Walking along the waterfront

If your feet could take you, Monday's sights along the waterfront were certainly worth the walk! Tall ships flooded the harbour in Halifax this past weekend and were a treat for the eyes and feet. Monday morning I left home early and meandered along the waterfront on my way to work! What an amazing way to start the day; aside from the treat of seeing dozens of tall ships grazing on top of the sun-kissed ocean, it was very calming to see the sights and sounds along the water in the peaceful early morning before the hustle and bustle of the day. (Un)fortunately, not many people who can take advantage of the scenic and pedestrian-friendly places to walk in Halifax actually do (myself included)!

For the remainder of July, my goal will be to take a different path to work at least twice a week. Given that I like structure and routine, shaking up my walking route to work will not only allow me to see different parts of the city but it will also allow me to push my structural boundaries as well. The rewards are also breathtaking - yesterday my walking detour allowed me to catch the tall ships before the parade of sail, which took place in the afternoon (thanks to Lenn for playing photographer!).

ps. the walking challenge is progressing... and it's safe to say I am leading. While I can't claim victory yet, I did log over 20,000 steps on Friday and I am consistently hitting 10,000 steps or better on a daily basis. It looks like I will be the benefactor of a beck-and-call-person after all!

Reigning in Queensland

This is a look at what one of my favorite beaches is like on a normal summer day. Since Numbers 1& 3 grandchildren live nearby, we often spend a lot of time there . I usually rule the beach from my favorite camp chair and watch the world go by.Well, I just got back from another girls' road trip. Loaded Numbers 2 & 4 in the car and headed for Hubbards NS to visit Numbers 1& 3. Imagine how thrilled I was to leave the sun behind in Truro and drive into the rain ...for days! I couldn't believe it, my only trip to Queensland beach ( one of the most beautiful spots in the province)this summer and I chose the rain. But did that stop the intrepid swimmers? Not on your life. Friday am , we loaded up the old granny ( me) with a chair ( good for putting your gear on to keep it out of the sand but never for sitting on) , snacks, life jackets( great for wearing in the breakers) dry towels, sweaters, and did I mention snacks? and off to the beach we went. It is a bit of a walk so we had to get the rules down pat. Since there are no sidewalks, we had to follow the red light-green light method. If a car is coming Red Light..everyone stands off to the side of the ditch and doesn't move. Green light occurs when the car goes by. Needless to say it took a while to get to the beach. Luckily on a foggy day there weren't too many cars.
Once on the beach we were thrilled to have it pretty much to ourselves. Air temp of 19 and Water temp of 17 degrees meant we were the only ones really in the water. From my vantage point the lifeguards seemed to be wearing their snow suits but that was only because I wished I had one myself.I congratulate them on staying put on their post when the day was so dismal .Discouraging for most but not the little otters, I call grand kids. We played in the waves until one or two of us were turning blue and than called it a day. Then the whole procession proceeded back up the hill yelling red light -green light until we hit the home front. Along the way we had to have a little detour into the wild strawberry patch. I've not seen one so large with so many berries in a long time. So I still think I was in a little bit of heaven, even though it was not a sunny day. I'm still the queen of my realm and my loyal subjects still think gramma is ok.

I highly recommend finding your way to this lovely spot of NS when it is sunny and go for a long walk along the sandy shores. Its great for the kid in all of us. You can read about it and other great NS beaches at www.tenbeaches.com.

Pedometer challenges!!!

So, I'm a bit competitive. Albeit, mostly with myself, however, if I'm faced with a challenge I generally won't shy away. When there's prizing, incentives or even bragging rights involved, I will also try my very hardest to rise to the challenge. I tell you this to set the context for what I'm going to say next.

I've entered into a friendly challenge with a close friend of mind - over the course of the next month we are tracking our steps and the person who has accumulated the fewest steps will have to be a 'beck-and-call-person' for a day. This is NOT a challenge I intend to lose. I'm already plotting the extra steps I can gain through taking the stairs and running. We've both agreed that we won't convert other activities to steps, so it's my feet that will be doing the work this month to help me with this challenge. However, my biggest weakness will be remembering to put on my pedometer; it's day 2 and my memory seems to be holding so far. For the next month I'm going to share my progress with you. I am sure there will be high and low points!

Even if you're not the competitive type, there's lots of activities taking place this summer that you can take part in if you're looking for a new way to look at walking:

Kool FM recently announced a fun challenge through Heart&Stroke Walkabout - if you track your steps in their Kool walking group for a month you have the chance to win fun prizes including new sneakers and gift-certificates just for participating! So, even if you're not into competitive challenges this is an example of a challenge where you can be a winner for participating at your own pace! Check it our here: http://www.planetkool.ca/index.asp?mn=2&id=1262&cc=7

Nova Scotia CAP sites have also launched friendly walking challenges to encourage communities to be active this summer. People can win individual and community prizes for most steps and just for participating. Find out more here: http://www.walkaboutns.ca/newsItem.aspx?id=23 .

Or, if non-competitive challenges are your thing, I invite you to share your steps and journey with me! I'll share where I walk and what I sights I see, and I would love to hear about your walking summer as well! Fingers crossed, I hope my journey involves a soon-to-be-declared-pampering day as a result of winning my own walking challenge.

Heading out across the flats

A look at the runners/walkers as they make their way through the mud out to the island.

coming back from the mud run by boat

Coming back across the flats by boat ( tide has turned)

Mud continued

A picture of how the shoes looked at the end of the run!

more mud

My bragging rights have been somewhat curtailed. While I can continue to brag about my intrepid daughter, grandchildren and colleagues for their great runs at the Not since Moses, it seems I am as Proud as a fancy pheasant not a peacock!