Tag: fitness

English Garden Hike

I said it before, and I’ll say it again.

The best way to see a city is to hike it.

It was time for a quick stop in in Munich. This time, I saw it like never before. We spent an entire day hiking the English Garden, and we didn’t even cover the whole thing.

It starts off with massive stretches of well manicured park dotted with cafes and beer gardens. If you are adventurous enough, you can explore portions of the other side. There are long stretches along the water and trails through the lush forest. Despite the size of the city, you will feel like you aren’t even in one. Deep in the upper portion of the park in the forest, we saw a herder, in his attire, grazing his sheep. His herding dog put on an impressive show.

We covered a good portion of the garden. Including the trek to and from the hotel, we clocked around 27 km. It might sound like a lot, but it’s doable. I’ve been hiking more back home and setting a certain pace. I’ve also been working on my metal space when the hikes get long. After a while, it comes naturally. It’s invigorating, allows you to truly experience more of the cities you visit, clears your mind, and builds up an appetite for the local culinary delights.

On the day of the English Garden, I was quite happy with my ability to keep the pace, physically and mentally. Being in the forest does have a magical effect on me and puts me into a better place.

On the map, close to the point of the figure 8 crossing, there is a mini hofbrauhaus. It’s a small outdoor version of the big beer hall in the core of the city. We covered most of the upper portion of the park before stopping at the mini beer garden. At this point, we only had the last leg to get back to the city center.

Once back near our hotel for the evening, we hit the main beer hall and stayed for a while. The beer is great. I particularly liked the Helles. The food at these beer halls is amazing. We grazed on a small charcuterie, then shared a roasted pork knuckle. If you’ve never had one, you should. The beer halls Munich know how to roast meat. We even caught some live music.

Don’t get me wrong, Munich has lots to offer, but don’t miss out on the nature embedded within its core.

My city hiking tips: carry a small pack with water, rain coat, sweater, emergency snack, and sun screen. Also have some spare change on you in case you need to use the facilities when in Europe.

Follow along on Strava for all the hikes and click able maps.

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Brussels by Foot

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a proper adventure. You might be familiar with Just a Girl and Her Bike. This time, it’s Just a Girl and Her Boots.

Yes, that’s right. Back pack loaded and hiking boots laced up, I was more than ready to see new parts of the world.

This trek started with a 2 week stretch through some big cities. The best way to really see a big city is by hiking through the parks. I was utterly surprised and delighted with the immense green space in Brugges, Munich, and Prague. But, we’ll get to that.

Let’s start with Brussels. We arrived in the afternoon and hit the ground running. Putting on your walking shoes and getting in some steps right off the bat is the best way to reinvigorate yourself after a long journey and to keep yourself awake and not suffer long effects of jet lag. Just lace up those shoes and go!

We made a proper first stop at Moeder Lambic for some outrageous beer. I gravitated to the lambic style that they had on tap (this doesn’t happen at home). I replenished with moules & frites. The lover of creepy things on me came out when we grabbed a night cap at a high-end beer place that used to be a theater and is filled with puppets!

Our second day gave us a full day to hike and see things. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to walk through the forest areas that we thought we could. When it doesn’t go your way, find another one. We turned the day into a big city tour and covered a lot of ground.

We started off with a visit to a Gothic cathedral. The style is stunning, inside and out. There’s something sureal about looking up at windows, arches, and structures riddled with intricacy and that must have taken a long time to create.

We then fuelled up with a proper local breakfast of Croque Madame and a delicious beer.

We hiked all through the city and up a hill to a science center. Keeping a good pace and meandering off the main route to cover the occasional little bit of forest is a sure way to get your body and your mind feeling great after a long day of travelling. I highly recommend setting at least a guideline for your route with a target pace and distance. It’s the key to feeling great from the beginning of the trip.

After our invigorating walk, we kept the steps going. We made two stops at the famous Delirium brewery. It’s an entire street of separate places, all serving up fresh pints!

The day was getting long, and it took us a bit, but we found an amazing spot for dinner, down in a cave like place. This is when patience paid off. I was famished. The day was getting long. But when we walked into this place, I knew I needed to tap into my zen. When a plate of rabbit slow cooked in lambic beer was set down in front of me, I was in heaven. When it gets long, take a deep breathe a d regroup. Travelling by foot can be amazing if you can tap into your patience and your calm energy.

Here’s my route uploaded to Strava. Follow me there to see all the hike and the details of each.

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Self Care

The forest heals. The fresh air infuses life. The sights and sounds of nature refresh and revive.

After a busy time with unexpected challenges, I could feel the fatigue building as I plunged into final preparations for and all weekend reading and writing conference. I did something quite smart that I don’t usually do. I took a day off and enjoyed life. A full day of hiking, happy hour and even a football game, with my husband, refreshed me.

I had way too much fun at the conference, despite the fact that it had to be online. I gave presentations. I went to presentations. I helped host others. It felt good to be part of something that has been fundamental to my writing success.

By the end of the three days, I was cooked. I did something smart, that 9 don’t usually do. I read in bed and binged Shudder (if you’re a closet horror lover like me, check out my other website, KillersAndDemons).

After two days, I felt better. I decided to continue to be smart. I did a bunch of work, then, I went outside into the sunshine, and walked for two hours through the forest.

Am I finally learning to listen when my being needs something? I hope so.

Do you listen when you need some self care? I find having a list of things that I know I love thay make me feel good, and being setup to easily execute on them, sets me up for success. For example, having good hiking clothes clean at all times, a great pair of shoes by the door, and pack ready to go with snacks and sunscreen. Or having books or movies on hand so I can chill. Or having my bathroom stocked with bath salts, candles, and aromatic bubble bath.

Take care, and be sure to stop and be nice to yourself when you need a break.

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Doing What’s Important

Life. It gets busy sometimes. It gets overwhelming sometimes. We all experience moments when there doesn’t seem to be a way to wade through the clutter and do what we know we need.

I suggest a simple approach. 1. Take a deep breath. 2. Identify what you need. 3. Do it.

Even one hour. Just take it and do it.

Today, I stole a good hour and a half and had the most amazing little jaunt with my beloved bike. Together we climbed some good hills, coasted through some forest, and even stopped to chat with a deer.

Don’t forget to breathe and give yourself the gift of time to do what you love. You deserve it.

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Nature Walk and Happy Hour

I have recently fallen in love with nature walks.

Through the various phases and stages of lockdown, my husband chose a fantastic way to deal with closures and isolation. He walked. Everyday. Sometimes for hours.

He even got a rotation going where he would walk with different friends on different days. It was a fantastic way to achieve both mental and physical health.

I started going with him. Two or three times a week, even during the coldest winter days. With the right gear, and right attitude, a dose of physical activity and nature can be good for the body and the soul.

Today I had my head buried in a couple of writing projects. Late afternoon I realized my brain was done for the day and I felt blah. I decided to put on some walking gear and do a beautiful forest loop close to home.

My hubby ended up joining me. Two hours later, forest loop done, I feel revived and relaxed. Time for a home brew on the patio.

What do you do to stay healthy, physically and mentally?

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Climb Like a Spider to Angel’s Landing

Angels Landing, a plateau at the peak of a red rock face, perched in the heart of Zion National Park.

2.5 miles of strenuous hiking up multiple series of switchbacks, including Walter’s Wiggles, takes you to the landing point where some will stay while others scramble to the final landing. Two long series of chains bolted into the rock with steel poles provide a safety net from the 1000 foot drop offs.

I wasn’t sure what the trail would really be like. I knew the distances. I knew the height gain. I know what it feels like to hike up long, steep descents. I have done some scrambling. But I wasn’t sure what these chained sections would be like.

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My first attempt at reaching the summit of Angel’s Landing, I had taken the first shuttle of the day from the town beside Zion park. I darted across the park entrance to catch the next shuttle up the canyon. I disembarked at the Grotto stop, along with dozens of other eager hikers. The herd quickly thinned as the climbing grew strenuous. At the top, many other hikers already milled about. The first series of chains wasn’t nearly as challenging as I thought it would be. I stood on the flat section before the second series, looking up at a daunting rocky climb. I wanted to do it. But, all I could think about was the growing number of people, of various hiking abilities, streaming both up and down sections only wide enough for one. The communication was minimal. The chaos was growing. I didn’t feel this was something I should do. Or that I wanted to do under these conditions.

Continue reading “Climb Like a Spider to Angel’s Landing” →

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Kickboxing, Power Lifting and Empowering People

I recently had the absolute pleasure of getting to know Tasneem.  Tasneem is small in stature, but big in personality.  Her energy flows from her, and leaves one feeling uplifted, excited, and ready to take on life!  She is extremely hard working and dedicated to quality and the people in her life.  She is an absolute fireball, taking on life straight ahead, no backing down.  She is also wise beyond her years, embracing both balance and learning from her mistakes.  Let me take you on a journey with Tasneem…

Tasneem has been a part of many sports thoughout her life.  Many, including basketball, rugby, rowing, running and trialathon, came into and went out of her life.  In high school she took her first kickboxing class.  She immediately knew this was the one.  She really got into it in her 20s, and at first she struggled!!  She had two left feet and no co-ordination.  But she chose to keep getting her ass kicked, literally.  She stuck with it, she worked hard and she learned.

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Orcas Island

We left Friday Harbour on a ferry and headed to Orcas Island.  We didn’t have confirmation of a place to stay that night.  We had contacted one of the few places that may have some vacancy, so we took a chance.  When we arrived, we drove the peaceful, quiet road, easily sinking into the slow pace of everything and everyone around us.  We found the one small ‘main town’ and a lovely breakfast.  How delightful!! The food was tremendous, the view was spectacular, and who knew what the day held?  After our adventures in escaping from the blazing fires in Oregon (Burning Eyes of Fire) we were definitely ready to turn over a new page on our road trip!

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Weight Training with Mikey V

I love the look on my face in this picture.  It really sums up my entire experience when I weight trained ‘for real’.  This wasn’t something I was planning on getting into, and it isn’t something that I have done over the years.  It just happened.  And it was an amazing experience in body, mind and soul.  Really.

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It all started when I needed a place to shower so that I could ride my bike to work.  I found the gym that was closest to my office building, and walked in to inquire about membership.

An unexpected opportunity presented itself.  There was a package that I could buy that included some personal training sessions.  Something inside tugged at me to sign up.  So I did.  I didn’t think about it again until the winter months presented themselves.  I had been working out on my own during lunch hour, and was quickly getting bored.  I was really keen to stay in shape through the winter months so I could enjoy the short cycling season when it finally came again.

Continue reading “Weight Training with Mikey V” →

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