Here in Calgary, Alberta, the days are getting quite cold – and the mornings quite dark. At the peak of the cold season we’re looking at temperatures of about -25˚C (-13˚F) plus wind chill. Keeping up with walking during the winter season takes some pretty tough discipline and great clothing. I thought I’d share some of my best finds with...

Every now and then I hit a place in my walking where I need to take about a week off.  Because I’ve never had problems starting up again, I allow myself this grace.  It happens about once or twice a year.  No biggie. About a month ago, such a time had arrived.  I just needed a break, so I took a week off.  That weekend I got the dreaded flu, and the...

As you all probably know, I LOOOOOOVE my Vibram FiveFinger shoes. Unfortunately, here in Calgary, winter is already upon us (except when the Chinook comes for a visit) and we’ve already had snow a couple of times. My Classic Vibrams are NO good in the snow – too cold, too wet, no protection. I’m desperately wanting a pair of FiveFinger Flow...

I completed level 2 in my training on Saturday by participating in a 10k race for a local church here. Even without the 1˚C (33.8˚F) temperature and brisk winter wind, it was an interesting experience. I warmed up well, started out by climbing up a reasonably steep but short hill, and proceeded through what was a beautiful, not-terribly-strenuous walk to complete...

Marathon Countdown: 20 days I know, I know.  I’m an extremist.  I tend to go off the deep end, jump on bandwagons, and get fixated on weird stuff.  Ach, it makes life interesting. Like this new tangent. You see, shortly after deciding to walk a marathon, I began reading everything I could about walking.  All of these books talked about footwear.  One of...