The evening of Sept. 18, my sister and I stood in line to sign up for Central Peninsula General Hospital's 10,000 Step Program. We had been talking about doing "something" to get us over the middle-aged hump of our mostly sedentary lifestyle.
Up to that point we had begun to "get ready to get ready" by walking laps in the Nikiski pool on Friday nights while the family splashed and played in the main pool. We felt we were ready for the 10,000-step challenge. We were hyped up and had even managed to arrive 10 minutes early for the 5:30 p.m. sign-up time. Our plan was to arrive early in order to be two of the 125 available slots.
Ten minutes, however, was not nearly early enough. It turned out that we were numbers 73 and 74 in a line that continued to grow behind us, stretching from the Physical Medicine Department past the hospital's main doors. It took us more than an hour to get from those doors to near the head of the line. It took most of the next hour to make it the rest of the way, have weight checks, blood pressure checks, a chat with the staff and to receive our pedometers and final instructions on when and how to report weekly steps.
It took two hours, but we used that time to chat with the people near us. We teased those who stepped out of line that they should now go to the back of the line. We greeted acquaintances and made new ones. The volume in the corridor grew to a near-deafening din of excitement and wonder ‹ as in "I wonder if I will be able to make 10,000 steps a week, let alone a day" and "I wonder if I will make it to the head of the line before they run out of supplies."
We left full of excitement and armed with lots of information about upcoming community walks that the 10K Steppers were invited to join. The first of these was to be held the following week at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. We were invited to share in the dedication of a new section of trail, and then to walk the entire trail with a promise of seeing around 6,000 steps added to our counters for the day.
My 9-year-old granddaughter, Mairi, said she would love to come with me for the walk. It was a sunny and gorgeous fall day, perfect for walking in that it was not too cold, yet crisp enough that we would not be overheated during our trek. We started off with the group, but were quickly passed by the bulk of people who were in a lot better shape than I was. Mairi stayed close by me and delighted in sharing discoveries of plants and tracks.
We were accompanied by a couple who also was there because of the 10,000-step program. The four of us soon bonded in our commitment to walk the entire trail, with no cutting back. We
chatted as we walked and laughed and even sang at a couple of points. We found a bone from a moose leg. We discovered some "angel hair" or "old man's beard." And we took lots of pictures. Mairi would run ahead to the other couple, then run back to me. She always seemed to know instinctively when I needed to rest and never made a comment about how slow I was.
The four of us were the last to come off the trail. We stopped a few feet shy of the end ‹ we could see some of the refuge personnel, but they couldn't see us. It was agreed among us that we would stop, catch our collective breaths and then walk across the line smiling and breathing normally. Applause and refreshments and even a song or two greeted us. Mairi and I waved good-bye to our new friends and agreed that it had been a wonderful time.
It has now been seven weeks since that original sign-up and the program has expanded to include an additional 125 people. On Nov. 7, I met a couple from this later group. The 10K Steppers had again been invited to join in a community activity, this one being the fall kickoff at the Tsalteshi Trail system.
On this occasion I asked my 11-year-old grandson, Sean, to accompany me. (Gramma is not without sense here, you see. Always take a younger person who is in better shape when on
such a trek ‹ that way, if or when Gramma goes down, the young 'un can fetch help.) Sean found walking sticks for both of us. Actually, mine was the handle from his mom's broom.
Thus equipped, we headed out for a late afternoon of fun.
Scheduled to be an orienteering event, packets were handed out containing maps to points along the trails where we might find a marker, a hole punch and candy treats. We checked over the map and decided that we would just walk the trail and not worry about finding all of the markers. As we hiked up the first hill I was very glad I had thought to ask Sean to find me a stick. It came in very handy!
As it had been raining all week, the trail was extremely muddy in places. We quickly decided to follow the organizer's advice to take the short loop back to the school. We were running out of daylight and I knew we were not equipped to be out on the trails after dark.
We were joined by a couple who had joined the 10,000 Steps program at the second sign-up. After introductions all around, the four of us kept each other company and visited along the route. Sean did find one of the markers, punched our card and retrieved a candy treasure for each of us. He even willingly gave up the one Tootsie Roll he found to the gentleman with us, although I know that is his favorite. (Grandpa and Gramma bought him a bag of Tootsie Rolls later to share with his sisters.)
Our group was the first to arrive back at the starting point. Sean and I had decided not to stay for the carry-in dinner, but we did go inside the school to check in with the organizers. We wanted to make sure they knew we had made it back safely so they wouldn't worry that we were still out on the trail somewhere with the moose.
You meet the nicest people on a trail walk. I enjoyed meeting these two couples on our two outings. But, even more importantly, I enjoyed meeting my grandchildren. They were both joys to be with ‹ kind and solicitous ‹ young and energetic ‹ loving the time we were able to spend together. They have each said they would love to do it again. And they both thanked me for taking them along.
Mairi and Sean, the pleasure was all Gramma's. And, with the incentive of the 10,000 Step Program getting me up and out of the house more often, I am sure that another opportunity will come along soon.
Barbara Waters of Kenai has seven grandchildren with another on the way. Each grandchild gets to share special activities with Gramma, with the more physical activities being
shared by the older two. She says the 10,000 Step Program has been a great incentive to her to do more outside activities, although the bulk of her steps currently are done on the treadmill.
