Been Working 7 days a week for last 2 months

I have had a major shift in my time.  I have been working 7 days a week most weeks since the beginning of  October.  It is almost over.  Next week is my last 7 day a week work schedule.  Needless to say I have been very tired.  Let's just face it people, working 7 days a week at 64 is the pits.  But maybe there is a bit of a golden lining here.  Since walking the Camino is a 7 day a week event I am choosing to see this as practice.  Also one of my jobs has me on my feet for up to 10 hours straight.  Again good for Camino walking.

So although this sounds yuck, it is really a gift.  At least that is what I am telling myself to get through this time.  :)

I have been out walking and found some new trails and enjoyed some evening walking in the dark.  I really don't like walking in the dark but since many start walking in the dark of the AM I decided I would get some practice.  So far I haven't had to use a flashlight, I am able to see the walk clearly.

I have been reading my two favorite blogs:  

"Camino de Santiago de Compostela" <ivar@caminodesantiago.me>

and


"Santiagobis@yahoogroups.com" <Santiagobis@yahoogroups.com>


There is a lot of information on these two blogs.  Recently someone put together a 'Kit List' of what he is taking on the trail.  It was a good jumping off point for a lot of conversation in preparedness.  I am noticing that as time passes I seem to be entering a place of very low carbon foot print.  I didn't even realize how much getting ready for walking the Camino was changing me.  I am using less and less stuff and am therefore learning to be what I need  to walk.  I have not had to look at my usage or quantity.  I have a new roommate that has a large carbon foot print.  She has actually shown me how small mine has become.  Yea! Thanks!

I am now beginning to think about how to put together all the money I will need for the trip.  I have been working 3 jobs and will give up one after the holidays.  But,  I am getting better and better on the debt thing and will be out of debt in 2013.   Then it is all about savings.  I am planning on $5000 for tickets and walking.  I am planning on being gone from 6 to 8 weeks.  I want to stay in each big city for a day or two to really get to know it and experience it.  I decided if I am going to do this then I am going to experience Spain from more than the walking but all the art and architecture, history and people.  I am hoping to meet locals and get to eat with them so I can learn what it really means to be a Spaniard 

I have a new thing I am going to try during the Christmas holiday as I will be off of work in my main job.  I am going to try 'couchsurfing'.  I am thinking that this will be a lot like walking the Camino.  I want to visit Santa Fe.  I hope to couchsurf.  I will tell you all about it.  It has been interesting reading the couchsurfing info on line and reading about my potential hosts.  You really should check this out, just for the experience.

I wish all of you the very best of the holidays in what ever way you celebrate them.  It is a special time for all.  I keep the visualization of peace on earth, that means we learn how to get along and stop fighting.  I so look forward to living in an adult world and leaving all the junior high fighting we live with in this world.  There is room for everyone and a place for all.

buen camino
b

USA Numbers on the Camino Increasing

Here is some information I just got from one of my Facebook friends.  The Camino is becoming more and more popular.  It will be  two years before I get to go.  I wish I had the numbers for the rest of the world.  But it is exciting to see the growth of Americans on the trail.

I have been walking more and more and am about to start a trial run in two weeks.  I am going to drive my self up to a great place to park here in Ft Collins and start walking.  I am going to start at 8am, as if I was on the trail.  I will walk, hopefully, till 2 or 3 pm, ending back at my car.  Then I will go home, shower and go to bed.  :)))).  Then I am going to try to do it the next day.  This is just to see how many miles I can walk in that time and what I feel like after it is over.  This will be all level walking and easy walking.

I have no idea how well I will do.  I may not get as far as I need but if I can do it and still work on Monday then I will know that I am getting somewhere.  Still lots of weight to lose.

More pics and walks to share soon.

Pilgrims requesting Compostelas in Santiago for the period 1 January 2012 – 30 September 2012, comparing to former years, the same period.


USA:
2009 -> 2,145
2010 -> 2,693
2011 -> 3,111

2012 -> 5,546
Growth 2011-2012 = 78%

Canada:2009 -> 1,649
2010 -> 1,414
2011 -> 1,762
2012 -> 2,119
Growth 2011-2012 = 20%

Some Awesome Pics of a Camino Walk

Hi Everyone

I just posted yesterday but today I found the pics of Lee Standsteads' walk of the Camino del Norte.  They went from Le Puy, France to Santiago, Spain.  They took 12,000 pics.  I don't think they are all on this site but there are many beautiful pics.  I also like the way he put them on the page.  Very easy to quickly go thru them and enjoy their walk.  I thought I would share for those of you that would like to see what you would see if you walked the same path.

http://www.sandstead.com/camino_2012/

Enjoy

buen Camino
b

First Hike with Poles

WOW!  I never would have thought that my first year here in Colorado would have been as it was.  Most of it I felt like Murphy's Law.  I have never been so low as this past year.  Not just emotionally but physically and financially.  At one point I was living off of soup as that was all I could afford.  Afford isn't really the word.  It was what I thought would go the farthest as I over spent my credit card praying somehow I would be able to repay it.

IT WORKED!  Somehow, I have popped out of my poison sack and become a free, living entity all over again.  I am working again.  YEA!  Love it.  It is a 2 year job and by then I will be ready to walk the Camino.  It is exciting as well as fretful.  I see it happening but so many things have been tough for so long I don't want to get too excited.

I am physically changing.  Getting smaller and working on strengthening all the parts of my body that need it.  An old skiing accident reared it's head.  Surprising me.  I didn't expect it.  My right leg was all messed up many years ago.  I didn't break anything, it would have been better if I had.  Instead I twisted my leg around on itself.  You know, foot facing backwards.  It took a chiropractor 3 months of 3 times a week to fix it.  It has been strong and reliable for decades.  Suddenly the muscles around my knee weakened and I was having a hard time walking.  So what do I do?  I started using  Arnica Montana cream and worked on keeping my leg straight.  After a week of that I purchased this real neat knee bracey thingy, with metal side supports and headed out on the trails.  I took my poles  and walked with them for the first time.  It was slow but awesome.  At the end I had hiked 7 miles and knew I could do another 7.  Between the poles and the brace I was home free.  I loved every minute I was out there.

Of course Murphy came back again and I caught Bronchitis.  After being down for a week I am back.  Amazing, as it used to put me down for 3 to 4 weeks.  I am improving, YEA!  Funny what we think of as excitement in life. Well, anyway, I am back and feeling wonderful.  I am doing this thing called Mindful Eating and it is great.  I have never been in such a great place.  The weight is dropping and the energy is growing.

This next week I will be back out walking again.  This will be the week to get my lungs back in shape again.  It can be a bitch getting older.  In my younger days I just returned to where I was before. Now I have to rebuild again.   Bummer.  It is one of those forwarder I go, backer I slide things.

So I am back in the race again after a year of &%^*$.  I will begin to take pics again to share.  I want to show you so many of the pretty mountains of Colorado.  The front range is beautiful.  I am starting to learn the mountains. There are so many to learn.  I now know  Palisades Mtn, Round Mtn, and Horsetooth Mtn.  I can pick them out of the range.  Maybe I should find a book about the Front Range and learn more about them.  The mountains have brought new experiences for me, snakes, bears, panthers etc.  I really don't know what to do with them so I am thinking I will hike more in the snow so I don't have to deal with them  :))))))

This  posting was delayed.  Since I typed it I have been out on an 11 mile bike ride and swimming.  Tomorrow I will go out and walk some trails before going to work.  Yea,  consistence at last.

Happy Week,

Buen Camino
b

Walkabout

The term Walkabout comes from the Australian Aboriginal. The idea is that a person can get so caught up in one's work, obligations and duties that the truly important parts of one's self become lost. From there it is a downward spiral as one gets farther and farther from the true self. A crisis situation usually develops that awakens the wayward to the absent true self. It is at this time that one must go on walkabout. All possessions are left behind (except for essential items) and one starts walking. Metaphorically speaking, the journey goes on until you meet yourself. Once you find yourself, you sit down and have a long talk about what one has learned, felt and done in each other's absence. One talks until there is nothing left to say -- the truly important things cannot be said. If one is lucky, after everything has been said and unsaid, one looks up and sees only one person instead of the previous two.

-Source Unknown

One day I will be able to get out form under my expenses and then I will begin my walkabout.  I read books and dream about this adventure.  It keeps my dream alive.  It helps to make sure my dream will come true.  It is almost a formidable desire.  I have been thinking about this for sometime now.  More like a decade +.  I was close once.  But now I feel so far away from my dream.  Right now it is about keeping it alive in me and KNOWING that one day I will get to do this.

I am undertaking a new adventure that I hope will help me prepare for this walk.  I have tried to get back into the accounting world since I was laid off in the 2008 down turn without success.  So I have taken a nanny job.  This certainly will help me to get into shape.  I will have a 7 year old and a 4 year old.  I have this job for 2 years until the children are in school all day.  During this time I will work on writing my book, getting into shape and selling my home and paying off my debts.

THEN I am leaving for Spain.  I will go with at least a 3 month visa so I can really do a true walkabout, with no constraints.

Buen Camino

b

It's beginning to Rain in Colorado

In various places around the state the rain has finally started.  It should hit Ft Collins soon.  We are all looking forward to it.  I am thinking of going out and dancing in the rain.

But first, we had an outstanding 4th of July this year

The kids getting ready to show off their decorating skills

Water ballons flying

Lots of water balloons

Yesterday we danced from the water balloons flying all around.  It was great fun and we all got soaked.  We have an unusual way to celebrate the 4th around here.  The kids get to decorate their bikes and themselves, then they proudly bike around the cul d sac showing their skills and decorations.  Lots of clapping and cheers, then all the kids have their sweet snacks.  Then out came the buckets of water balloons.  Little ones shooting at your feet, the next size up goes for your body but it gets really fun when the older kids start.  That's when you really get soaked.  Lots of water down the heads and over the bodies.  Of course the best fun is getting them back.

My grand daughters entry

And more water balloons

After lots of laughing and water we ran out of balloons and out comes the cups to dip in the buckets and really soak your foe.  We headed home for some lunch, a nap and then more water balloons.  My grand daughter thought it was such fun that she wanted to' do it more'.  After a quick trip to Walmart we had a new supply of water balloons.  We played toss games and just flat out soaked each other.   A little bit later and once again I needed a change of clothes. 

We had planned on taking in the fireworks south of here but the wind changed and the smoke from the fires rolled in.  We decided to stay home as my daughter is pregnant and she is not able to breathe all that smoke.  We set up a real neat 4th of July in our living room.  We made a typical picnic dinner of hot dogs, brats, mac. salad and special 4th of July cupcakes that my 4 year old grand daughter helped to make.


 She decorated then in red, white an blue sprinkles.  Then we put out a fake fire in the middle of the living room floor, closed the curtains and got out all our light wands.  When the Macy's 4th of July fireworks began, my grand daughter danced to the music and we saw some awesome firework.  Since we were home we got to see a 2nd set of fireworks from Boston.

We went outside after and found that the winds had changed, the smoke had moved out.  We were further gifted with the last big set of fireworks from the ones we had intended to attend.  My grand daughter sat on my shoulders and cheered them.  It was a great end to the day we had to  create because of the smoke from the fires.

I forgot to take pics of the fireworks so added last years photo here.  I hope your 4th of July was great fun and for you that do not have a 4th of July celebration I wish you a happy time for your next celebration.

Something has shifted in me and dieting and exercise have become primary for me.  I have several days now of reduced food consumption and walking in the evening.  Soon, the temps are going down, I will be back out hiking again.  I have decided to sell my house next spring and do the Camino next summer.

buen camino
b

I want to share with you a great article I found

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Pilgrim Blogger

Mani Feniger

Stretching Beyond My Comfort Zone

Posted on  June 29, 2012 by Pilgrim Blogger

In May 2009 I packed my bag and flew to Madrid to join the crew of The Camino Documentary. Nothing could have seemed less plausible to me. Just a few months earlier, I had turned sixty-four, I was not in great physical shape, I did not like to fly long distances, I rarely went on a trip without the companionship of my husband, and I had spent the last year tracking my daughter’s blood counts and diet as she recovered from a serious health issue.

But when co-producer Theresa Tollini told me she was going to Spain to work on a documentary about the people who walk the Camino de Santiago, and she would like my support, I immediately said “Yes!”

My daughter was healthy and planning a June wedding, and I was eager to go on with my life. But I carried the stress from the prior months of worrying and watching and I couldn’t turn the corner to my own new beginning. I had an insight that the Camino would lead me back to myself. Little did I know that the greatest lesson I would learn from the Camino was the blessing that comes from being uncomfortable.

I had expected to help in any way I could, especially interviewing participants, a role I had played in two other documentary films. But assisting the producers of a film like The Camino Documentary meant being ready to do whatever is needed – finding places to eat, keeping track of pilgrims, carrying equipment, taking notes, handling money, washing dishes, buying sweatshirts when the weather became unexpectedly cold and a thousand other tasks, big and small. And the truth is, I was in an unfamiliar place, didn’t know Spanish, and had never worked on an international film crew before. I was used to being a competent therapist and writer with a successful career. I was not used to being a beginner, and I often felt very insecure—which restaurant would suit a crew of people from several different countries? How do I find my way back to the film location? This pack is too heavy. I am too slow.

The experience was humbling and profound. You can stay in your familiar environment where you feel in control but that is not where you grow and savor life. I was not always comfortable during the three weeks I spent with the film crew, but I felt tenderly alive, vulnerable in a way I was not accustomed to. Maybe that is what the Zen Buddhists mean by Beginner’s Mind.

I remember a day when the fog rolled in near the top of the Pyrenees and the world around me felt still and peaceful. I remember a day when the film crew walked on ahead with the pilgrim they were filming, and I let myself fall behind and walk by myself for hours. The layers of tension and worry fell away as I watched the tall grasses blow in the breeze and felt the solid earth beneath my feet. The days of walking and sharing loosened tight places in me and made me feel fresh and alive.

When I returned to California, I discovered that my heart had opened and I looked at all aspects of my life as a pilgrimage. My daughter and her husband got married a few weeks later in a beautiful garden overlooking the Santa Ynez Mountains, and as they walked back down the path hand in hand, I silently whispered to them, “Buen Camino.”

Pilgrim/The Camino Documentary Staffer Mani Feniger
Author of The Woman in the Photograph
USA
www.manifeniger.com
Walked parts of the Camino during the production phase of The Camino Documentary in 2009.

.

 Reprinted with permission of The Camino Documentary blog Moderator 07/3/12

 

Paulo Coelho Shares a way to Travel Differently

Travelling differently by Paulo Coelho I realised very early on that, for me, travelling was the best way of learning. I still have a pilgrim soul, and I thought that I would use this column to pass on some of the lessons I have learned, in the hope that they might prove useful to other pilgrims like me. 1. Avoid museums. This might seem to be absurd advice, but let's just think about it a little: if you are in a foreign city, isn't it far more interesting to go in search of the present than of the past? It's just that people feel obliged to go to museums because they learned as children that travelling was about seeking out that kind of culture. Obviously museums are important, but they require time and objectivity - you need to know what you want to see there, otherwise you will leave with a sense of having seen a few really fundamental things, except that you can't remember what they were. 2. Hang out in bars. Bars are the places where life in the city reveals itself, not in museums. By bars I don't mean nightclubs, but the places where ordinary people go, have a drink, ponder the weather, and are always ready for a chat. Buy a newspaper and enjoy the ebb and flow of people. If someone strikes up a conversation, however silly, join in: you cannot judge the beauty of a particular path just by looking at the gate. 3. Be open. The best tour guide is someone who lives in the place, knows everything about it, is proud of his or her city, but does not work for any agency. Go out into the street, choose the person you want to talk to, and ask them something (Where is the cathedral? Where is the post office?). If nothing comes of it, try someone else - I guarantee that at the end of the day you will have found yourself an excellent companion. 4. Try to travel alone or - if you are married - with your spouse. It will be harder work, no one will be there taking care of you, but only in this way can you truly leave your own country behind. Traveling with a group is a way of being in a foreign country while speaking your mother tongue, doing whatever the leader of the flock tells you to do, and taking more interest in group gossip than in the place you are visiting. 5. Don't compare. Don't compare anything - prices, standards of hygiene, quality of life, means of transport, nothing! You are not traveling in order to prove that you have a better life than other people - your aim is to find out how other people live, what they can teach you, how they deal with reality and with the extraordinary. 6. Understand that everyone understands you. Even if you don't speak the language, don't be afraid: I've been in lots of places where I could not communicate with words at all, and I always found support, guidance, useful advice, and even girlfriends. Some people think that if they travel alone, they will set off down the street and be lost for ever. Just make sure you have the hotel card in your pocket and - if the worst comes to the worst - flag down a taxi and show the card to the driver. 7. Don't buy too much. Spend your money on things you won't need to carry: tickets to a good play, restaurants, trips. Nowadays, with the global economy and the Internet, you can buy anything you want without having to pay excess baggage. 8. Don't try to see the world in a month. It is far better to stay in a city for four or five days than to visit five cities in a week. A city is like a capricious woman: she takes time to be seduced and to reveal herself completely. 9. A journey is an adventure. Henry Miller used to say that it is far more important to discover a church that no one else has ever heard of than to go to Rome and feel obliged to visit the Sistine Chapel with two hundred thousand other tourists bellowing in your ear. By all means go to the Sistine Chapel, but wander the streets too, explore alleyways, experience the freedom of looking for something - quite what you don't know - but which, if you find it, will - you can be sure - change your life. Welcome to Share with Friends - Free Texts for a Free Internet

Yesterday the temp on my car thermometer was 111

How funny life can be.  I moved to Colorado to get out of the intense heat so I could enjoy my walking/hiking more.  So what happens, we have a dryer and hotter season.  Today they are saying it will be 100+.  Yesterday I was out for some errands and the thermometer on my car said it was 111 in the sun.  Today who knows how high it will get.  This is more like Arizona than Colorado.  I haven't been walking as much as I had hoped I would.  For some reason I have not been able to stabilize my life and all the stress from this has me down and out.  I tend to not move much now.  I want to do the Camino but I can't do it without getting in better shape and losing some weight.  So my up beat attitude is wavering.  I still dream of walking the Camino.  Today I went on a Camino site and looked around to stimulate me.  Then I found this great Camino patch that I can sew on to my backpack and wear when I walk.  I ordered it.  It felt like I was committing myself, preparing for the trip, keeping it alive.

By the way, the fire has now burned over 80,000 Acres.

Buen Camino
b

And The Fires Have Come to Enrich the Land

So Mother Nature has decided we need to clean the land here.  She sent lightening, let it smolder for a few days and then 6am Saturday 6/9/12 it erupted.  Since then the fire has burned over 47,000 acres and is on its way to the largest fire in this area.  I am watching the pictures on the TV right now.  They are showing it from the sky.  It currently is many, many miles long devouring a beetle kill area.  I see the flames rising high in the sky, some look over 100 feet tall.  It is volcanic like in it's consumption.  The smoke makes billowous feel like a trickle.  The film is shocking as it fills the screen.  Knowing what it looks like from a plane, everything so small, this fire is enormous.

This is day one.

http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2012/06/reader-photos-high-park-fire-burning-west-of-fort-collins/37367/#name%20here

Here is a link to more pictures of what is happening around my home.  This is my first fire and it is teaching me how small I am.  I have walked where there has been a fire and it is something to see.  A lot of stems in the air and on the ground but nothing else.  Then, you will pass a small flower coming up through all the destruction reminding you that life continues.   One day I will be hiking where this fire is, maybe not till next year as they are saying the fire might not be contained and out till fall.

Enjoy the pictures and may this not happen in your area.

buen camino

b

I have been getting out more, suddenly.  Last Sunday I was out walking with a new friend and managed to complete 6 miles.  It was a neat walk.  We walked around a lake and then walked into a neighborhood and walked all over it.  There were some gentle ups and downs.  We were talking so much I didn't even notice where I was walking.  I tried last night to find the place and found it by chance.  I parked at Monmouth Park and walked over the hill and Wa La there it was, the lake.  I headed out over the hill but as I got to the lake it got real cold and I didn't have anything with me.  This was a real impromptu walk.  I tried to push through it but decided I was getting too cold and headed back.  I only got in a couple of miles.  But now I know where I was.  There is a shorter way to get there and I will try to find that one this week end.

I will be doing new work starting next week.  I will be working at home.  Not the best for exercise.  Therefore, I will have to create new ways to get in some exercise during the day.  I started an Insanity exercise routine yesterday as well.  We will see how well I do with that.  If it is too rough I decided I will just do what I can and not worry about being perfect.  The biggest challenge I have is doing exercise.  That is one of the reasons I want to walk the Camino.  My problem is I don't like doing it alone therefore I talk myself out of it easily. But, I want to have the experience of the walk, see the country, learn some Spanish, meet people and just be out there walking every day with nothing else to do but forced walking.  I have no idea how far I will get or even if I have what it takes to finish it.  I have been so stuck in my home most of my life by circumstances that I am not sure what will happen.  BUT, I might just make it all the way and I might just have an amazing time, and I might just make some new friends and I might......  It is all these' mights' that keep me interested.  

Life is a funny thing.   The more I learn the less I know.  I keep thinking 'I got it'.  I turn around to apply it and crap,  I don't have it yet so off I go to learn more.  I am getting to the place where I am surrendering again and just deciding that I will never have what I want.  I have been trying for 64 years and it just hasn't worked.  I have had the money to do this trip twice and both times things happened that kept me from going. So now I am trying again.  I do know the let go and it will come to you but don't really believe that statement any more, I have tried it too many times and failed.  The things that matter to me just don't seem to be in my life, it is like the universe says tough shit B you can't have it no matter how much you try.  Then I say I'll show you and head out to make it happen, only to be defeated again.  So much for my soap box.

I was thinking the other day as the weather switched from the 80s to the 50s, how much I hated this when I lived in Vermont.  I was happy to move to Florida and see the sun every day.  Then the day finally came when the heat and humidity got to me.  I headed west and have been enjoying the cooler, dryer weather.  And, I have found joy in the weather changes.  Maybe because I like to bundle up in warm clothes and snuggle so this cold weather feels good to me now.  I am finding the hot weather is not the hot of North Carolina.  It doesn't seem to bother me the same.  It is not as intense nor as long.  Of course, August will probably be more like North Carolina.  I am waiting to see how my first summer in Colorado goes. When I visited last summer the pool was freezing for me but maybe this year it will be better.

Time for my insanity work out and then take the grand dog out.  Later everyone.

Buen Camino
b

Dealing with Challenges of Life

Part of the view from the viewing deck at Sky Ranch in Sedona Arizona

It has been such an interesting thing moving to Colorado so I could get out in the country to hike and get ready for my new body.  Make it happen.  But there seems to have been one thing after another that has kept me from as much exercise as I anticipated.  From having such a sever blood loss that my arms and legs didn't work because there wasn't enough blood to work them.  Interesting thing about that.  The Doctor gave me no indication that this would happen and gave me no advise.  Now with hind sight I am wondering how come he didn't address this.  Could it be because I didn't have insurance?  Hum!  It does make one wonder.  I had to figure it out, figure out how to heal it and do it myself.  Thanks Doc.

Well, the long and short of it is I was in recovery for a long time and then I had to go to work because the hospital and doctor bills wiped out my savings.  This brought about a new adventure.  I worked on the top floor and walked up 4 flights to get there.  I went up and down anywhere from 3 to 9 times a day, that's 24 to 72 flights half up and half down.  My mind had to learn a whole new system and get back into working after many years out of work.  I was exhausted at the end of the day, both mentally and physically.  Then I had to move.  I ended up in an interesting living arrangement, I am a long way form walking paths and the shortness of income kept me from driving around to find paths or trials.  If I was a negative thinker I would think the world was conspiring against me, but alas it is just life.

The weather has changed and spring is coming in with a bang, heat and all.  So I am about to learn how to hike in the dry heat.  I feel a lot better and am inwardly inspiring myself.  Now all I have to do is get beyond my mind and get my legs moving. 

Things have changed a lot as I have gotten older.  I don't have any disease and am pretty healthy.  No colds this winter.  But some aches and pains that I keep pushing through.  It is amazing to me that my mind is in one place and my body is in another.  I am trying to get them to get together again.  Maybe it is because I carry more weight then I should.  But whatever it is I have decided to keep pushing on and believing that if I just don't quit it will all work out and I will accomplish my goals.

If you want to visit a great place take this little town in Arizona called Sedona.

This is where I stay when I am there "Sky Ranch"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The top picture is part of the view from the motel.  It was a bit foggy so the picture wasn't as bright as I would have preferred.  Here are a few more pics:

I haven't been writing as I did in the past as this move did not bring what I had anticipated.  I have found myself limited by health first and then time.  The place where I now live has further limited me.  I tried with all I had to get a rental in town so I could be out on my bike and walking daily but it didn't work and I am stuck out of town just off a main highway and the walking is severely limited here (there is no place to put my bike so it isn't here it is being stored).  My jobs are temporary and my income goes up and down, sometimes by 1/3, again limiting me.  So here I am today finally talking about this knowing full well all you successful people will be saying to yourselves things like "just go do it", 'She's just quitting" etc etc. But when you are in the middle of the country with only major highways around that bring more health problems then they solve with all that exhaust and your income in so low that you can only afford enough gas to get back and forth to work, life creates a new set of obstacles to overcome.

I dream of a place in town, a permanent job with enough income so I can do something other than just go to work.  Until then I continue with what I am able to do.

Buen Camino
b

A Little Bit of Everything Lately

It has been a bit of this and that for exercising lately.  More like, what is happening or where can I go in this short time.  My job is on the 3rd floor and it has 4 flights of stairs to get there.  I make sure I go up and down a min. of 4 times a day, 32 trips.  AND I have started to lightly run up the stairs.  I play Chariots of Fire in my head as I ascend.  I make it up 3 flights before my panting is just too much.  I stand on the stairs panting hoping no one comes out and sees me.  And hoping my heart is getting stronger and stronger. 

Then I did a 5K about a week ago that turned into 6 miles for the day.  It was a gorgeous day and I just didn't want to go inside.  My grand daughter and her parents joined me for a crazy time walking and running.  There must have been 4000 people there.  Wall to wall people running, walking with strollers and walking with dogs.  What a mixture.  It was a great place for learning to be versatile while running a race.

I have taken to parking my car on one end of town and walking to my destination.  Tomorrow morning I am having a work breakfast.  I will drop my car at the office.  Go up the 4 flights of stairs to drop off my belongings.  Then walk to the restaurant several blocks away.

Today I was determined to find a place to park my car and go for a bike ride on one of the many great paths around here.  I hit the 777 on the machine and had a big payoff.  The trail I found (Spring Creek Trail) was awesome.  It was so cool.  It rambled up and down, across bridges and twisted and turned.  It was great to get back in the swing again.  I biked out for a while and then came upon a picnic area.  Had a sandwich and orange then took off to explore another trail.  I discovered it would take me several miles toward home. 

Then back to my car.  I really noticed the ride and knew it was the first of the season.  I must tell you pumping up my tires was an experience.  It took forever.  I pumped and pumped until it finally reached 60psi.  I decided that would be good enough.  Maybe I should invest in a plug in pump and just use the car battery to do this.

All in all, I am tired but a good tired and loved my first day back on the trails on my bike.  I am hoping to do more miles next time and I will start taking pics again.  I got real close to the mountains today and it was awesome.  I am thinking I need a new phone so I can take better pics.  Maybe it is time for a smart phone.  I will probably do something about it this year.

Suddenly I seem to be dreaming about ways to exercise.  Planning levels of exercise.  I know I want to really create an awesome body but I do have a problem with application of the dreams.  I am applying but not enough to make the changes I want to make.  Sometimes I think I am slow at this because there are things going on inside me that have to be finished before I can go full force.  I hope these aren't all excuses but me tuning into my body.  I am practicing my visualization and changing my belief systems.  It has taken so long to get to this place that sometimes I wonder if I have taken too long and this body is not capable of doing what I want it to do.  Then other times I poo paw that is garbage and I can do it.  I just hope that real positive part of me becomes the inner leader of my life.

I just reread this.  Quite a rambling mess.  Not  so author like.  But sometimes I just feel like I want to speak the way I think.  Ops, maybe I shouldn't have revealed just how jumbled my thoughts can be.

Buen Camino
b

It is time to get my camera out again and start taking pics of where I am walking.

I have moved into a room in someone else's home.  It is a very different experience.  I am sharing the kitchen and bathroom with total strangers.  Maybe this is preparation for my Camino walk.  I have lived alone for several years now and not had to share space.  Now I am sharing almost as much as I will be on the walk.  Here at least I have my own bedroom.  I am getting used to it and finding myself rather enjoying this new adventure.  We couldn't be more farther apart as people but I have been understanding all encompassing love in deeper ways.  Acceptance is a very difficult lesson.  Even if we think we are accepting of others, just bring in something like maybe drinking and smoking and you don't do either.  Try living in love in that situation.  We are all such unique and wonderful people but even when we share many samenesses (my made up word), we still have a hard time living together.  So when we are polar opposites it is a whole new game.

I am further out from all the trails so I am finding ways of walking from the house.  Often going in circles to avoid the highway.  On the week ends I have taken to driving into town and parking my car on the north side, then walking to the south side and back.  Today I was given a few places I can go and park my car and get on trails.  I see a map of trails but don't see anywhere to stop and park my car.  After my conversation with a co worker, I understand a lot of the park and walk areas are on the north side of town.  I am on the south side.

This coming week end I am going to do a 5K and see how I feel after.  I was thinking I would try to do a bit of running, a bit of jogging and probably lots more walking.  The last one I did was Thanksgiving and that went well even though I carried my 4 year old grand daughter on my shoulders for just over half of the 4 miles we did.  Tis the season of 5Ks and 10Ks, I will be hunting them out.  I found out the mountain trails won't be dry enough to walk till about July.  Creativity will be the name of my walking till then.

I have a new job.  My office is on the third floor.  I have to walk up 4 flights of stairs to get to it.  I average between 8 and 12 flights of stairs a day.  This will surly help the old lungs.  Some times I stop once and other times it is twice but one day I am going to run up these stairs, just like Rocky in the movie.  I remember watching that movie and wanting to run up the stairs like he did.  Of course the music 'Chariots of Fire' really helped in the stimulation market.  Maybe I should find it on my iPod and play it when I go up and down at work.  Speaking of iPods, we are allowed to wear them when we are at work.  This place is so cool.  I can even wear blue jeans to work and I heard the other day that shorts in the summer are ok if they are long.  Probably down to peddle pushers or today they call them Capris.  How cute we are, recycle the old and call it some fancy new name so people think they are buying something new.

My walking is increasing as spring is beginning to come to the Rockies.  I hear that we are supposed to get, on average, 11 inches of snow in March.  It is 3/12 and we have had none.  In fact this week it is in the 70's.  Can you imagine that, the Rockie mountains in the 70's in March.  Well, I am taking advantage of this great weather and getting started again.  My walking around the city is part of the preparation, as we all know that walking on pavement is hard on our feet.  I am toughening up this old bod.

I was thinking of going out to coyote ridge again but found out that this is matting season and they are very hungry.  Not such a good idea,  I'll wait for a bit.  This is like bear season in Vermont.  I hated having to stay out of the woods when I was a kid.  I loved to sneak around and see how many animals I could find.  Once I saw a black panther.  It was a big, very big, field.  I was near the south side of it laying on a boulder under a tree.  I looked up and saw him crossing the field on the far north side.  I quietly laid there until he entered the woods.  Then I hightailed it out of there.  I will never forget the feeling of seeing a black panther in the wild.  I have seen all the usual animals, deer, elk, moose but a black panther was a real thrill.

buen camino
b

It has been a While Since I Blogged

Happy New Year to the world and may this year be the year that we all open our hearts and learn to accept our differences as well as our similarities.

Here is Ceanna my grand daughter, just turned 4, trying to find a balance with these new things on her feet.  They use plastic  trash buckets here to start skating and finding their balance.  This is her first trip to a skating rink.  She had a very hard time the first time around and spent more time on her bottom than on her skates.

By the end of the first day, actually within 2 hours, she tried skating by herself.  She found her balance.  WOW!  What a great kid.  She will be walking the hills of the world one day.

Then it was off sledding in the beautiful snow we had for Christmas.  The hills around the neighborhood are great.  I flew down one and ended up in a marsh that wasn't totally frozen.  A bit wet but great fun and I went back and did it again.



It has been a very interesting move.  With the extreme blood loss when I arrived I discovered that the older the body the longer it takes to replace all that blood.  It is also very painful but alas I believe I have overcome it all.  Now I am building my core muscles and my lungs.  We will see how long that takes.  I thought I was going to come here and continue where I left on in Charlotte.  No!  No way, I am completely rebuilding my body and it is taking some time.  Things got away from me for a bit during Christmas but I am finally back into the flow.  I have started a gym class called Fit2 Be Me.  It is designed for women after child birth.  It is core rebuilding, finding limits and moving them further, Zumba and several other classes.  Let's just say, they know what they are doing and the aching of my abs prove it.  So instead of out climbing mountains I am walking and taking classes to rebuild my core.  I am thinking that by spring I will be back in the mountains, contending with mud by then.  I will have to get some different boots to hike in mud.

I was having lunch the other day at Cracker Barrel and met an older couple.  She was walking with a cane but the brightness in her eyes was almost blinding.  She and I started talking about The Camino and walking it.  She asked about the book I was reading, Aleph by Paulo Coehlo.  I explained him by describing his book, The Pilgrimage, about his walk across northern Spain.  She had heard about the walk and had seen the movie "The Way" and knew all about Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez making the movie and walking the path.  We had a very spirited conversation about the walk and she looked like she would like to do it.  In fact when I told her that the biggest age groups are those just out of college and retired people she was amazed.  We parted talking about meeting on the trail.  I love it when someone around my age gets excited about walking.

So, to sum it all up, I am still training but not like I thought I would be.  I am looking forward to an even greater health.  I am a mixture of lazy and energized so I get lots done and I get nothing done.  But I have come to realize that I became the lazy me out of over doing.  As a much younger adult I over did all the time.  I didn't have much choice at the time but it was certainly wrong and I am paying for it now.  Breaking the laziness that developed out of exhaustion has not been easy for me but I am getting better all the time.  I also have noticed since I lost this 40lbs that I am desiring to be more active.  I am wanting to be more fit.  I am dreaming about me as a fit athletic person.  This month I am working on regaining my momentum in exercising and better eating habits after great holidays.  I am also learning that omitting food groups isn't the same for me at this age as it was when I was younger and the seasons make a difference as well.  Therefore my winter diet has more non vegetable carbs than my summer diet does.  To keep me warm.

Before I sign off there is one more thing I want to learn about and it is how to do such a great walk and eat to support the walk but not to   mess up my body again.  I know it can be so easy to over eat and return continuing that behavior.  So  I am look for ways to keep my body fueled during the walk but yet not need to continue to eat at the same level when I return.  If anyone has any ideas please share.  Right now I am thinking maybe eating a very small amount every 2 hours with as big a breakfast as I can get and as small a dinner I can find. 

Buen Camino
b