go nordic walking twice a week minimum

I’ve been a really lazy cow and couldn’t be arsed to do any work out. As a result, I have gained weight and feel really unfit and unhappy with myself. I am also terrified of the long distances I will be wlaking at Glastonbury, knowing how badly my feet were after only two days at Lowlands, which is a fraction the size of Glasto.
But we’ve been walking twice this weekend (Fri and Sun), and I am determined to get into shape. It’s a must. A necessity, not a luxury.

Bf and I have been so at it that I got myself a hip joint problem. The doctor looked at it today and told me to take it easy for two weeks, and then start NWing again, but gradually. Apparently, when NWing, the leg stays on the ground for a longer period and the steps are longer, straining the joint. In two week, we will pick this up again, but carefully. I can’t wait.

What happened? A week ago, when NWing, I developped a weird pain in my right hip joint. It went away the following day, and surfaced again the last time I went to the gym. And then, on our last walk on Monday, not only did I get myself blisters on both feet, but the pain returned with a vengeance. Yesterday, after a night of sleep, I was still limping in work, so I made a doctor’s appointment. I don’t want to get hurt, and it would be a shame if I’d have to give up the one workout my bf and I can enjoy together.

We went for another nice walk last night. Another 1 1/2 rounds around Amsterdam’s beautiful Vondelpark.

Well, it was a short round since the delivery from my pharmacy was late and we wanted to be back in time for Star Trek Enterprise. So we went one round around the park in 50 minutes. I lengthened my sticks again, which had slid in whithout me really noticing, and now the workout for arms was much better. I can feel it today.

We took another walk last evening, it too us about an hour, and at the end, it started raining/snowing (both). I enjoyed it very much. No pain in my hip.

...we went for two very enthousiastic rounds of Vondelpark. It took us 1 hour and 20 minutes, and we were very tired afterwards.
But I must have overdone it, I had a pain in my right hip since then, so we could not go on Saturday or Sunday. :o(

yesterday evening, we went for another 1 1/2 rounds around Vondelpark, and we thought we’d been walking for 1 1/2 hours, but it was only one. So we are walking pretty fast, too. I can feel it in my buttocks alright.

Clocked up another hour in Vondelpark last night. Need I say that people snigger less at us when it’s dark.

bf and I have bought a pair of Nordic Walking sticks each, which we tried out yesterday.
The trouble was that we live right next door to Amsterdam’s most famous park, the Vondelpark, but unfortunately, bf has a bad knee that gives him trouble, and my jogging tempo is extremely slow, so we can never run together. So we’ve tried NW, and that is just great! You work out your upper body, arms, abs, while walking at a raised tempo. Apart from the physical benefits (lowering the impact on your joints by 6 tons per km in comparison with jogging) and not only working our legs but also our upper bodies, we are making the world a happier place: Some people can’t help it but laugh when they see us. Amsterdam has not copped on with the NW fad yet, but 6 million nordic walkers world wide can’t be wrong.
You have a higher heartrate and still have a chat. We rounded Vondelpark 1 1/2 times, it took us about 90 minutes, and we were really tired but happy afterwards.
I never thought this could be this much fun!!! And I am very happy that bf and I can do this together.
Now all we need to do is get the technique right.