intends to join our ranks.

This week's distances are 6K and 8K. We'll ease into more hills again on Wednesday. It wasn't so bad, was it? Springlike weather is expected to shine on us for the early part of the week. Enjoy!

Walk: Sat. March 6 @ Tim's

Our reward for last Saturday's long, wet walk is the sunshine of a fine, springy day tomorrow. It's a perfect weekend for those (including Margy & Rainer) doing the not-so-chilly Chilly Half, this year. Enjoy!

Speaking of enjoy: I'm sure you'll enjoy the big news that Eileen and John will be tying the knot this July. We wish them every happiness. The happy couple invite us to celebrate with them (after their small private ceremony and, of course, honeymoon) at a BBQ on August 7th. Please reserve the day. Details will follow.

Our distance for Saturday is 10K and, if the thaw hasn't turned our path into a skating rink, we'll do the boardwalk with Neville Park as our turnaround.

Heads up for anyone looking for a spring race that registration is open for the Mercedes-Benz 10K on April 25th. A chance to add some fancy bling to your collection and possibly win the lease of a Benz for a year.

Other short races approaching include the St. Patrick's Day Achilles 5K next weekend (free chili and beer after), Harry's Spring 5K/8K in early April (always good swag), the Sporting Life 10K in May, which I think a few of us have signed up for, and the 8th Annual Alfie Shrubb 8K in June. There's a nice symmetry about that 8+8, and the Alfie Shrubb has always been very supportive of walkers.

That's it from me. See you at 8 am on Saturday.

Walks: Mon. March 1 & Wed. March 3

As you can see, we were able to do some cross-training on the Spit this Saturday. Olwyn here demonstrates her skill at the snowball toss. 

The weather for the next few days looks like more of the same.

Now we have our first marches of March: 6K and 8K. This is the place to say if you'll be out or in. Be safe out there.