The Kindness of Strangers

We picked up our 20 year old daughter, Eden, at the downtown Toronto bus station at noon on Saturday. She was hauling her boxed bike, panniers and hiking backpack, and was wearing a periwinkle blue colored tank top, a light grey jacket and her glorious strawberry blond hair braided to the side. She looked like a tree in blossom. Radiant. This, even though she had been on the bus from Washington overnight, having bussed to there the previous morning from Charlottesville.  I hugged her tightly and told her I was so happy she was home safely and she smiled shyly and said "I think I smell- I haven't had the chance to wash my clothes in the last couple of weeks". She smelled fine- more than fine- I couldn't smell her but I wouldn't have cared. I didn't realize how relieved I was that she was home and that nothing untoward had happened during her two week solo bike trip in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, U.S.A. Yes that's right- her "solo" bike trip. This was not the first time she had done this. Last summer she biked on her own from Kingston to Halifax, camping in peoples' backyards.

Here she is just starting out on a previous trip

She said she preferred to go on her own 'cause then she didn't have to answer to anybody or compromise at all. She could experience exactly what she wanted when she wanted. She admitted that it could be lonely but she was willing to pay that price and besides she said- it is good to get used to your own company and it is character-building. Both times she took her cell phone (and with my son-in-law Phil's stern corroboration that it was necessary to keep your cell phone charged- it wasn't even safe- thank-you Phil) and at my insistence, texted us at least once a day to let us know she was alright. I realize that this provided a false sense of security- that she could be fine the minute she texted us and hurt or kidnapped the next minute and we wouldn't know, but somehow it gave me comfort.

I have a lot of confidence in my daughter's abilities- it's not that at all- it's that she is 20, fiercely independent, doesn't like to ask for or take help from anybody, beautiful and travelling alone in mountain country. When I described her trip, many people grimaced or immediately started humming the banjo theme song from Deliverance- the movie that highlighted the type of folk who city slickers could run afoul of in mountain country- inbred,  depraved, sexually crazed, rifle carrying hillbillies or worse. Like who could be worse? Do you mind! This is not helpful.

And in fact she did get picked up by a couple. She was biking on the Skyline Trail and the temperature had been dropping rapidly until it had started to snow. She did not have any warm clothes and was hypothermic- shivering, teeth chattering, muscles twitching- the whole nine yards. She had stopped at one of the infrequent rest areas along the way and was spotted by a middle-aged couple who asked her if she needed a ride. They had a truck so tossed (not literally- Eden wouldn't take to tossing of "the precious") her bike in the back and transported her to a lodge where she wisely decided to spend the night rather than camp in the snow. This unnamed, compassionate couple bought her a hot meal and gave her the aforementioned jacket. Out of the kindness of their hearts. Thank you.  Thank you, benevolent strangers for seeing somebody in need and stepping up instead of just driving away. Thank you for buying her a meal. Thank you for giving her a jacket. I wish I knew more about you so I could send you some flowers, or a card or email even. But I know you don't care about that. You are good charitable people who saw a young woman who at that moment in time, needed some care, and you gave it to her.  Thank you for your kindness to my daughter.  I will pay it forward.

Spring in Southern Ontario

April 14, 2014 : 20 degrees Celsius or 68  degrees Fahrenheit

April 15, 2014:  Minus 2 degrees Celsius or 28.4 degrees Fahrenheit (yes that's correct almost 40 degrees difference) and this:



That's correct- SNOW SNOW SNOW!
 

DO YOU MIND!

Had to dig out my gloves, hat and hoodie to go for my HIT this morning in the blowing snow.
Runners and socks got soaking wet and very rough going- hard to go on an all out sprint when you are worried about killing yourself on the slushy and icy road. Yes both, but not in the same place.

Also due to the Heartbleed bug, CRA online closed down so have to hand deliver my source deduction payment due today, April 15, to the bank by trudging in the aforementioned snow.

On the upside, everyone I met outside today had a "what ya gonna do?" look on their faces and smiled when I said- "ya snow-but this is definitely IT."

We all really really hope so!



A HIT of A Different Kind

In the last 2 weeks of winter, frustrated with not being able to get a cardio workout (on account of the hideous outside conditions coupled with my abhorrence of gyms), I dusted off my ancient x-country skis and went out with my buddy, Jerry to our local x-country ski trail. Jerry is a guy who is in pretty good shape-- he thinks nothing of biking 65 kilometres for a leisurely afternoon ride. When I ride with him (well "with" is probably not the right word) I am waaaay behind-- he goes his pace, (I encourage that so he won't get bored and want to blow his brains out) and I struggle to keep up by going my speed and then giving it big bursts of energy. And guess what-- that is what x-country skiing was like... glide glide glide and then give it all you got so you wouldn't lose sight of Jerry. (He's really a decent and lovely man, and does wait for me, so I do have a chance to catch my breath from time to time). And I realized what I was doing, (inadvertently), was what is called High Intensity Interval Training or HIT.

                                              And now that spring has sprung,

 

Well at least my tulips have sprung

  

I have continued that idea into my running routine by brisk walking/jogging for a minute (ok maybe two, three tops) and then sprinting all out for say 15 seconds, then repeat over a 30 minute time span. And you know how when you buy a Camry say, and then you start seeing Camrys everywhere you look-- well in the last week I have seen three articles on HIT.  It's everywhere! According to Eric Sullivan of GQ magazine: "The concept behind HIT is simple: Exercise as hard as you can for a few minutes, recover just long enough to stop sucking wind, and repeat. This spikes your metabolism and builds muscle quickly".  It also apparently burns more calories and continues to burn calories for up to a 24 hour period.  (What if you are chowing down on a bag of Miss Vickies, during that 24 hours? Are you still burning calories, I wonder?)

In the article in the Globe and Mail, Margarete Webb writes about HIT-type workouts being a "powerful medicine for stalling aging". WHOA- what's that you say? It's true.  Apparently this type of exercise "prompts the body to secrete growth hormone-- often called youth hormone; it helps control body weight and rejuvenates the muscles and connective tissue...".  Say no more. I am there-- I want to be there, I will be there. You are supposed to, I have learned, do at least a minute on, a minute off.  But  do you mind, it is well, intense and really hard to go all out for even 15 seconds, at least for me.

Another tidbit I have learned is that  according to a McMaster University study a mere "18 minutes a week (excluding warm up and cool down) can deliver many of  the  health benefits of 5 hours of  sustained moderate exercise." Why have I been wasting my time? This HIT is definitely for me!