the harder they fall. SPLATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! That’s what it sounded like when I crashed while rollerblading with my husband on Saturday afternoon. We were on a trail we’d never been on, and I careened out of control while going downhill. Good thing I had my wristguards on otherwise I would have for sure sprained, if not broken, both wrists. As it is, I have a bruised butt and tailbone, pain both sitting and walking, and an inability to get in and out of a chair without grimacing wildly in pain. Fortunately, we had only gone a little more than a mile on the trail when my crash occurred because I had to take off my blades and socks and hobble barefoot back to the car. My husband, as soon as the crash occurred, declared, “No more rollerblading for you. You’re too old!!” He later said he meant, no more rollerblading on hills for me. Suuuuuuuuure he did. Anyhow, I’m kind of embarrassed to tell people why I’m in so much pain because I know they’re thinking the same thing my husband said. Like my mom, who said, “You know, we’re not as young as we think we are.” We??” Hey, I’m 24 years younger than she is AND I’m not the oldest rollerblader in the world anyhow. Truly, I’m not trying to prove anything by rollerblading at my age. It’s just as fun to me as biking, hiking, kayaking, swimming, etc. I just have to avoid hills is all. Right? Right??
Archive for the ‘Exercise’ Category
The bigger they are …
Monday, August 23rd, 2010Mill Creek Park in Youngstown
Sunday, August 8th, 2010
Another place to add to my growing list of places to go back and spend more time: Youngstown’s 4,400-acre Mill Creek Park. My husband and I, driving back from Pittsburgh last Saturday, stopped here for a very short time, though enough time for some inline skating and pedal boating. There are three lakes, boat rentals, fishing, 14 hiking trails, waterfalls, a formal garden, playgrounds with spray pools, a golf course, a working farm – it goes on and on. What a magnificent state we live in!
Canal Fulton — worth a visit
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
Canal Fulton is a bit off the beaten path, but a fun place to spend the day. Why?
1. The Towpath — nice, flat and mostly shady — perfect for biking. The canal’s on one side of you and the Tuscarawas River on the other.
2. The St. Helena Canal Boat, pulled by horses, which goes out everyday but Monday in the summer at 1 and 2:30 Two years ago our family went ($7 adults/$5 kids) and it was pretty interesting.
3. The Cherry Street Creamery (ice cream) and all kind of little shops, restaurants and such.
4. Canoeing and kayaking, through Canal Fulton Canoe Livery. They have pedal and paddle packages, bike rentals, etc.
Canal Fulton is definitely a place that has worked hard to develop its own identity, and done so successfully. Worth a visit if you haven’t been there.
Kayak in Rocky River
Saturday, July 3rd, 2010
Rocky River
Me on the left, near Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier in background
I have gone kayaking five times in my life so far. First time in Alaska was with a girlfriend: glacier behind us, bald eagles above us and harbor seals alongside us — how lucky was I!!! Second time was with my husband in Oregon: going out under less than desirable conditions but not knowing that. White caps and strong currents made us fear we were going to be swept out to the Pacific Ocean and never seen or heard from again. Third time with my husband in the beautiful and peaceful (no swimmers or motors allowed) Savage Reservoir in Western Maryland. We were on a group tour which included time to disembark for lunch in the woods and get caught in a HUGE thunderstorm. The fourth time was at Kelleys Island with my BFF two years ago. The guy who rented us the kayak was a bit, er, eccentric, but we had fun. Then came today …
Kayaking in the Rocky River Reservation from the marina to the tip of Lake Erie and back. My husband and I. Cloudless blue sky. Gazing at the fancy houses, big boats and fisherman. Perfect. And just $20 for the first hour, $5 for each 1/2 hour after that, for a tandem. BTW, a tandem is not only less expensive than two singles, but it’s a great test of your relationship!!! (we passed). We didn’t make reservations (from 41 North) but got lucky so I would recommend them.
I’ll probably never make it to Alaska, or Oregon, or wherever again … so it’s great to know I can have a great kayaking adventure so close to home!!!
Two quick bike trail reviews
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
Zanesville: Sunday morning my husband and I biked the city’s multi-purpose trail, which starts where the Lorena Sternwheeler is docked. I had read that the trail was 2.9 miles one way, but someone I asked in the parking lot thought it had been extended to Dresden, which she said was 8 or 9 miles away. Luckily for my legs, it did stop after 2.9 miles. The trail is relatively flat and pretty much runs along the river. The scenery wasn’t too exciting (the river was obstructed by trees and the only other things to see were the occasional ball fields) but the high point was the sweet smell of honeysuckle along the way. We left right after the ride, but Zanesville is a town that still has character and charm and has not been genericized. It’s definitely a potential day trip with the kids: picnic lunch, bike ride, boat ride.
Coshocton: From Zanesville we headed to Coshocton Lake Park (http://www.coshoctonlakepark.com/index.htm) to try their bike trails. We didn’t have a trail map and so just kind of rode around for 45 minutes, not sure where we were going, ending up biking for about 15 minutes in the bike lane on the state route. Coshocton Lake Park looks like a pretty fun place to go in the summer, though, with an aquatic center, canal boat rides, nature trails, etc. (though not cheap for a family of five: $29 for two adults and three kids for the aquatic center, and an additional $29 for the canal ride).
Look at me, I’m a …
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010manatee! At least that’s what I felt like, swimming laps at the pool today. “Stuff” had happened which kept me from regular workouts for about 5 months (ack! luckily I have three kids to keep me on the run!). Today was just the second time I swam laps after that long lapse and I know from the lifeguard’s view I must have looked like that “sea cow” – just not as fast (most manatees can swim 3-5 miles an hour!).
The (not so) great scooter/inline skating adventure
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010So I had this great(!) idea: When we go to Pittsburgh, my husband and I should take our inline skates, and we should pack the kids’ kick scooters. I figured then we could all go about the same speed. We had never tried this before, but on the paved, flat Eliza Furnace Trail, I thought it might — it just might — be a really fun time.
Once again, the joke’s on me. Here are the gory details:
- Without a street address for the trailhead, we first went to the wrong parking lot. Fortunately, a man coming back with his son showed us where we needed to go.
- Once we found the parking lot, it was so crowded that we had to wait 10 minutes to get a space. The kids, all crowded and sweating in the back seat, were not happy.
- Approximately 10 feet past the entrance sign, our youngest fell off her scooter, causing howls of pain and a decent amount of blood on her knee. I told my husband to take the other two on while I went back to the car and waited with the injured one.
- After getting a bandage and drink of water on this record-breaking 85 degree day, my daughter felt ready to ride again. This time we got about 25 feet into the trail when my husband called to say our oldest was tired and they were heading back.
- Less than a minute later, my youngest got a gushing bloody nose. I tried to contain the mess while we waited for the others to return.
- Twenty-five minutes, 12 tissues, five cries of ”You’re going to have to take me to the hospital,” and one blood-stained shirt later, my daughter’s bloody nose finally stopped.
- While pinching my daughter’s nose and cleaning her up, my husband snapped at the other two, ensuring that everyone (but the always happy me
was sullen and miserable.
Gee, I can’t wait to see what my next great idea will be!!
Update: My next idea actually did work better — a stop at the Anderson Playground at nearby Schenley Park. There was playground equipment galore, a path for the kids to ride on their scooters as much or as little as they wanted, three working water fountains that actually had cold water, and a much welcome visit from the ice cream man.
How old is too old to go inline skating?
Thursday, March 25th, 2010Brief history on my inline skating background: In the early ’90s when inline skating started to get popular here (Midwest) I thought it looked like a blast. My ex-husband told me I was a clutz and would end up killing myself so I shouldn’t even try it. Shortly after our divorce, one of my first purchases was a pair of inline skates. I taught myself to skate in parking lots until the security guards would kick me out. Hills scared me, so I would seek out every flat place I could go. I didn’t go often since there aren’t any long flat paved trails in the Akron area, so I would travel to different cities (Mansfield, Cincinnati, Erie, Cleveland) several times each summer to get my fix. My husband likes to go too, so it became a really fun thing for us to do together when we were dating. Since the kids, we only go once or twice a summer now (if that), and even then we usually only go up to the Towpath in Independence. I remember the first time I told the babysitter my husband and I were going inline skating for our “date.” Her 20-something jaw dropped. She actually had never even done it herself, so she was shocked that that was something we (at our advanced age) would do. By now she knows we’re not quite the usual couple, so on Sunday when I told the (same) sitter we were going to go to Oberlin to tour a Frank Lloyd Wright house and then go inline skating she didn’t even blink. The thing is, I am older. I don’t go often so for the first 10 minutes I look and feel really unsteady and it takes me a while to get back in the rhythm. And I used to be afraid that if I fell on loose gravel or whatever, I’d sprain my wrist. Now I worry I’ll break a hip. I also think, “Do I look incredibly stupid doing this?” to the joggers passing me. The thing is, it is fun (and great exercise!). Fortunately our kids are too young to be embarrassed by us. So I guess we have a few more years to go …
Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
Looks like Northeast Ohio is being spared — again — from the vicious weather affecting most of the rest of the country. So today, with the temperatures in the 30s and a light layer of snow on the path at Hampton Hills Metropark, our family did what we don’t do nearly enough in the winter – take a walk in a winter wonderland. It’s free, it’s healthy, it’s scenic, it’s quality time and if you wear shoes with traction, it’s not too hazardous (there’s a thin layer of ice under the snow and a lot of hills). Definitely one of life’s simple pleasures in a season that sometimes seems way too complicated.
A day at the beach
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
As well as biking on Sunday, I was looking for another super-special way to enjoy the splendiferous gift of a sunny 70 degree day in November in Northeast Ohio with my family. The beach sounded perfect, so we headed to Cleveland’s Edgewater Park. We flew our kite, played in the sand, walked to the pier — and all around were people of all ages, colors and sizes with one thing in common — big smiles on their sunlit faces. People were playing with their dogs, taking photos, drawing, pushing strollers, biking, jogging, flying kites, using metal detectors, strolling hand-in-hand — all the time, smiling. It was really beautiful to see! 