Walking Group

I met Pam, the trainer, through an internet meetup group.  A group women ages 50+ who want to be healthier.  Initially, Pam put out a message that she was starting a walking group where each person could walk independently and the group would meet at an agreed time and place on a regular basis to walk and catch up.  I was the only person who met with Pam.  Another internet meetup group, Building Better Health (BBH), was a mirror of the walking group where Pam had placed her first announcement.  Pam contacted the BBH group and mentioned me as her sole participant and that she was willing to offer her certified trainer services in the same genre as I was participating.  Pam emailed me that she'd met with nine women.  I received an email last week from Pam the newly formed walking group planned to meet at the County Government Center at 8:30 this morning for a walk.  I decided to go, I was glad I did.  There were nine of us and Pam.  Three went the shorter walking route, six and Pam went the longer walking route.  I was one of the three on the shorter route.  I didn't bring any water with me and there were no fountains.  I had never been on these trails before.  I thought it best to take the short route on the first time.  What a lovely place to walk, I was pleasantly surprised.  We started out together at  8:55am, everyone walking at different paces.

I was pleased the women were in my age group and about my size.  One lady had never walked before, she was in my walking group of three.  She was having difficulty.  I explained I had felt the same way when I started out.  I couldn't walk very far before I had to turn around and head home panting and sweating after ten minutes.  These past six weeks, I've surprised myself and worked up to thirty minutes and over a mile, averaging about 3200 steps.  It takes time to work up distance, I'm learning this.  She was very frustrated with herself not being able to keep up.  I tried to offer encouragement, she didn't want to listen.  I'm afraid she might quit the group.

We started out on the path, among the trees.  It was humid, about 75 degrees.  I was surprised to see one lady wearing sandals.  She explained she is going on vacation to Greece next month, she bought the sandals for her vacation and wanted to break them in.  Thankfully for her, they were not painful, no blisters.  Here was the view looking up, the sun peeking through the trees.  It was cooler walking in the shade of the trees.

This was the first break in the trees we came upon.  Again, I was so pleasantly surprised.  A pond loaded with lily pads.

We continued down the path to the first footbridge and crossed it.



We walked about 15 minutes by this time.  We came upon another footbridge.



We rested awhile at each footbridge for a few moments for the lady who had never walked to catch her breath.  She wasn't happy, she mentioned she had not intended to walk this far.  We continued on and came upon this small hill behind the building on the final stretch back to the parking lot.  This was quite the hill.

We reached the parking lot, the other group who took the longer route were there.  I suppose we ran a bit behind because we stopped awhile at the footbridges.  I too appreciated the rest.  We reached the parking lot at 10:05am, we had walked a little over a mile, very slowly.  Pam said later pushing oneself can cause harm.  Only do as much as the body can take, you should know your body. 

Those who could went to Caribou Coffee to discuss next week's walk and review the booklet Pam distributed to the new members on nutrition and exercise.  We talked about meeting next week at the same place for another walk.  Pam agreed to send out an email confirming time and location.  Pam mentioned to me she would contact the lady who was frustrated, try to encourage her not to quit.  I offered that I would be happy to help if there was anything I can do.  This walking location is just a ten minute drive from my home.  I arrived home at 10:45, after we disbursed at Caribou Coffee.  It was nice meeting new people knowing they struggle with the same challenges.