My latest attempt at fitness - Nordic pole walking!

I've been meaning to try Nordic walking poles for a couple of years now, and after our walk with Bella last Friday, I said to Dave, "I want to go to the library and ask about Nordic walking poles”. In I went. Lucky for me, the "walking pole lady" at the library was free, so she set me up, showed me how to use them, and I borrowed a pair. Well, she had me at, “You can burn up to 40% more calories with these than on a regular walk!” It's a three-week rental, just like a book, and she also said I could easily renew them as she has enough pairs for her group.

I went home, and after a bike ride, I tried the walking poles. Oh. My. God. I felt like a spaz! It didn't help that I had one of the poles gripped the opposite way that it should have been at the beginning. It also didn't help that I was overthinking the "place the right pole ahead when stepping off with your left foot, and place the left pole ahead when stepping off with your right foot". I would stop, literally lurching when I restarted! I must have looked like Frankenstein's monster.

 Also not helping my first outing:

• Trying Nordic pole walking for the first time on a busy Friday afternoon at Lighthouse Point, when it's “peoply” because of the weekend and the gorgeous weather
• Trying Nordic pole walking the first time, the first time I'm wearing a brand-new pair of running/walking shoes
• Wearing my brand-new sneakers and brand-new orthotics for our 2km dog walk, after I was specifically told by the chiropodist not to go for a long walk in the orthotics right away.
• Trying Nordic pole walking for the first time after a 7km bike ride, when my legs feel wobbly from the cycling
• Trying Nordic pole walking for the first time while overdressed for the outside temperature

I made it from our place to the west corner of Suncrest and Johnston Parkway, a very short distance, when I ran into a neighbour walking her dog. I stopped, and we chatted about the poles. My neighbour had hurt her back and Friday was the first time in over two months that she’d walked Dougie, her dog. When I said I felt awkward and self-conscious using the poles, she said, "Hey! I used a cane! Talk about feeling self-conscious!". So, yeah, she made an excellent point. It's all about perspective, and mine needs an adjustment. But I’m still Nordic pole walking, all the while hoping that no one laughs too hard at my clumsy attempt at improved fitness.

Oh, and I’ve ordered the exact model as the library loan. They’re scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I figured, what the heck; if I grow tired of yet another fitness gadget, at least they won’t take up as much room as the exercise bike or the Tony Little Gazelle I’ve bought in the past. The poles are telescopic!

Close encounters of the awkward kind?

I have a BHA tomorrow. BHA is my short form for “big hair appointment”, in other words, colour, cut, shampoo and blow dry. Not that I have “big hair”, I don’t, but it’s a lengthy, hence “big” appointment. After a spectacular week of summerlike weather and a weekend filled with dog walking, cycling, and my new obsession, Nordic pole walking (more on that later), I was left with hat head which shows as a line through my currently overlong bangs, a sweaty scalp, and dirty hair. This morning I was faced with a dilemma: Should I wash my hair while showering or use a shower cap, leaving the shampooing to my stylist tomorrow? Since rain was in the forecast, I opted for the easier option – the shower cap – and a pony tail. This would also save time, as Dave and I had several errands to run. And I wouldn’t care if I got caught in the rain (I did, twice), since my hair was a mess anyway.

This reminded me of the last time I had the “should I wash my hair before going out?” dilemma, just last week. On another warm, sunny day, I had gone cycling then walking (not pole walking, though, just regular power walking – I hadn’t discovered my new passion yet), all before taking my daily shower. I was a hot, sweaty mess, so decided not to go grocery shopping with Dave, who was anxious to get this task done so he could come home and focus on making slides for his AGM presentation. I almost changed my mind, figuring it wouldn't matter who saw me at the local Freshco, but decided I really wanted to take that shower. Off Dave went.

Upon his return, he said, “Well, it’s a good thing you decided to stay home. Guess who was grocery shopping?” Yes! It was the same former friend (she hates me) I’d recently encountered at an International Women’s Day event!

They made eye contact. Rather than gracing Dave with the wooden expression and death stare she gave me on International Women’s Day, she opted to glare, then frown at him. He smiled at her, not saying anything. Since Dave still had his sunglasses on, she wouldn’t have been able to see anger, contempt, or disgust in his eyes, but there wouldn’t have been any anyway. Dave doesn’t get angry or outraged, and he doesn’t hold grudges, certainly not for over a decade.

They carried on. Since both were in a relatively similar shopping cycle, she upped the ante by lowering her head to avoid eye contact every time they crossed paths in the grocery aisles. Not a word was spoken.

This former friend is very appearance conscious. And very attractive. And very judgmental, particularly about others’ appearance. So if there was one person that I wouldn’t have wanted to run into in my post-workout, pre-shower state last week, it would have been her. “GAH!!! Why didn’t I shower before going out?” would have become my mantra for the rest of the day.

This morning, though my body was clean, my hair wasn’t. And I went to Freshco. Like last week, it wouldn’t matter who saw me at the local Freshco. Unlike last week, my body was clean though my hair most definitely wasn’t, and that’s the most visible part. And if I had run into this former friend? It would have been another close encounter, but not of the awkward kind. At least not for me.

A random act of kindness, or a horrible gaffe?

Feet are very important to me. Walking is by far my preferred activity, so I need to be comfortable in my footwear. Last week I went to a chiropodist in Wasaga Beach, to get fitted for new orthotics. Mine are ancient and very well worn. Dave went to the chiro in the morning for another Graston session (muscle scraping technique) on his sore foot. He has recently developed plantar fasciitis, and a neighbour told him that Graston is very helpful.

After my visit, we went over to the Super Centre to pick up a few things. When we went to check out, ahead of us a woman was buying some groceries, and paying was taking a very long time. Dave was ahead of me and the cart was between us, so I couldn't really see what was going on, but she was adding and removing items from her bill, and paying with more than one card. The woman behind me started complaining that the lineup was slow. The woman paying was blonde, slim, in her early forties, had a cane, and her right foot was in a loafer-type shoe with no sock. I could see a huge bandage on the left side of her ankle, and lots of bruising, discolouration and swelling. Obviously, she'd suffered some sort of injury. She finally made her payment, but that was after having the cashier take out a bag of dog food. She then said, "I don't want to hold all these people up", and asked the cashier to leave the bag for a minute while she located another card, and said she'd pay after we checked out.

As Dave was bagging and the woman was hunting through her wallet, I asked the cashier how much the bag of dog food was, and when she said $32.99, I asked her to put it on my bill. She did, then passed the bag to the woman and told her to take it. Confused, the woman said no, but the cashier told her I'd paid for it. The woman didn't want to accept my gift, was clearly embarrassed, but eventually accepted. She looked right at me and said, "I feel weird". At that point, so did I! I just said, "I have a dog, too", and didn't make a big deal. She then said something that I couldn't hear, but I just pretended I could, nodded and smiled.

The woman behind me asked if the other woman's card "wasn't working". I said yes. She then started saying, "There are still kind people in the world!", the man behind her beamed at me, the cashier told me I was very kind, and I felt like crap! I didn't do this for the attention or the kudos, I just wanted to make sure that a dog got its supper, and that a woman who was having a hard time manoeuvring with a cane and heavy groceries could get out of the store as easily as possible.

I left, and avoided the woman who I could see loading the groceries and food into her trunk. Later on, I asked Dave what she had said in the store. She apparently was saying something like, "I think I've gone over my $200 daily limit on my debit card".

I wish I hadn't embarrassed her; I only wanted to help. She could probably technically afford to buy the dog food, but I think that if she had to juggle three separate debit and credit cards in order to pay for what wasn’t all that much food, there has to be some sort of issue there. I also wish I’d gone up to her at her car, and explained that I didn’t think she was poor, I thought she was hurting, and I just wanted her to get home and off her feet as quickly as possible. That I'd just come from the chiropodist because my feet hurt, and I saw that she was injured. Or something to that effect.

Anyway. If she can afford to, I hope that one day she follows the advice of the woman behind me in line, who yelled at her, "PAY IT FORWARD!" when the recipient was still protesting.