Our award for volunteer of the day at Saturday’s Cry Me A River 6-hour mountain bike race at Little River Regional Park goes to … Andy Etters! And not just because of the little white pills Andy gave me after my debilitating fifth lap. More about those pills in a moment.
It’s fall, take a hike
I hate to nag, so let’s call this something else. Prodding? Pushing? Pestering? They all seem so … controlling, which is crazy considering I’ll I’m trying to do is prod/pester/push you out the door to take a hike. And there’s no better time and place to take a hike than the fall in North Carolina. Temperatures in in the 70s, low humidity, brilliant, crisp blue skies, changing color — what more incentive do you need to get out on the trail?
Active Destination: Smithfield
Few things get me as excited as stumbling across an area marked off with yellow tape. Not “Crime Scene” tape, but “Construction: Do Not Cross” tape, the kind that marks a greenway under construction. The kind Marcy and I found while exploring downtown Smithfield last month.
Recommended reading: A good yarn about sticking with it
If you’re just beginning a exercise program — be it walking, swimming, cycling, whatever — and are having doubts, take a few minutes to read about the Yarn Harlot’s foray into running. She assures you you are not alone.
If you’ve ever made anything out of two needles and a very long piece of string, you probably know about the Yarn Harlot. If you buy all your sweaters, socks and toboggans at Penny’s, the Yarn Harlot is Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, a prolific knitter and an even more prolific writer-about-knitting. She’s written a number of books and writes an enormously popular blog.
Walk, don’t run
“Squeeze your butt and take full steps,” Kpop (a k a Karley Poplestein), 02 Fitness trainer by day/walking coach by early evening instructed as we began walking from The Athlete’s Foot in Cameron Village to the nearby Rose Garden. That’s a … curious request, I thought. Fortunately, before I could reach behind and grab my buns while taking full steps I noticed my cowalkers were clinching their gluteus maximus, not palming them.