Had to give in to MySQL limits. Since the database exceeded the pre-set limit, the continuation of the diary resides here now. Link to the first, second, third and fourth parts of the diary are just below.
Had to give in to MySQL limits. Since the database exceeded the pre-set limit, the continuation of the diary resides here now. Link to the first, second, third and fourth parts of the diary are just below.
Results, so far - with no dieting, after 4,939 miles - lost some weight and body fat and in general I am staying in great shape due to regular Nordic Walking. This diary was started on May 16, 2005, as a way to keep track of my walks both publicly and for my own, private reference. Just think what kind of results YOU could achieve with Nordic Walking and a rational diet!I have also gotten faster, as proven by steadily tumbling personal records.
On June 6, 2009 I have been persuaded by Gottfried Kürmer to switch over to a regimen recommended by an Oxford University study, which proposes conducting relatively intensive workouts for 30 minutes a day - seven days per week. Yes - no break days, but none, or fewer one, two, or three-hour intensive walks.
Therefore, my optimal mileage will hover between 15 and 20 miles per week, instead of 25. I still intend to do at least one longer walk per week and even take a day, or two off sometimes, to even things out.
Of course, if we get enough snow, I will be cross country skiing and as things stand now in the Washington, DC area, skiing is the norm, until the snow melts :)
The 1st part of The Nordic Walking Diary
The 2nd part of The Nordic Walking Diary
The 3rd part of The Nordic Walking Diary
The 4th part of The Nordic Walking Diary
November 21, 2009 Riverbend Park, from Great Falls Park, Virginia. About 6 miles. 1:39. This route leads through hills and valleys and along the Upland Trail and the Potomac River.
With Ania. About 50F (10C), mostly cloudy, but very nice. Got to meet a surprising number of friendly dogs (and owners too).
21.25 miles for the week
55F (12.5 C), sunny and gorgeous.
52F (11C) and drizzling. (9.5).
50F (10C), sunny, but windy.
14.5 miles for the week
About 6.5 miles. 1:35. With Ania. 64F (17.5C), sunny, gorgeous day.
52F (11C), sunny, with a noticeable breeze. (10.5).
10.5 miles for the week - a couple of dentist's appointments prevented me from doing at least a couple of walks
With Ania. With about 2-3 inches of snow, which fell yesterday, it wasn't quite enough for cross country skiing, but quite icy and slippery on the paved paths, which made us walk mostly on the dirt trails - a bit muddy in places.
32F (0C), sunny and beautiful. Wish we got more snow, but the forecast says that in about 48 hours, more might be coming :)
40F (4.5C), mostly sunny. About 1-2 inches of snow left on grassy areas. Paved paths and sidewalks mostly clear, with some slippery ice in shaded areas. (7.5).
35F (1.5C), sunny, but quite windy. (11.75).
38F(3.5C).
16.75 miles for the week
32F (0C). Foggy, but after today's rain, the stars were showing again.
47F (8C). mostly sunny, damp everywhere after yesterday's rain. (5.25).
53F (11.5). Partly sunny, damp from last night's rain. (9).
30F (-1C), sunny, breezy and quite beautiful. (12).
We got about 20 inches (55cm) of snow. And it is still falling. About 20F (-6.5C). Very little car traffic. A few walkers and a couple of other x-c skiers. Gorgeous, except for the need to shovel our long driveway :(
14.5 miles for the week
Pretty heavy workout through the deep, largely untracked trails in the parks. About 23 inches (60cm) of snow. 32F (0C), sunny and gorgeous.
About 5 miles. With Ania, Monika, Sherry, Wojtek, Melina and Linnea. Fairly cold, but with little snow. Lots of Christmas visitors.
27F (-2.5C), sunny, with numerous icy spots along the trails.
29F (-1.5C), a bit windy, with numerous patches of thick ice in shady places.(13).
32F (0C), after this morning's freezing rain, there was a tricky layer of ice almost everywhere, requiring a slower pace and lots of attention to the footing. (15.25).
With Ania. 19F (-7C), sunny and windy. Quite a bit of snow and ice left in many places. The Difficult Run Stream was not frozen.
18.5 miles for the week, 3 miles for 2010
20F (-6.5C), sunny, but very windy. Many, packed, hard and slippery patches of ice.
28F (-2C), sunny and a bit windy. Still many patches of ice left all over the place. (7).
30F (-1C), sunny, a 1-2-inch layer of snow in many places, with patches of older, hard ice treacherously hiding underneath. Bare tips on my LEKI Speed Pacer Varios.
12.75 miles for the week
This is a hilly route, not only providing beautiful views of Mather Gorge, the Potomac River, Difficult Run and other places, but also a great workout. With Ania. Just enough snow to make it super pretty :).
28F (-2C), sunny. Quite a few icy patches here and there. (8).
27F (-2.5C) and cloudy. (12)
This route leads through hills and valleys and along the Upland Trail and the Potomac River. About 48F (9C). Mostly cloudy, with some left-over snow in places.
18 miles for the week
52F (11C), sunny and unseasonably warm. A bit of snow still left over in a few places.
About 5 miles. 1:13. 40F (4.5C). Lots of mud, squished up by mountain bikes. (9).
Just 9 miles for the week. Work commitments, plus an unpleasant dental procedure, didn't allow for any more miles
37F (2.5C) and sunny.
About 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and falling. 18F (-7.5C). Great skiing with blue wax. Saw a few people running, a few walking with dogs and about half a dozen deer. Glorious all around!
Getting back into a swing of things, after having to pretty much stop exercising for a week, after a dental procedure. Yes, it required stitches. Growl!
Cloudless skies, 24F (-4.5C). Gorgeous. Hopefully the snow will stick around for at least another day.
26.5F (-3C). Falling snow, the predictions range all the way up to 30 inches by tomorrow afternoon. We shall see :)
Tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny and with nearly 30 inches of snow on the ground, cross country skiing should be very nice indeed :)
Tough going through almost untracked 2.5 feet of snow. Used too hard a wax for these conditions. Fast, but with little grip. As far as I can tell, a little klister would have gone a long way.
25F (-4C), sunny and gorgeous. After another 1.5 hours of shoveling snow.
With Ania for the first two miles. Unfortunately her old skis have delaminated (I have never seen anything quite like that) and she had to turn back.
28F (-3.5C), gorgeous, with an at least two-foot snow cover. We have met several cross country skiers as well.
34F (-1C), sunny and beautiful. Too bad that despite trying really hard, we couldn't buy new skis for Ania today.
Quite a few walkers, trampling the ski tracks. It was kind of funny to see many people sinking up to their butts in snow. Snowshoes, or skis anyone? :)
32F (0C), sunny and beautiful. Pretty good ski tracks all over. A few inches of klister under the foot. Last night's 1-2 cm of snow didn't make much difference on the fast, crusty surface.
With Ania and her brand new skis.
42F (5.5C), sunny and beautiful. The snow was OK, but not as nice anymore as last weekend.
47F (8.5C), mostly sunny, some bare patches in sunny areas, but still plenty of corn snow to ski on. For how long will this manna last? No idea :)
42F (5.5C). partly sunny. Used Ania's waxless skis., mainly to test them and to avoid having to mess with klister on my waxable ones. Pretty good and convenient, but the performance of properly waxed skis is noticeably better. The snow cover is still quite good, but I wonder how it will change after the rain predicted for tonight...
42F (5.5C), sunny. Snow conditions varied widely from nearly perfect, with 6-8 inches of snow, to extensive, bare areas. Found some nice hilly sections in wooded, shaded spots.
40F (4.5C), mostly sunny and windy. The very extensive athletic fields had a pretty good layer of wet snow left. In fact there was more snow on the exposed fields than in the woods. The open areas must have had quite a bit more accumulation of the white stuff to begin with.
Pretty good time, considering the need to go around very numerous 1-1.5-meter piles of snow left-over on sidewalks from shoveling, snow-blowing and plowing.
40F (4.5C).
About two hours and some 5 miles through the lower parts of the mountain.
35F (1.5C), sunny, beautiful and plenty of snow. Lots of people as well. Finished the day with a great dinner at the White Grass Cafe, with live music and some friends.
This is Ania at about 4,000 feet, next to the "Upper Slope Outhouse", between Roundtop and Bald Knob. March 7, 2010 More cross country skiing at White Grass. This time, we climbed through the fairly easy, but long Three Mile Trail, above Roundtop, just below Bald Knob, to the altitude of about 4,000 feet. About 7 miles. Four hours.
The higher elevations have a markedly different type of snow and vegetation. Skied a tiny bit into the incredible Dolly Sods Wilderness area.
The weather and the snow are simply perfect!
About 6 miles and two hours. Some of the steeper, slicker and narrow trails had a definite "oops" factor to them, as my skis are not equipped with steel edges.
Another cloudless, gorgeous day - about 45F (7C).
It was hard to have to head home, as this could be the last hoorah for this winter season.
59F (15C), sunny, with piles of snow left over here and there.
Light rain and 45F (7C). Serious rehabilitation work going on along Glade Stream. Machinery, wide, wooden "roadways", etc. I seems to me like too many trees have been cut in the process...
http://www.nordicwalkingus.com/article.php/20091121152533941