Walking. Simple enough. Thursday night I arrived at the lake house before dusk and decided I would hit the road for a walk breaking in new walking shoes. We are going to Napa in a week, and I would like to think that after tasting and really drinking lots of wine, I will walk around the block a few times at our resort. So I bought some lightweight shoes that won't be too bulky to pack or to wear on the plane. I need to break them in first though. Being that yesterday I was off from work and the next three Fridays I am either working or on vacation, I decided to drive to the lake house Thursday night. I have not arrived to the lake house and stayed the night by myself in many months--it was super quiet! Gorgeous weather outside, too! I dropped off the groceries, put on my walking shorts and new shoes. I grabbed my phone so I could "map my walk", and off I went. I noticed that walking downhill I was getting a blister on the back of my right foot and on tops of a few toes, but I still had pep in my step. When I approached the chain that keeps cars that don't pay community dues or belong in the neighborhood from driving up to the pier, I decided to take that pep in my step and hop over the chain. I should have just walked around it. My new shoe got caught on the chain, and down to the ground I went. Fortunately, I landed in the grass area and not on the rocks. I managed to hold my phone upright so as not to shatter the front but landed on my elbow (one knot there). I braced my fall with my left hand since my right was holding my phone and my elbow dug into my chest (second knot on my hand and bruise on my chest). While falling and hitting the ground, I found my right elbow hitting into my right thigh (bruise there) and my mouth hitting my phone. NO BROKEN TOOTH--whew. Just a swollen upper lip. My left knee took a big hit (third knot there) and my right chin bone landed on a small rock (bruise). I fell, and yes, I could get up. Walking back with my knee bleeding, my blisters aching, and my lip feeling swollen was not as invigorating as the walk had started out to be! But there was one task I still wanted to do while daylight, and that was to rake up some old leaves from a tree that has been losing its leaves for about a month. This lasted fifteen minutes, and I threw in the towel. Once in the house and showered, I iced my elbow, lip and knee. I am hoping my knee doesn't get a new bony protuberance like I have on the other side of it (from a fall in Sweden).
Yesterday morning was brisk. I was in no rush to get outside to walk by 7:30 am. I had made the decision to go for a walk in Lake Anna State Park (I am a glutton for punishment) but knew that I could go a little bit later in the morning. Lake Anna State Park is a state park that was initially the site of the Goodwin Gold Mine (gold was discovered at the site in 1829). Later, the land was host to Lake Anna which was a reservoir created to serve as a coolant for Dominion Power's nearby nuclear power plant (the park is twelve miles from the power plant). The lake was formed in 1972 by damming up the North Anna River, and the state park opened in 1983.
I had some sore muscles (bruises) and still some knots. I put together some wheatberry salad for a cookout that Ray and I were going to at the end of the day. It was 65 degrees when I ventured out to the park. It is a twelve mile drive. I turned it into a forty-five minute trip by taking a wrong turn and then passing the turnoff for the park. Oh well, a beautifully sunny day with the top down, and I wasn't in a hurry to walk in the new shoes again. I finally arrived to the park, and using an honor system at the gate, I put four dollars into an envelope, took a parking pass, and dropped my money into a slot.
I knew the trail I wanted to walk (Sawtooth Trail--2.5 miles, and it looked as if it would drop me off close to the beach), but I couldn't find the entrance to the trail. I walked over to the office, the girl looked up from her IPhone after a few minutes (hated to bother her with my mundane question), and she had to take out the trail map to help me. Oh dear. She told me to park in a different lot (she sent me towards the campgrounds, but I figured out after another wrong turn that I wanted to drive towards the cabins), and the trail would be right there. Which it was. Off I went.
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| I should have dropped some gingerbread crumbs. |
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| Just me and the trees (and one sweaty jogger) |
I had bandaged up my toes and heels, put on bug repellent, wore a hat to prevent ticks from falling into my hair and had my sunscreen on. I dodged horse manure, tree stumps and overgrown roots. Ray asked me to be careful. I didn't stop at any of the fitness marks (I didn't want to do chin ups, sit ups or walk on the balance beam--pictures below), there was a bench that looked promising, but I kept moving on.
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| This piece of wood was for some sort of stretch or toe lifts and hamstring something or other one can do prior to a good workout. |
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| Balance beam |
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| Calf and Hamstring stretches |
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| Another calf stretch |
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| Sit ups |
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| In middle school I could hang and do the chin ups for quite a while, but I could never do those pull ups |
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| More my liking, just raise your arms and stretch (I did this while walking) |
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| Is the park looking for the gymnast in me? |
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| Jump. Jump. Jump. |
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| This is an elbow squeeze (this could also be done while walking) |
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| Rest after all that fitness! |
My bandage on my heel came off. My shoe was rubbing my blister. After two miles of walking a moderately hilly trail, I literally limped and hobbled my way out of the woods. But where was my car? If I had kept it parked in the first spot (before being told to move it), it would have been right there. Nope. I took my right shoe off and walked down the road. A little concerned that my two plus mile walk was going to turn into a three hour tour. About five minutes of walking more, I found my car right where I had left it. I had just come out of the woods a little farther down the trail than I should have (do to the hobbling, I lost my sense of direction haha).
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| It was just this close to the start of the trail. |
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| Me coming in from the street. |
Still such a beautiful day, I decided to find the beach. I have been to this park one other time with Ray and my Lake Anna roommates five years ago. Ahhhh.
Found the beach, sat in the sand, drank my water and headed back to the safety of my home. It took me under twenty minutes to find my way home. I raked more, pulled weeds and decided I really just needed to rest a bit and have some lunch. Exercising is so overrated. I had to get some energy back for the cookout we were going to. And of course, my neighbors across the water brought up Panama. And quite surprisingly, this group was very eager to hear our stories and have us tell them what we have learned in the eighteen months we have been researching our retirement to Panama. I wonder if they play cornhole in Panama?
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| At the start of my walk, I felt determined and strong and that I could be all that I could be (like this tree just making its way how it wants to be |
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| At the end of the walk, hobbling along broken until I found the beach! |
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