By Claire Walter on April 25, 2010
California couple racks up miles and stays fit Nordic Walking around town
Marlin and Shirley Heckman first discovered Nordic Walking in the same country that I did — Switzerland — but several years before I came across it there. LaVernOnline.com profiled the 73-year-old retired university librarian in a story called “Take a Walk on the Mild Side with Marlin Heckman.” He and his wife Shirley bought a pair of Nordic Walking poles in Switzerland and initially split the pair, each using one pole. After they returned to the US, they sprang for a second pair and began Nordic Walking in earnest, taking an American Nordic Walking Association course.
The writer of the un-bylined online article wrote:
“In a little more than four years, 73-year-old Marlin Heckman estimates he’s walked about 7,000 miles. His isn’t some wild, age-addled claim. Heckman was a University of La Verne librarian for 30 years, so he sources this stuff.
“More impressive, Heckman did’t pile up all his miles trekking across the United States or Europe, although he’s certainly well traveled. No, most of his mileage has been racked up here in the tiny burg of La Verne, Calif.
“You see, Heckman walks everywhere … to Vons, to Stater Brothers, to the post office, to the University from his residence at Hillcrest. While his car usually stays put, he does bring something with him beside his beautiful wife Shirley and his trusty pedometer, and that’s his pair of Nordic walking poles.”
The article continues with basic information on Nordic Walking — the calorie burn bonus, the fitness component, the gentleness to the joints and everything else that Nordic Walking enthusiasts know and value. Marlin Heckman and Shirley plan to teach a Nordic Walking class through the City of La Verne in the fall. Let’s see. Fall is six months off, give or take. I wonder how many miles Marlin will have logged by then.
Posted in Health Benefits, Instruction, Starting Out, Switzerland |
By Claire Walter on April 22, 2010
That was the headline to a post on a UK blog called Simply Nordic Walking. How?, I wondered. Thick air that unpleasant to breathe and irritating to the eyes, perhaps? An anticipated shipment of poles that were grounded in the place of manufacture? Neither of those.The blogger, Peter Young who teaches Nordic Walking in southwest London but whose photo (left) was taken in beautiful Scotland, went on to report that during the week of interrupted, delayed and canceled travel, “Even one of our regular walkers found that her planned weekend break in Krakow fell victim to the ash cloud. It may have been a blessing in disguise, given the State Funeral for the President. The other bonus was that it meant she could come walking in beautiful Bushy Park!”
Anyone living in London or traveling to who wants to join Young’s Nordic Walkers can call him at 07703-404-931. He provides poles. He gives lessons in the Southwest London area starting at £10, with taster sessions (i.e., demo) sessions for £5. He reminds us that the fresh air and scenery are free — and when I look at his posts, each accompanied by a photo, currently of London in spring — I think that’s one of the aspects of Nordic Walking that I treasure most as well.
Posted in Groups, Instruction, Travel, United Kingdom |
By Claire Walter on April 20, 2010
A small sampling of Nordic Walking videos on YouTube
I don’t understand a word of Polish or Dutch, but I understand the body language of Nordic Walking. Several Nordic Walking videos on YouTube have just hit my radar screen. What they lack in production values, they make up for in length and enthusiasm, even though every one was done in weather that many Americans would consider unconducive to outdoor activities. One Polish video, Kurs Nordic Walking – Otwock, was shot in the snow with an instructor, inexplicably (to me anyway) speaking English. A series of three long videos in Polish called (I think) Ursynowski Nordic Walking seem to have been shot in Warsaw on a blustery day.
Nordic Walking Ameland is a Nordic Walking-themed travelogue of sorts showing (literally) busloads of people taking a ferry to a one of the windsweapt West Frisian Islands off the north coast of the Netherlands. They walked across sand dunes, through the woods and past a turning windmill and ending up on a cafe or restaurant to refuel from their pole-propelled activity. Thumbnails of other European Nordic Walking videos appear on the right side of my screen when I watch these. When I have time, I’ll take a look at some more of them.
Closer to home, especially for me here in Boulder, is Nordic Walking in 5 Minutes with Nate Goldberg of the Beaver Creek Hiking Center, which has to be the Nordic Walking capital of Colorado (right). This ski and summer resort committed early to Nordic Walking and has kept it on its summer activities program (June 6 to September 12 this year).
Posted in Europe, Groups, Instruction, Media |
By Claire Walter on April 18, 2010
Full Circle Superior to be a five-month, 1,700-mile itinerary to honor the greatest of the Great Lakes
Mike Link was a founder of the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and the first executive director of the Audubon Center of the North Woods near Sandstone, Minnesota. His partner, Kate Crowley, also a veteran naturalist, has been involved in education and animals, first at Minnesota Zoo, then also at the Audubon Center. Through 24 books and numerous magazine and newspaper articles, they have their lives and their passion for the wilderness and nature. They have experienced almost every wilderness area in the country.
Their most ambitious adventure will be when they leave their home in Willow River, Minnesota, on April 29 to begin a counterclockwise walk/hike all the way around Lake Superior. Beginning and ending in Duluth. they expect to cover three states and one province and over a five- to six-month period. Their expedition, called Full Circle Superior, will be the first ever shoreline “circumnavigation” on foot, keeping as close to the lake as possible. It will also bring together people, ideas and issues from science, community, economy, education and the environment on both the US and Canadian sides of the lake.
I write this post not just out of great admiration for their goals and their environmental, international and community ethos, but also because Nordic Walking is a small part of this very big picture. Great Lakes Nordic Walking is a sponsor of this epic walk (think about that, Bill Bryson!), and Rhea Kontos of Nordic Walk This Way (center, between Mike and Kate) presented them with two pairs of Gabel poles to ease their journey, which will — by the way — be supported. With the assistance of their SAG wagon driver, Amanda Hakala, they will conduct ongoing research. They will make point samples, discrete observations and photographs, which scientists and students at several universities and research institutes can follow remotely. It is anticipated to become the first and most complete inter-disciplinary database of its kind on Lake Superior.
On Saturday, April 24, beginning at 3:30 p.m., just a few days before setting off, Mike Link will be a speaker at the annual Midwest Mountaineering’s 50th Outdoor Adventure Expo. Mike and Kate will be writing a blog on their website. I intend to follow it. Will you?
Posted in Events, Stores, Travel |
By Claire Walter on April 10, 2010
Exercise helps ward off chronic conditions. It’s not rocket science
A recent CNN health report took a closer look at health care reform and noted that $7 billion is going into preventive care. By that, the US system means no co-pays and full coverage for physical exams for early detection and, presumably, medical providers’ counsel to exercise more and eat better. European health plans go farther.
As Mervyn S. Foster, a Nordic Walking instructor from Cambridge, England (not Massachusetts), pointed out in ”Nordic Walking for Health and Fitness,” an article in Wising Up!, an online business-to-business magazine, “In Germany national health insurance pays for Nordic walking classes from accredited trainers because of the health benefits. Like other forms of exercise, it’s worth taking a class or two to begin with, because you won’t get the full benefits unless you have the right technique.”
The CNN report also noted that prevention is already part of some some state health plans and many corporate wellness programs, and many US Nordic Walking instructors teach or lead groups for companies. Companies that other gyms, treadmills, yoga and other classes and facilities have been shows to reduce health-insurance premiums and sick day absences, so it makes sense for companies to provide them. It would make sense for the new federal health plan to cover them too, but that is still wishful thinking. Hopefully, when health care coverage is a fact and the current ugly objections have died down, the American model will expand in scope.
Foster, who gave me permission to quote from his article (and I will post other excerpts in the future), teaches two weekly beginners’ sessions and also “improver” classes under the Nordic Walking Cambs banner in the Cambridgeshire area. The small photo is also his, used with permission.
Posted in Europe, Health Benefits, Starting Out, United Kingdom |
By Claire Walter on April 7, 2010
Twice-weekly group walks set to begin
On Saturday, April 10, a two-hour Nordic Walking workshop launches a six-week season of instruction and group walks. The firest session on Saturday begins at 11:00 to 1:00 p.m.at the beautiful Morgan Arboretum on the McGill University Macdonald Campus in Ste. Anne de Bellevue. Thereafter, groups walk on Wednesdays from 2:00 to 3:00 in the Morgan Arboretum and Fridays from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. in Baie d’Urfe, rue Churchill. I’m not clear on whether the $30 fee listed on the Montreal Gazette’s West End calendar listing is is just for the Saturday workshop or for a series of Nordic Walking outings. For details, contact Christina 514-425-8814 or Email inairgy@yahoo.ca.
Posted in Canada, Groups, Instruction, Starting Out |
By Claire Walter on April 4, 2010
Reebok labeled poles being sold in Great Britain
Nordic Walking poles with the Reebok name are available from online merchants in the UK and perhaps in some retail stores too. I have no idea whether a known pole-maker manufacturers them for Reebok, perhaps in Europe but more like off-shore, or whether Reebok commissioned them. I suppose it’s possible that these poles don’t carry the Reebok label at all but are promoted that way online.
A site called 4YouToday (“shopping and travel”) sells Reebok Hot Nordic Walking poles that are endorsed by Markus Wasmeier, a German ski-racing champion of the 1980s. The tag shown in the image (top right). They are also selling the Classic and Quick Step (below).
Amazon.com in the UK sells three Reebok-branded Nordic Walking poles — the Hot (£21.99), the Quick Step (£16.99 to £19.99) and also the Classic (£14.99) and also a Deluxe package (£24.95, bottom right) by or from Outdoor World of poles, extra paws and a pedometer.
Perhaps some in the UK who follows equipment can fill in the blanks that I’ve left here.
Posted in Poles, United Kingdom |
By Claire Walter on April 2, 2010
Upcoming festival merits BBC attention
In advance of the 2010 Peak District Walking Festival, the BBC produced a television segment about Nordic Walking. I had to smile when the announcer said that Nordic Walking “comes from this” as footage of cross-country ski racers was shown. What made me smile is that segment showed most of the the skiers (and all who were right in front of the camera) bent low in an aero-dynamic tuck and not using their poles at all.
Still, the intention was good as a prelude to the five Peak District Walking Festivals that take place this year between Saturday, April 24 and Sunday May 9 with a total of 170 guided walks. There is so much going on — walking with or without poles, caving, climbing and more — that the organizers have put out a 64-page guide that you can look at online. The Peak District National Park’s Losehill Hall Education Centre will be offering Nordic Walking “taster” sessions (i.e., demos). The festival website also includes online walking and cycling routes.
Posted in Events, Festival, Starting Out, United Kingdom |
By Claire Walter on March 29, 2010
American pole pioneer teaches Nordic Walking in Fort Myers
Lindy Smith has done as much to promote Nordic Walking in the US as anyone I know. As Lindy Speizer, she worked for Buffalo-based LEKI and took the Nordic Walking message top-down from the pole company to retailers with enthusiasm and a series of innovative promotions, Now based in Florida, she is still enthusiastically promoting Nordic Walking but from the bottom up, teaching Nordic Walking classes through the Fort Myers Community Center and also to private and corporate clients.
The News-Press, which covers southwest Florida, appears quite taken with Smith’s advocacy and classes. Last week, the paper ran a feature called “Nordic Workout Takes Pressure Off Back, Legs” that included a local who had “given up to inactivity” following hip-replacement surgery last year, and a woman who had both knees replaced — and who both regained their balance, confidence and mobility after Lindy introduced them to to Nordic Walking. Their stories are inspiring for anyone with similar issues, and the paper’s photo makes the web page is worth clicking on.
Smith’s next introductory workshops take place April 18, May 2 and May 8 at the North Fort Myers Community Center, 2021 North Tamiami Trail, North Fort Myers, behind the public library. Info: 239-533-7440. The cost is $23 per person, including use of poles.
Posted in Health Benefits, Instruction |
By Claire Walter on March 28, 2010
Los Angeles exurb dips a toe and a pole tip into Nordic Walking. San Diego too
The good news is that a free Nordic Walking demonstration has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 31, at the University of California, Riverside. The caveat is that in this city of some 300,000 residents and a campus enrollment of 17,000, this demo is part of UCR’s Work/Life and Wellness classes and is therefore intended only for faculty and staff. The course is described as a ”provide a new approach to walking . By adding Nordic walking poles to walking, you are able to get a more effective workout with minimal effort.” New? Not exactly. Minimal effort? Not exactly either.
Sigh!
To offer this class, UC Riverside has partnered with Nordic Walking America, whose Ron Brogdon and Newell Whitfield describe themselves as “San Diego’s first certified Nordic Walking Instructors.” Last summer, Brogdon and Whitfield offered a series of classes at the University of California San Diego. Their website shows photos of a very small group of participants, and nothing appears on the calendar after August 2009. San Diego is a far larger city (1.5 million +/-) and UCSD is a far larger campus (22,500 students). I hope that response at UCR is greater than at UCSD — or maybe that they are so busy teaching that they’ve let the class schedule on their site fall way out of date.
Sigh!
Meanwhile back to Riverside, the Parks and Recreation Department offers a “diverse range of classes/activities created for all ages!” Exclamation point aside, you have to register online before you can even check out their course list, so I can’t tell whether Nordic Walking is among them. All I know is that the Riverside Foot Solutions store sells poles and, of course, all sorts or shoes, orthotics and socks, but there is no indication that they also offer demos or classes.
Sigh!
I suppose I should be doing nothing but boasting about the growing enthusiasm for Nordic Walking in the US. While it has gained more attention, and while a number of good people are working hard to grow the activity, the fact that so many sources describe it as “new” indicates how below-the-American-radar Nordic Walking is still flying. The sorry reality is that it remains that way. Perhaps my opinion is colored by what coninues to happen across the Atlantic. I can’t help but compare the acceptance of and encouragement for Nordic Walking in these southern California cities that are so proud of their year-round benign climate with that of Ehingen, Germany, that I wrote about yesterday.
Sigh!
Posted in Clinic, Participation, Starting Out |
