POST-HIKE NOTES

Well, we did it.  Hiked the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail.  80 miles in 8.5 days, walked for 59 hours at a rate of approximately 1.4 mph.  Mostly up and down mountains.  I told my hubby on the trail, "You know, there's one thing wrong with the AT - it's mostly mountains."  Ha ha.  Of course we knew that before we took off, but we went anyway.  And enjoyed it mostly.

In spite of the poison ivy that I caught while pottying in the woods.  It's about cleared up now, took about three weeks to go away.  In spite of the swollen feet and legs that I had for a couple of days after we returned home.  In spite of it taking me at least a week to really rest up from the hike - I still enjoyed it.

If you want to read more about our AT adventures, be sure to check out my other blog. http://www.appalachiantrailsectionhiking.blogspot.com/.  You can read all about our wild night out in the wilderness with the hogs, the nights in the shelters with the mice, and the wonderful people we met along the way.

We plan to continue into North Carolina on the AT in the Spring.  I'll keep you posted.

We begin our AT hike!

Well - tomorrow's the day!  We will drive to Dahlonega, GA tomorrow to spend the night at the Hiker Hostel before we begin our hike the following morning bright and early.  Josh and Leigh Saint, the hosts of  the hostel, will shuttle us to the beginning of the trail at Springer Mountain.  We will have to hike a mile south to the trail head, then retrace our steps on the trail going north.  We definately want to get a picture of the plaque marking the beginning of the trail and also the view from the top of Springer Mountain.  The other option was to hike up 8.4 miles on the Southern Terminus Approach trail from Amicalola State Park.

Today we are checking and re-checking our gear and supplies.  We will have to carry 3 days supplies in our backpack at a time since we plan to spend about every 3rd night in a hostel and have access to our vehicle to re-supply our backpacks.  We are carrying about 2 pounds of food per day in our packs, plus one set of extra walking clothing, rain gear, long johns, extra socks, sleeping pad, tent, camelback for water, water purification supplies, sports wipes, and a few other essential items.  "Wait up's" pack weighs about 42 pounds and mine ("Catch-up) weighs about 33.  I don't know how we could carry more than 3 days worth at a time!  It sure will help that we have frequent access to our re-stock box in our vehicle.  Also, that will give us an opportunity to change our clothing plans in case the temperature drops considerably.  We waited for cooler weather on purpose, but we hope it's not TOO cool!  Also praying for no rain, but that is unlikely.
We have done our research, but never having done this AT thing before, there are a lot of unknowns for us, so we will learn as we go. 

Our chosen equipment:
Vasque Breeze Gore-Tex XCR Hiking Boots, $150

SmartWool Socks $17.00

Osprey Ariel 65 Backpack for me, bought on ebay, used once for $150

Gregory Baltoro 70 for him, bought at the local outfitter for $199

2 pair of BCG 100% polyester shorts and pullover shirt.  Quick dry and very comfortable. Also more affordable than other brands

2 Underarmour sports bras on sale for $19.99 each

AT elevation

OMG - Can we do this?  I have created a spreadsheet of the elevation ups and downs on the Georgia section of the AT.  Ugggghhh!  some of them mountains are pretty high!  that wouldn't be so bad, if the valleys weren't so low, I guess!  but we have to go from one to the other several times...........

Catch up

It's been awhile since I have posted - a lot has happened since March.  I've been through the valley and on the mountaintop - but mostly in the valley.  Thank God I have found that even the valley is higher ground than some of the places I have been in my life.  It is in the valley that God can refresh our soul and renew our spirit. 

Now onward and upward!!  Forgetting the past and looking forward to the future - I have a new goal!  Hiking the Appalachian Trail, baby!   It is something that I have often thought about in the past when my family occasionally crossed the AT on our camping adventures together.  It was brought back to my remembrance recently in a conversation with a friend who had been hiking and I thought "Why not?  It's now or never!"

So - we got right busy and began to plan our first trip - my hubby and I.  We have started our training, walking with our hiking boots on with our loaded backpacks - man, do we ever look funny to our neighbors, I'm sure. 
The first day - slow and WOE!
Second day - slow and MOE! I'm SOE!
Each day a little more until we can take off and GO!

We even have our trail names, since I have been studying how to do this and found out that people typically do not use their real name on the trail but choose something that is appropriate for them.

He's "Wait-up" and I'm "Catch-up"  ha ha, cause that's what we say to each other as he is walking 3 feet in front of me! 

This adventure will be good for us in many ways.

Goal No. 7 - Declutter

No. 7 - Declutter my house.
Oh, it's hard!  Why am I so sentimental????  It was soooo hard to sell my daughter's waterbed from her teenage years.  But no one would sleep on it but her - not even her husband would sleep on it with her.  She's no longer home and other people need a place to sleep when they visit, so out the waterbed had to go.  Oh, Oh!  my oh my!  I'll get over it one day. . . . . . .  Now we can set up a guest bedroom.  Whew!  that's done.

WHY RUN? (Goal #11)

Last week we started the “Couch to 5K” running plan.  It feels good to run again.  You know what I like best about running – besides the runners high that I mentioned in a previous blog, which I am NOT getting yet – it’s that you get finished with your exercise sooner if you run!  Yea, I feel like I have too many other things that I want to do besides exercise, so I would like to shorten the time as much as possible.  Ha ha.  That means I need to run, and run fast!  It will be awhile before that happens, but anyway, that’s my goal.

So – why should a retirement age woman want to run?  Though running may not cure everything, it's been linked to all sorts of health benefits, emotional perks, and even disease prevention. (http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/start-running)

1. Running is easy: Well, I don’t mean “easy” really, but it requires no equipment, and is not limited to location, you can run anywhere.  No new skills to master, no equipment to buy, no gym to join.  All you need is a good pair of running shoes and a good sports bra.  Then just get out there and run!
2. Running is good for your heart: Running gives your ticker a world-class workout. When your legs hit their stride they squeeze blood toward your heart, which in turn forces it to pump the blood right back. The faster you run, the harder your heart works and the stronger it gets.
3. Running reduces osteoporosis:  The biggest osteoarthritis risk factor besides age? Body weight.  Your knees will thank you.  Runners are much more likely to be at a normal weight than members of the sedentary population, significantly decreasing their risk of osteoarthritis. Besides the benefits of weighing less, running bolsters your cartilage by increasing oxygen flow and flushing out toxins, and by strengthening the ligaments around your joints. Hitting the trail also gives your bones a boost, helping to prevent osteoporosis.
4. Running reduces stress:  The University of Georgia Department of Exercise induced anxiety on subjects and then tested their physiological and mood symptoms after either resting for an hour or exercising for that hour. The exercise (in this case, on a stationary bike), was three times more effective at reducing anxiety. Running is even used by mental health experts to help treat clinical depression and other psychological disorders such as drug and alcohol addiction.
5. Running prevents disease: One recent study in the British Journal of Cancer calculated that the "most active" (e.g. walked briskly 5-6 hours/week) people were 24 percent less likely to develop colon cancer than the "least active" people (e.g. 30 minutes of walking/week). In a study by the National Cancer Institute, women of a normal weight who reported the highest levels of "vigorous activity" (running, tennis, aerobics) had about a 30 percent lower risk of breast cancer when compared with women who did no vigorous activity. Becoming a regular runner may help you cancer-proof your life. Joggers also have a leg up against heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, and running has been shown to lower blood pressure, raise good cholesterol, and boost immunity to colds and other viruses.
6. Running helps you live longer: In perhaps the most surprising study done on the health benefits of running, a team at the Stanford University School of Medicine studied 538 runners and 423 healthy non-runners from 1984 until 2005. All of the subjects were over 50 and were asked to take a disability questionnaire each year measuring simple tasks like cutting meat, shampooing hair, and opening a milk carton. Every year, the disability levels were significantly lower in the group of runners than in the non-runners, and they became more different as both groups aged. At the end of the study, 85% of the runners were still alive, while only 66% of the non-runners were.

Sounds good to me – let’s go run!

Goal Number 11

I'm adding another goal to my previous list of 10 --

Number 11 - Exercise more!

Check.
Today I walked about 3 miles.  It's a start.  Actually better than the start I had back in 1982 when I first had the wild idea that I wanted to run.  Unathletic me who had two small children set out to run for exercise for the first time and to build up until I could participate in some road races.  It was a long, slow process.

The first race I went to I was going to participate in the fun run only  (1 mile).  Well, due to some mix up on the starting time, I got there just in time to run the 10K, which I did!  Mind you, the longest distance I had run at home so far was maybe 2 miles, and here I was trying to run 6.2 miles.  Yes, I did it!  I ran all the way!  In under 60 minutes too!  That was the first of many races for me.  A couple of weekends after that one, I ran a 5K (3.1 miles) and placed in my age group!  Wow, was I ever surprised and pleased! As I came to learn though, it all depended on how many people of your age and gender run that determines how you place; you stand a much better chance in the smaller races.  But I did earn quite a few medals over the years from racing.  I still have them on my bedroom wall (Is that too prideful?).  Maybe I need to remodel my bedroom. 

In 1986, I ran the Blue Angel Marathon (26.2 miles) in 4 hours, 8 minutes and 15 seconds.  Ran all the way!  When I first started training for it, I said "I'm going to do this even if I have to crawl part of it."  Then I began to think "Oh, I might have to walk a little bit, but I can do 26.2 miles if it takes me all day."  I "hit the wall" at about 18 miles and thought I was going to die!  But I kept putting one foot in front of the other and at the finish line I couldn't believe that I had actually run the entire race.  Whew, what a high! 

There's nothing like the runner's high.  What a glorious feeling!  Man, I want to do that again! 

So today I am starting the process to eventually be able to run races again.  Will my old body let me do that at retirement age?  We shall see.  I'll keep you posted. 

Retirement Goals Progress

It’s hard to believe that six months has gone by since I retired.  There is so much that I planned to have done by now!  Things have not gone like I thought they would, but I have made a LITTLE progress on SOME of my retirement goals.

1. Learn to draw/paint.

• One of the first things I did was order a book from an artist that I like very much, Kelly Rae Roberts.  Her book was very inspiring and had step-by-step instructions for completing her projects.  I have started purchasing some supplies to try some of them.  (Art supplies can be expensive, I found out!)

• I attended a class on bas-relief and finished my first bas-relief project of a sunflower.
  
  2.  Learn to speak Spanish.
• On 11-3-10, Gralyn and I started attending a Spanish class once a week taught by our good friends, Arellys and Cheyenne.  What better teacher could you have?  She’s from Nicaragua! We are making progress!
  
  3.  Learn calligraphy.
• I have been practicing SOME from a book that I have and also from some small instruction that I received from a friend of mine.  Lot’s more practice is needed.  I plan to attend meetings of the Calligraphy Guild soon.
  
  4.  Learn to play the piano better.
• Ummm – no progress here.
  
  5.  Publish another book.
• In October, Gralyn and I attended a writers conference at Auburn University and learned some things.
• I have done a little work on a cookbook called “Homecoming” which will feature all the good ole southern cooking that we all like so much at dinners on the ground.  Or at least, I like it….
  
  6.  Establish a speaking/teaching ministry.
• In November, I taught a 3-session workshop on “What Every Church Member Should Know About Poverty.”  I enjoyed it very much, hope everyone else did and learned something from it about how to minister to those in poverty. 
  
  7.  Declutter my house.
• I have sold several books on Amazon.com,
• finished putting together 3 photo albums
• and took several car loads of clothes to the consignment shop.  That cleared out some of the clutter and I made a little money in the process!
  
  8.  Add to my website design business. 
• I have added one website to my repertoire – that makes five!
  
  9.  Seek ministry opportunities with the spiritually and physically needy, at home and abroad.
• I have attended some meetings of the homeless coalition and volunteered to help with their Point-In-Time survey. 
• I participated in a Poverty Simulation which was very enlightening to see how folks in poverty live. 

• I have finished a mat for the homeless crocheted from plastic shopping bag strips. 
  
  10. Travel
• On June 15, we left Milton Florida to travel across country with Ashley and Amber as they moved from Altus, OK to Spokane, WA.  We saw most of the major attractions between here and there.  When we left Washington State, Gralyn and I went through the northern states all the way over to Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and down to Florida.  We traveled through 25 states in 28 days.  That was a LOT of driving!  This almost completed our quest to visit all 50 states with the exceptions of Hawaii and Oregon – yes, Oregon!  Why didn’t we see Oregon when we were that close to it?  Well, we plan visit Ashley and Amber and take an extended vacation in Oregon with them at a later date.  They will be there for three years. 

Retirement Goals

I have always been a goal setter.  So I hopped right to it upon retirement. 
Here goes --  my retirement goals.  I will post my progress here as time goes by.

1. Learn to draw/paint.
2.  Learn to speak Spanish.
3.  Learn calligraphy.
4.  Learn to play the piano better.
5.  Publish another book.
6.  Establish a speaking/teaching ministry.
7.  Declutter my house.
8.  Add to my website design business. 
9.  Seek ministry opportunities with the spiritually and physically needy, at home and abroad.
10. Travel

I'm sure there will be more as time goes by, but for now these are the things I am working on.

Retirement

After 30 years in the education field, I retired in June of 2010.  The decision was made after much deliberation and soul-searching and was not an easy one to make.  Several events encouraged me to take the plunge and I finally did it.

I was encouraged by the scripture that just "happened" to be on display at church every Sunday for months.

Isaiah 43:18-19
"Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.  Behold I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?  I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

I am looking forward to the "new thing" God is going to do in my life after retirement.  I am convinced that retirement is not a period, but a comma in my life.  I'm looking forward to many exciting things to follow.