Yogi- Triathlete- Nutrition nut

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, near Gainesville

With Bison Skat

The hike we took in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park is my son’s favorite of all of Florida. We explored only a small part of this park, but we got a good idea of the expansiveness of this park and its prairie.

We walked out the 2.6 miles Bolen Buff Trail after a rainy night. Guess what that made for? I very muddy walk–most of the reason this was my son’s favorite hike. This is…

Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park, City of Tallahassee

I am grateful to the Phipps family for creation of this Tallahassee park. One measure of a good park to me is the ability to choose where to go with multiple paths. If only one path exists, or it is too short, then eventually, that feeling of discovery goes away. Multiple paths helps to open up an area and make it seem more expansive, although at 600 acres, the park is pretty expansive to begin…

Fort Braden Trail, Lake Talquin State Forest

For a Texas girl, I think the Tallahassee area of Florida has great topography of rolling hills, but I know some people from more mountainous regions find the hikes here too flat. The Fort Braden Trail at the Lake Talquin State Forestis one of the exceptions to that. The topography is rolling, up and down past the creek(s) that feeds this lake. So this park pasted the test for my ex-park ranger…

Leon Sinks, Apalachicola National Forest

Sink holes and Florida, this usually brings to mind houses and cars being sucked up into the earth; however, it is a much more natural and usually less dramatic process than that. There is a large aquifer under much of Florida, made up of the swiss-cheese like limestone that has been eroded away. In some places, this water comes up in the form of beautiful natural, cold-water springs. In other…

I’ve been off the blog for a long time! Despite constant exercise, somewhere between a move, house remodeling (yes- me and power tools), and training for a tri, I ruptured a disc in my lower back. Ugh! I have a lot more sympathy for back injuries going forward.

No triathlons or running for me for a while, but I finally have been allowed back to swimming and walking. (And I’ve joked with my…

I’ve been off the blog for a long time! Despite constant exercise, somewhere between a move, house remodeling (yes- me and power tools), and training for a tri, I ruptured a disc in my lower back. Ugh! I have a lot more sympathy for back injuries going forward.

No triathlons or running for me for a while, but I finally have been allowed back to swimming and walking. (And I’ve joked with my…

Do You Love Dogs More Than People?

Painting by Holly Hunter Berry (Excellent teacher & Artist!)

I believe many people love their dogs, not only more than humans, but more than their families and themselves. How so? you wonder. Most people are willing to make sure there dog gets walked or gets time outside. They are also careful to make sure that their dogs get the right kind of food. They are willing to do all of this for their…

It has been a while since I posted. What have I been up to? Well, I’ve been getting ready to move. While I have been ready to pack, I have still exercised but it is taking me extra motivation. That motivation has come in taking a variety of classes at different locations.

Two of the places I have tried is Pure Barre and Define (Define Body class). Both are exercises that use a ballet barre.…

Make Your City Healthier

Every semester, my fitness and health students complete a project that projects onto real life. This fall, their project was to pretend that I was the city council or parks board and write a project proposal or grant proposal on something that would make their city healthier. I tell them to be specific and efficient with any money.

Two of my favorites this semester require very little money…

What an Ideal Doctor Visit Should Look Like

It sucks to be sick. But what sucks more is having to go to the doctor sick. Already you feel awful, then circle the parking lot looking for a spot before you walk into the doctor’s waiting room to sit and wait with a lot more sick people. When you are finally called back, you wait again. And if you have to remove your clothes, you sit in a gown freezing, feeling like the wait is even that much…

Have you seen the news article on BBC about the man who mapped his run to spell out “Will you marry me”? He posted the run on Facebook and went home with a ring to check her answer.

I’ve also seen marriage vows at the start of a race. The bride and groom run together to their cake at the end of the race.

Sounds romantic to you? Share your stories here!

Use a Fast as a Diet?

HaveMatWillTri.com: Fasting instead of dieting

Instead of dieting everyday, have you ever considering fasting weekly? It may not be as crazy as it sounds. A recent study said that it could be a healthy way to go.

I have always played with fasting. I enjoy it especially after holidays and vacations when I feel like I have overindulged and left some of my healthy eating habits behind. But after…

The More You Run, the Sooner It’s Done

Some people are born runners. Others are not. I fall firmly into the later category. I love triathlons for the swimming and cycling that keep me from having to do too much running in a long race. So, my mantra for running is: the more I run, the sooner I’ll be done.

This mantra really helps me when I’m tired after the first two events and feel like walking. Actually, it helps me in runs too.…

My grandmother in heaven was smiling at me a few weeks as I attended Oprah’s Live the Life You Want weekend. She could never miss an episode of Oprah. Oprah was her expert for everything (and she never got to see Oprah in person), so I was thinking about her often as I attended Saturday’s all-day inspirational workshop.

The weekend opened with Deepak Chopra and a grounding meditation. He reminded…

Not a Dr. Oz Fan, But…

Photo courtesy Flickr/Lori Joan

I’m not a Dr. Oz fan. It probably started when he sounded like a mouthpiece for the AMA trying to scare everyone about the dangers of raw milk. He talked about the dangers without talking about the problems of pasteurized milk and why raw milk is supposed to be healthier. He also didn’t concede that raw milk producers who are licensed by the state have to go…

Glow Run: A family motivator

A glow run is a great way to motivate the family to move. My family just did a night-time 5k glow run. It gave the children a reason to run 3 miles.

My older child is 7, and my younger turned 6 just before the race. We started training about 5 weeks before the race date. The first week, the kids ran 1.5 miles. The next week 2 miles. Then, we increased gradually after that. They did two weeks of 3…