DCF 2012 Summer

Summer 2012

As Free as You Are

Livin’ It and Lovin’ It in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Fo l l o w Me

Duke City Fit

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Duke City Fit

Summer 2012

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Duke City Fit From the

Publisher

Ken Orth

The prickly pears bloomed big and beautiful this year. And plentiful. That might mean, come September, a bumper crop of prickly pear fruits.

Did you know those fruits are called “tunas”.

But not by me.

I was not aware of it

. A prickly pear fruit is called a “tuna”. I have never called it a tuna. No one I know calls it a tuna… except for the botanist lady I know, and she did it in the way that educators do…”here’s a little known fact…”

I call them “prickly pear fruits”.

I guess they’re a fruit. I suppose I should ask the botanist lady, but she would probably go into a desertation of some kind about what defines a fruit as opposed to what defines a vegetable. And I’d end up with three pages of notes and a bit of a headache.

And a few cups of coffee under my belt.

As I understand it, it is considered a fruit if what you are consuming is the container of the seeds. An apple, for example, or a melon, or a strawberry. Or, a cucumber… but we’ll stay away from that one for now.

However, if what you are eating is the seeds themselves, or the plant itself, the leaves or the stalk, why then, it is a vegetable. Spinach, asparagus, beans.

Not that it really matters. Except perhaps to the botanist. And maybe to the fruits and vegetables themselves, if fruits and vegetables are inclined to think about such mundane things.

If any of ‘em would… think about it, that is… it might well be the prickly pear though. They are, after all, kinda.. well… prickly, if you know what I mean.

“I ain’t no dang fruit. Here, you just put your hand down here and I’ll poke you good. Man, I got spines.”

“Fruit! Fruit don’t got no spines. C’mon, just put your fingers on down here and I’ll show you some fruit. I’ll be bitin’ you way before you be bitin’ me.”

“Hey, and don’t you even think about callin’ me a tuna. A fish? Whats the matter with you? In the desert? Man, if I’m a fish, I’m a damn shark and I’ll be showing you what’s what when I inflict some pain on your sorry butt.”

“Fish… fruit… you are one confused dude. I’m a prickly pear, brother, and don’t you forget it. I got teeth, and I ain’t afraid to use ‘em.”

Ahem.

See what I mean about ‘em being “prickly”?

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The tunas have been mixed with sugar and pectin But he does have a point. (Several of ‘em, as a and sold to tourists from New Jersey who don’t matter of fact.) Not only are the pads covered with know any better. spines… noticeable, pointy spines… but the fruits Prickly pear jelly? If those fruits had had any say have ‘em too, though not so noticeable. They’re subtle in the matter, they’d have smuggled some of their little devils. infamous, tiny little spines into that jar of jelly, and Little spines with a hefty bite. then let’s see what those tourists think about some I suppose many people, maybe even most, when of those babies ending up on their morning toast. they first encounter the ripened fruit on the prickly Let your lips and tongue say hello to a prickly pear pear are lured into touching them, grabbing them, by the way they’d like to do it. their innocuous, innocent, bare-skinned appearance.

“Howdy. How’s that feel? Does it make your lips That’ll be the last time they do that. sting just a little? You ain’t no bear, are you?”

Go ahead, give it a shot. See how long you spend Bah, humbug. trying to pick the couple dozen hair-thin spines out of But their is another destiny in the short list of your fingers and palm. destinies for a prickly pear fruit that comes to mind.

Prickly pear fruits, if indeed they are fruits, do not It is, perhaps, not as grandiose as being eaten by a go down easily or without a fight. As such, I was bear… but it is WAY above being jellied. inclined at first to think of them as male. Manly, “Oh, they all ended up in jelly jars down in Old testosterone-induced fighters. But upon further Town.” reflection, perhaps it is more of a mama grizzly kind “I’m so sorry for you.” of thing. “These are my off-spring and they’ll go “Mine ended up in a margarita in the heights. nowhere without my say so.”

Patron Silver, I believe.”

“And don’t you mess with them.”

Say what?

Either way, their tough approach to life and the In a margarita? tough environment in which they live seems to say Now that, methinks, is a calling that would make something about them. About their character. About a mama prickly proud. Cactus ala cactus. the very fiber of their being. About their destiny…

And you know what? In a margarita that prickly Hiking around in the Sandias over the years, in the pear fruit is still biting back. It is living up to at higher Sandias, I have several times stumbled upon least a bit of its character. It isn’t being sugared the fruits of their destiny, if you will… in the form of and candied and slathered on a crumpet. It’s being small piles of partially digested purple scat, right there pickled with tequila, blended with triple sec, and on the trail. Bear scat. The prickly pear progeny, in all brought forth in all of its phosphorescent glory in a of its purple glory, had been eaten by a bear! presentation fit for a king. With salt on the rim. And Now that seems to me, as an independent observer, a lime on the side. to be rather a fitting destiny for such a hearty, bullOh my. headed plant. Consumed by a bear. To be redistributed Heck, that may even beat being eaten by a bear. later, then, in a location of the bear’s choosing. Often In the backyard, as the sun goes down and the in the very middle of the La Luz Trail. Now that is a Sandias turn as brilliant pink as the drink in your destiny to make a mama prickly swell with pride. hand… you lift a florescent toast to the mountains, “Mine joined the Air Force.” and the bears, and the prickly pears.

“Mine is in college down at State.”

“Mine got eaten by a bear!”

Editor@dukecityfit.com “Oooooo… you must be so very (505) 291-0070 proud.”

Editor: Ken Orth Copy Editor: P Joan Orth, RN Printed by Vanguard Printing With that in mind, I sometimes Duke City Fit is solely owned and published by Duke City Fit, LLC. It is published also find the ultimate destiny of a quarterly in March, June, September, and December. Copyright © 2012 by Duke City prickly pear fruit in the most unlikely Fit. All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or in whole without written permission is prohibited. Opinions and expressions of fact within articles are those of the author and of places. Like… in the airport gift are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. Specifically, the editor and publisher are not liable for actions taken in response to any article. Readers are encouraged to shop. Horror of horrors, they’ve use common sense and consult with a professional before attempting any potentially activity. ended up in a little jar of prickly pear harmful Duke City Fit encourages your submission of articles, photographs, comments, criticisms, and ideas. All submissions will be considered for publication. Recommended jelly. It’s a mama prickly’s worst article length is 800 to 1200 words. We reserve the right to edit all submitted materials.

Materials will not be returned. Advertising is accepted at the discretion of the publisher. nightmare.

Duke City Fit is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Our mailing address: Prickly pear jelly?

Duke City Fit, 3801 Big Bend NE, Albuquerque, NM 87111

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Duke City Fit Oh my indeed.

“Hey, hey… wait a minute,” I hear somebody saying, “Isn’t this a health and fitness paper? Are you espousing drinking margaritas in the backyard?

What’s up with that?”

To that somebody… to that lone, sad somebody sitting at the breakfast table there with a freshly opened jar of prickly pear jelly before him and a single slice of whole wheat toast… to that somebody I would like to express these two thoughts: One. If you have taken the time, effort, and daring to actually gather prickly pear tunas sharks and turn them into prickly pear margaritas, in what I know to be neither an easy nor simple process, you, my friend, have earned the right to consume it. Bear-like and proud.

And two. Haven’t you been listening to what I’ve been saying? Prickly pears have very, very few chances for glory.

Bears are scarce these days, and getting scarcer. The best the average tuna can hope for is to be eaten by a nearsighted mule deer with bad breath. Or an ignominious death washed down an arroyo by an afternoon monsoon to end up in a rain gutter somewhere.

Oh, the shame!

But we, as comrades of the desert and occasional consumers of margaritas…

we have the ability, nay, the duty, to assist those little guys in achieving prickly pear Valhalla. Can we not find it in our hearts to help? Can we not, just once in a while, be a part of something bigger and better? Can we do something, finally, nobly, that is not just about ourselves?

I hope so.

As we run our marathons, and work out at the gyms, and hike our way up the La Luz for the umpteenth time, I should hope that we can take just a moment or two to think about other things. About the mountains and the bears and the mule deers, and realize that they have lives and dreams and destinies, too.

Even so… the lowly prickly pear.

And when we hold that purple margarita up… fruit of the desert, fruit of our labor, fruit of our friendship… when we toast the mountains in the pinkening sunset, the glass sparkling in the fading light, I can only imagine that mama prickly up there, so proud.

So very proud.

And besides, It’s the best darn margarita I ever had.

Please see “The Fruits of Summertime” Prickly Pear Margaritas, on Page 24

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Summer 2012

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Duke City Fit The

Bluffs of the

El Malpais To the El Malpais

by Isabel I-40 Going West In a mini bus loaded with Palo Duro Senior Center super-fit hiking retirees Conversation burbles round me Glen Campbell’s singing in my head ...

“By the time I make Albuquerque, she’ll be sleepin cause I’ve left that gal so many times before ...”

Trucks toil by, chrome gleaming in a morning light Comes an hour, then the pit stop at the Subway Now south on Exit 89, Highway 117 towards Quemado Going behind time Red cliffs rise steep and jagged Glad for somebody else at the wheel Glad for a window seat El Malpais signs point the way to the Sandstone Bluffs, Fifteen minutes in on temporary washboard parking lot appears The collective exits Hands on hips, breathing in the glorious day, perching for a moment of shared quiet The toothy edge invites the eye into the fastness A herd of mule deer wander way down below Their white under-tail spots disappear into the pinon, juniper green Beneath New Mexico blue A loose line forms behind the Dave, a quiet man in a western hat, in love with this place Mt. Taylor stands lavender in the distance a marker for the walking A left at a cattle fence begins the down into the belly below the cliffs “Deep sand develops quads,” somebody says, as boots disappear into coarse-grained brown The sun climbs and paints flat over the early long shadows and rich color Clothes get peeled off and arms spread wide to catch a breeze This writer remembers a long forgotten fence of turkey buzzards, outside Chloride, NM On some unspoken signal every-other took turns raising wings to catch the breeze We eat in the company of petroglyphs, beneath the massive eye of the supra arch

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Isabel Bearman-Bucher The Sandstone Bluffs hike at the El Malpais has no real trails. Following the rim north, the view unveils hoodoos, great rock formations and natural arches. At an old cattle fence there’s a down which puts the hikers into the lands that surround the bluffs. In their shadow, it’s cool, there’s lots to explore, maybe a pottery shard find - which gets put back - and there’s ancient petroglyphs. The bottom gives another proportion of the upper arch. Flocks of turkey buzzards glide the currents, and maybe one can catch a lone red tailed hawk on the prowl. Kids and dogs are OK on this hike, but read further if more adventure is desired in this magnificent New Mexico monument.

The El Malpais, translated in Spanish “Badlands,” is a 263,000 acre conservation area that is primeval, prehistoric and pristine. Because most of our early knowledge of volcanos came from the Hawaiian Islands, many of the features of the El Malpais are named in that language. New Mexico’s newest field, lava poured out of McCarty’s cone about 3,000 years

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Duke City Fit Summer

Summer

City of Albuquerque

50+ Sports and Fitness Program Hiking

Walk Abouts

Paddle Board

Designed for the beginner to intermediate hiker, select wilderness hikes to match your abilities.

Walkers will learn the science of walking, safety tips, different techniques, & use of pedometer & walking poles as we explore the City of Albuquerque on our feet. Sessions include everything you’ll need to make walking fun & invigorating.

Are you ready to try another super fun water sport?

Time to go Stand Up Paddling. Stand Up Paddle Boards are very stable so it is easy & fun to learn. The 50+ Sports & Fitness Program and Southwest Wind Sports are offering classes on the Rio Grande and at Cochiti.

50+ Fitness Hiking

Palo Duro 50+ Sports & Fitness Center Every Monday 7:15am - 4:00pm North Domingo Baca 50+ Sports & Fitness Center Every other Wednesday 8:00am - 5:00pm

Walk About 1

Los Volcanes 50+ Sports & Fitness Center Every other Wednesday 7:15am - 5:00pm

Visit the Botanical Park, Bernalillo (including a ride on the RailRunner), Nob Hill, the Bosque, & the Old Town & Downtown Plazas

Hiking 101

Palo Duro 50+ Sports & Fitness Center Six Tuesday walks begin Sept. 4

Palo Duro 50+ Sports & Fitness Center Sept. 7, 14, 21, 28 7:15am - 1:00pm

Walk About Too

Half day hikes to learn techniques, conditioning, & safety

The ABQ Centers offer weekly hiking year round.

Schedules at front desks. www.ASCHG.org

880-2800

Fridays Three Sessions 8:00am - 12:00pm June 22, July 20, and Aug. 24 $40 per class

Michael Pogzeba, SUP & Windsurfing Instructor

Visit the UNM Campus, Coronado Monument, Downtown Public Arts, Ridgecrest & Highland Neighborhoods

Center Hiking

311 or TTY 764-6405

Rio Grande River or Cochiti Lake

Palo Duro 50+ Sports & Fitness Center Six Thursday walks begin Sept. 6

The headquarters for the 50+ Sports & Fitness Program is located at the Palo Duro 50+ Sports & Fitness Center at 3351 Monroe NE. Membership costs $13 per year and is valid at all Albuquerque Senior Centers.

cabq.gov/seniors/sports • facebook.com/FitoverFiftyAlbq • FitoverFiftyAlbq.blogspot.com

ago and coursed out, spreading, drying, creating black glass, called obsidian, Pahoehoe (Hawiian - pron: pa-ho-ho), the prominent feature of the Zuni-Acoma Trail.

This hike can rip up a dog’s feet and the sturdiest of hiking boots. Kipukas are ancient, undisturbed gardens surrounded by lava. During the big blow, a 17 mile lava tube system was also formed, along with fragile ice caves. The rest then oozed, and cooled to that unforgiving jagged black. The sandstone that stands stubbornly at the El Malpais’s glassy edge, sport natural arches, where water searched for, and found the way down. While large areas are now covered with juniper, other parts, like the Zuni-Acoma Trail, have that unbroken, deeply fissured, razor surface.

Ten thousand years back, the Puebloan ancients of the Acoma, Laguna, Zuni and Ramah Navajo roamed the area.

“Paso por aqui,” is a part of an ancient rock inscription dated April 16, 1605, that noted the passing of Onate. It’s got some of the oldest Douglas Fir known in the US. In 1940, the site was considered for the Trinity nuclear test site, to test the atom bomb. About 9 miles from exit 85, there’s some fine Ranger stations with museums and helpful volunteers. On cool summer evenings, the Northwest NM Visitors center offers astronomy programs. A drive back to Grants provides some good eating. Hopefully, you’ll find find Indian fry bread and some good Christmas chili.

Isabel took this hike with a group from the Palo Duro Senior Sports & Fitness Center. Hikes are going out weekly. If you or your spouse are over 50, you are eligible for the programs. See the City of ABQ ad on this page (above) for contact information.

Summer 2012

GETTING THERE: (about an hour and a half drive_ • I-40 to exit 89, #highway 117 to Quemado/El Malpais • Rest stop at the Subway • South on 89 to the sign “Sandstone Bluffs”. (15 minutes).

• Right turn on a gravel washboard to the parking lot. (5 minutes) CAUTIONS: • It’s hot - bring more water than you think you’ll need - you know the drill: hat, sunscreen ...

• Bring a first aid kit • Find a hiking group that does these hikes: NM Mountain Club.

• Dogs - think again. You are asked not to leave them in your car.

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Duke City Fit

Potassium: Playing Near You Ken Orth & Karl Thomas

When I was in a play a while back at a local community theater, I was a little startled at how much work went into getting the whole thing into production. I mean, I knew that there was a lot involved, at least on some abstract level, but it was not until I got deep into it that I realized just how intricately interwoven all the various aspects were.

The actors, of course, stand out... for better or for worse, as they are by far the most visible parts.

But even they, from the words they utter to the expressions they wear, ... even they are guided from the get-go by the invisible hand of the director. There is lighting and sound and costume design, ticket takers and ticket makers, and the funny little guy who takes the pictures for the publicity posters. And most importantly, there is the stage hand who had darn well better have put that prop in the right place because I’ll only have about 2 seconds to grab it and get back on stage.

I remember one show, one night, when one of the actors blurted out the wrong line at the wrong time.

The entire scene, without warning or forethought, had to jump forward several minutes. To their credit, all of the actors, including the one who had caused the hiccup, were able to do so nimbly and without calamity. Most observers probably didn’t even notice the deviation There is, in reality, a very complex set of actions and interactions going on before, during, and after the little bit of spectacle that we are allowed to see.

Yet that unseen portion may not only be incredibly important, but it may also be incredibly fascinating... at least for those who take the time to see it. Or get the opportunity.

These thoughts about the theater came bubbling into my mind after I’d sat down again with my friendly neighborhood health guru, Karl Thomas, for our regular discussion of what health topics we might highlight in the upcoming issue of Duke City Fit. Minerals, we decided.

Minerals?

Truly.

And as we talked about them it became increasingly clear to me (as I’m sure it already had been for some time to Karl), that our body and our health is a very complex, intricately interwoven production in its own right, in which, reminiscent of the theater, there are big, visible parts, and there are little parts and unseen parts.

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In the bodily broadway production that is our health, minerals seem to be very much the “stage hand” type characters. Unheralded and unnoticed, they are responsible for keeping the whole thing running smoothly, as directed, without incident. But get little or no notoriety.

Traditionally, the source of minerals in our bodies has come from our food... much of it from fresh fruits and vegetables. In the days of our parents and our grandparents, those fruits and vegetables tended to come from the family farms. Over time, though, the family farm has gone the way of the stereo cassette... into oblivion. They have been replaced, pushed out, by the conglomerate, big corporation farms. Highly industrialized and highly mechanized, these big farming operations have substantially upped the yield per given acre of land, but this increase has come at a substantial cost. And it has not been a monetary one.

These farming operations have basically produced more than the land can sustainably support. The minerals in the land have been depleted, and the result has been a huge reduction in the mineral content of the fruits and vegetables produced. This cycle repeats itself and worsens with each passing year.

FDA testing shows that the mineral content of our produce is down about 40% from what it was years ago.

In simple terms, what this means to you and me is that to get the same mineral content out of a serving of broccoli as our grandpa did, we’ll have to eat nearly twice as much. (And that old boy loved him some broccoli, so doubling that is no easy feat).

But seeings how our modern day eating habits have actually reduced the amount of produce that we eat by somewhere in the neighborhood of half... that means that we’re really getting roughly one quarter of the minerals, naturally, that gramps did.

So, unless you’re HEAVY into the veggies or are supplementing your diet, there’s a very good chance that your body is working with a continual mineral deficit. Compound that with what most athletes have long recognized (and most of the rest of us are at least marginally aware), that you lose minerals when you sweat, and you can easily see that summertime in the high desert can be a particularly difficult time for us, minerally speaking.

Strangely enough, too, there may be another culprit at work here. We all know, or we all SHOULD know

by now, that it is imperative to stay hydrated. To drink water. It’s almost a mantra in these parts. But the fact is that you can overdue it on the water. At a certain point, excess water in the system begins to actually leach minerals from the body. Though this is not incredibly common, it does occur, especially, it seems, among the fairer sex... you know the ones, who are always drinking water and carry around half-gallons of the stuff. The point is that water is necessary and hugely important, but that like so many things, it, too, can be overdone.

Perhaps much of the reason for our mineral shortfall is that the trace minerals simply don’t have the star power of the bigger names in health and fitness... names like Iron, and Vitamin C, and Calcium... the big box office draws. Poor little potassium, for example, is relegated to the rolling credits at the end of the flick. In little, tiny, fast-moving font.

But the reality is that the whole darn show would’ve slowed to a crawl without the potassium.

It turns out that there is a fascinating phenomenon occurring within our bodies, at the cellular level, that is widely known as the “sodium/potassium pump”.

What this involves, is the passing of ions through the cell wall. In general, three positively charged sodium ions inside the cell are expelled and replaced by two positive potassium ions from outside. This pumping action is essential for a variety of reasons that include bringing nutrients in and expelling waste out. If the minerals are balanced properly, particularly the sodium and the potassium, the ions are exchanging freely and the pump is working properly.

As Karl likes to say, this makes the cell perky. And if the cell is perky, then the organ or the gland is perky. And if the gland is perky, the host is perky. Go get ‘em tiger.

If, on the other hand, the minerals are out of whack... say, too much sodium and not enough potassium, then the pump will slow to a crawl. The cells get sluggish. The host gets sluggish. The buck stops here.

In reality, this out-of-whack cellular state is what most of us are flirting with. We seem to be able to get plenty of sodium (does sodium chloride ring a bell?... that would be table salt), but the other half of the pump equation has gone AWOL. This is partly due to the lower mineral content of our produce, and partly due to the fact that we are not paying attention.

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Duke City Fit So, a simple solution to a sluggish demeanor might well be to restore the mineral balance of the sodium and potassium. Cutting back on sodium is often recommended (for other reasons as well), but upping the potassium may yield better results. Some of the more well-known players in this role are apricots, peaches, peanuts, spinach, and broccoli (no wonder gramps was such a spry old guy!) But particularly good are bananas, baked potatoes, and sunflower seeds.

(In an interesting side note, concerning bananas, a lot of the potassium in a banana starts out in the skin and is absorbed into the fruit as it ripens.

The thicker and lighter-colored the skin, the less potassium is in the fruit. If you’re aiming for more potassium (and a riper flavor), aim for thinner skins with darker spots and streaks.)

Before we get too deeply into the ways to increase potassium intake, though, perhaps we ought to mention potassium’s other important role in our bodily production. In an ion role casting very similar to the sodium pump gig, potassium ions also interact in a major way with calcium ions.

This interaction, however, is working at the muscular level. It just so happens that calcium ions are used to “tighten” muscles, and potassium and magnesium ions are used to “loosen” muscles. While calcium supplements have really become popular, especially among women... c’mon, raise your hand if you’re taking extra calcium... we also tend to get plenty of calcium from the abundance of milk by-products in our foods. Coupling this with the lessening of minerals, we may well end up with a calcium-potassium imbalance. This could lead to muscle cramps... the calcium tighteners are there and working, but the potassium looseners are in short supply.

Bear in mind, though, that magnesium also plays a role here alongside the potassium. We’ll hit upon magnesium in another story.

As for the potassium though, there are ways to deal with the possible shortages.

Aside from the foods we already mentioned, there are also, obviously, supplements. Unfortunately, the most popular of our supplemental sports drinks, Gatorade, is relatively low in potassium (it concentrates on sodium).

A better source, at least in terms of drinks, is the Emergence-C packets with which many of us are becoming familiar. It contains nearly 7 times the potassium, plus a healthy dose of magnesium for good measure.

Another interesting way one might get extra potassium and other trace minerals is to use unrefined sea salt rather than regular table salt. The sea salt contains the other minerals that were dissolved in the ocean water as well as the sodium chloride.

Similarly, Karl suggests that when you are looking at the content labels of the foods you buy, you might keep an eye out for those that have some potassium in them. Between two brands of soup, for example, pick the one that has potassium in addition to or instead of the sodium.

Karl warns, though, about overdoing it with this mineral or any other supplement. He tells the story of a lady he spoke with who had been lethargic, had heard about the potassium thing somewhere, and had started taking potassium supplements while also reducing her sodium intake. The positive effect had been almost immediate. But over time, the effect had seemed to lessen. Figuring, as many Americans do, that a lot is better than a little, she had simply increased her potassium intake. Things got worse rather than better. She was getting lethargic again.

Perhaps you can guess at what had happened. She had simply swung the pendulum from one side of the sodium-potassium imbalance to the other.

Instead of too much sodium, she now had too much potassium, but the result was the same... the sodium-potassium pump wasn’t working. Exit perky.

Enter sluggish.

The body, like the theater production, is a complex operation and overdoing it in any one thing might result in a deficiency or detrimental impact somewhere else.

It is really not too unlike the theater... one actor stepping on the lines of another can ruin the whole production, or a light man who falls asleep in the control room can cause havoc. In our production today, and every day, potassium is the bit role player who goes unnoticed but whose impact may be huge. While the big boys get the glory and the trophies, potassium gets the job done. Keep him in mind then, the next time you eat a thin-skinned, slightly brown banana.

Summer 2012

9

Duke City Fit Jason R. Karp, Ph.D.

Good, Better, Great:

Workouts to Make You Run Faster Have you been doing the same workouts over and over again? Want to make your workouts better?

How about great? When you consider the many different types of workouts, the different paces, and how everything in your training program fits together, you practically need a Ph.D. to understand it all. But don’t worry. Just a few changes to your training will make you run stronger and better than ever before.

Here’s the tools to show you how.

Tempo Runs Tempo workouts increase your ability to hold a hard pace by targeting your lactate threshold, an important physiological marker that represents your fastest sustainable aerobic pace.

• Good: 3-mile run over rolling terrain with many changes in pace If you’re a beginner, this is a good workout to get you used to more varied paces.

• Better: 4 to 5 x 1 mile on flat terrain at tempo pace with 1 minute rest For intermediate to advanced runners, this workout will specifically improve your ability to hold a hard pace. The rest periods of the interval-style format offer a physical and psychological break.

• Great: 4 to 5 continuous miles at tempo pace Tempo pace is 10 to 15 seconds per mile slower than 5K race pace for recreational runners and 25 to 30 seconds per mile slower than 5K race pace for highly-trained runners. Subjectively, these runs should feel comfortably hard.

Dr. Jason Karp is a nationallyrecognized running coach, 2011 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, and owner of RunCoachJason.com. He holds a Ph.D. in exercise physiology.

He has over 200 publications in international running, coaching, and fitness magazines, is a frequent presenter at national fitness and coaching conferences, and is the author of five books, including his newest releases, 101 Winning Racing Strategies for Runners and Running for Women. His popular training programs are available online at : www.runcoachjason.com

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Intervals Interval workouts alternate high-intensity efforts with low-intensity recovery periods. They target your cardiovascular system by increasing the volume of oxygen-rich blood your heart pumps with each beat, delivering more oxygen to your muscles. Of all the training methods, interval workouts are the most potent for improving your fitness.

• Good: Running each repeat “hard,” such as 4 x 3 minutes hard with 2 minutes easy For beginners, these informal interval workouts are good for boosting fitness.

• Better: Running each repeat at 5K race pace For intermediate runners, more formal interval workouts will prepare you for racing.

• Great: Matching the speed of the hard efforts with the purpose of the workout For advanced runners, it’s important to know the purpose of the workout so you can train more specifically, because endurance training and speed training require different workouts. The more specific a workout, the better.

How do you know what speed to run each type of interval workout? The best interval training to enhance your cardiovascular endurance and your ability to transport oxygen to your muscles is 800 to 1,000-meter repeats (3 to 5-minute work periods) at 2K to 3K race pace.

To increase speed, run 8 x 400 meters at 1,500-meter race pace with 2 minutes jog recovery or 5 x 400 meters at 1,000-meter race pace with 3 minutes jog recovery.

Long Run Long runs, which should comprise 25 to 30 percent of your weekly volume, deplete your muscles’ store of carbohydrate (glycogen), which stimulates a greater storage of fuel and increases your endurance because carbohydrate is muscles’ preferred fuel.

Long runs also improve your ability to transport and use oxygen in your muscles.

• Good: 20 miles at an easy pace For beginners, the most important part of long runs is time on your feet.

• Better: 10 miles at marathon pace For intermediate runners, adding some quality to the long run improves your endurance.

• Great: 13 to 16 miles, with the first 10 to 12 miles at an easy pace and the last 2 to 4 miles at tempo pace (about 10K race pace or slightly faster) For advanced runners who have a history of long runs on their legs, making the long run of higher quality will help you break past plateaus.

While a long, slow run plays a valuable role in a marathoner’s preparation, running at a faster pace trains your muscles to become more efficient with their selection of fuels, conserving glycogen.

Training Program Whether you want to run around the block or the Duke City Marathon, how you train can have a dramatic effect on your performance. While running just to run may make you fitter, training gives you the plan for success. It’s the difference between building a house by placing bricks here and there and having a blueprint laid out beforehand.

• Good: Going out the door every day to run For beginners, the most important part of running is to make it consistent.

• Better: Adding one quality workout per week Once you have developed a running habit and have a solid base, it’s time to add some quality to your running to increase your fitness.

• Great: Following a planned training program that highlights your strengths Rather than follow a generic plan, look for one that is skewed to your strengths. If your strength is endurance, focus more on mileage and tempo runs and less on interval training. Run longer intervals, trying to get faster with training, such as 1,000-meter repeats at 5K race pace, increasing speed to 3K race pace or decreasing the recovery as your training progresses.

If your strength is speed, focus less on mileage and more on interval training. Run shorter intervals, trying to hold the pace for longer with training, such as 800-meter repeats at 3K race pace, increasing the distance to 1,000 meters or increasing the number of repeats as your training progresses.

Work your strong points and train using the whole continuum of paces, from slow running speeds to very fast speeds to enhance both your aerobic and anaerobic abilities.

If you want to get the most from your training, it’s time to make some changes. And if you train great, not only will you break past plateaus, you’ll get rewarded with new personal bests.

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11

Duke City Fit

t o N

g n i h s i F e n o G arusich

sen & Steve M an J sa is el M & h rt O en K

“Shhhh”

, he’d say quietly, without really saying anything, by simply raising his hand. Just behind him, I knew the sign language. We’d be walking, stalking, upstream alongside a Rocky Mountain creek, the water running cold and clear.

“Over there,” he’d whisper, pointing, slowly, without any radical movements.

“Underneath that dead overhang. You can see his tail moving back and forth.”

I looked obediently over his shoulder, and as per usual, I saw nothing but a dead branch hanging out over the creek. It didn’t matter though, I didn’t need to see anything. I was just along for the ride.

Then he’d get that sparkle in his eyes. Literally. He was perhaps the only person I’ve ever met whose eyes actually sparkled at life’s exciting moments… like, when we were playing sand volleyball and I’d give him a particularly good set up at the net and he’d be getting ready to really smash that ball… his eyes would sparkle.

As they did there, along the creek when he spotted a fish, or a place where a fish was likely to be. I’d step back out of the way and let the master work. He’d do what he did, what he somehow knew how to do through long experience. He’d gently plunk the lure or the grasshopper or the moth or whatever it was into the water in a precise spot, usually just upstream from his fish-brained adversary. Then he’d manipulate it into the strike zone.

“BAM!” Even though I was expecting it, it still startled me. The flashing silver and the splashing water and the wild rush of adrenaline. He’d play the fish over, finally get it out of the water, and hold it up to decide if it was a keeper or not. (And, I think, for he and I to admire for a moment.)

“Pan size” was what we were looking for. Not too big and not too little. Pan size.

We’d need four of them for a good dinner, so the exact definition of pan size tended to change as the day wore on, depending, of course, upon how the day had gone.

I, personally, didn’t fish. As I said, I was along for the ride. For the “hike” actually. It might’ve seemed strange to some, but we’d kinda settled into it. I was along for the fresh air and the great outdoors and the gentle wandering. And the camaraderie. Both of us enjoyed each other’s company. And he said that I brought him good luck. Good juju.

Works for me.

I also brought the beer and the backup dinner.

Good juju indeed.

I particularly remember one day that we’d spent wandering all the way around a pristine alpine lake, high in the Rockies, fishing here and there but having absolutely no luck. An unusual day, and in situations like that we knew that we’d have to eat the hotdogs I’d thrown in. It was a less than desirable outcome, but not really bad, as bad things go.

As dusk descended and we worked our way around the final stretch of the lake, we had both finally accepted, I think, that tube steaks were in our future that night.

When, lo and behold, what to our wondering eyes should appear?

A creek. A little creek that fed into the lake we’d been circumnavigating. Scott’s eyes got that sparkle. Glittering, even in the fading light, as he moseyed on up that creek a little bit. There, as if by magic, we stumbled upon a beaver dam. The master went to work and within 5 or 6 casts we had 4 pan-sized keepers and the hotdogs spent the night safely ensconced in the cooler.

We high-fived each other a bunch that night in the flickering light of the fire. The delicate pink meat of fresh wild trout is not to be taken for granted. That, a warm fire and a cold beer and a good friend and we were feeling awfully darn lucky to be alive.

And we were.

More than three decades later, I find myself once again wandering along a river behind a fisherman. As I watch him stop, his eyes glued to a spot in the river and he begins the process of getting his baited hook into the proper spot, a strong, strong sense of deja vu suddenly washes over me. For a moment or two it is like I am asleep on my feet, my eyes glazed over, my mind traveling back through time.

Then, just as suddenly, I am back in the here and now. We are along the Pecos River in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. I’m not fishing.

“I’m just along for the ride” is what I’d told my three fisherman companions, and they’d seemed to accept that without much to-do. Perhaps that was because I carried a camera and professed to be doing a story.

12

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Duke City Fit

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Ride the Tram up from Albuquerque, or Take the beautiful drive around

It was true. I was doing a story. Or hoped to do a story when it was all said and done. About fishing, I suppose. If I had to. But I would have traveled along anyway, had they allowed it, without the auspices of Duke City Fit hanging over us.

Truly, it was a chance to wander the mountains. And it was the Pecos River, for heaven’s sake. The Pecos! That’s a name that stands tall to me. A name of legend. A name with a pedigree. A name that really starts out with “Once Upon a Time” on the Pecos…

Yes. It is for the fresh air, and the gurgling water, and the weird, bass, rumbling sound that is made by a rock tumbling along underwater in a strong river. It is all of these.

But also, for me, there is a feeling akin to the one I get from watching a PBS “Nature” special. One of those narrated by David Attenborough, his voice full of wonder and awe. Like… like the one where a fox is stalking a mouse under a good layer of snow. He stops, listens, cocks his head, then suddenly pounces up into the air and down into the snow where he magically grabs the unsuspecting mouse.

On this expedition, I am David Attenborough, along the shores of the Pecos. I am watching with a mixture of awe and wonder. I am documenting this fisherman, this highly specialized predator, stalking his prey. The technique he uses has evolved over many, many years, and his skill has been honed by practice and training.

“If you are looking for Brown Trout, “ Melissa had told me, “Then it seems that night-crawlers are the bait of choice. But if it’s Rainbow Trout you’re after, then salmon eggs are the thing.”

It’s salmon eggs here and now.

“See that quiet spot over there?”

The spot is behind a rock with a branch hanging over it. It’s a perfect place for a big ol’ wily rainbow. The rock blocks the current creating a quiet place where it can hang without working too hard. It’s in the shade, away from the prying eyes of predators. And it’s under a branch, making for a difficult approach for an airborne enemy like a hawk or an eagle.

In the river, Melissa plunks the bait in just above the chosen spot and maneuvers it so that it slips by in the

Summer 2012

rill, may Lunch at the G

Tram: 505-856-7325 Ski Area: 505-242-9052 current, tempting the unseen-but-assumed-present (and hungry) monster fish. There is a strike and a yank, but no catch. The fish is gone. And so is the bait.

“Ya gotta be smarter than the fish,” her husband Steve tells me, a gentle touch of sarcasm and irony in his voice.

“And these big ones, they didn’t get big by being stupid.”

Steve is the fishing guru of this group. Years and years of experience have gotten him to this point… many of them along this very self-same river.

Yet, in a bit of a twist, among the things that all those experiences have taught him is that you can’t be too set in your ways. You have to keep learning and adjusting.

Tweaking. Changing as the world changes. Adjusting to the environment, the weather, the conditions, the water flow, and the water character… is it cloudy? clear? turbulent?

om c . k a e P a i d n a S

Steve says, “I know it sounds really cliché, but the truth is, if you want to be successful fishing, you have to think like a fish. You have to see the world through the fish’s eyes.”

“Literally,” adds Melissa. “What the fish can see and can’t see is very important. You’ll hear people… fishermen even… admiring how clean and clear the water is today.”

“Well that’s horse hockey. Clear water isn’t that great.

Not in terms of fishing. They see too well. Just a little bit of cloudy , a little grit in the water, can be a fisherman’s best friend.”

Fortunately, the Pecos, full with the spring runoff, is a tad cloudy this day. And most days. And, seeings how it is in rather a deep valley late in the day, the sun has dipped out of sight and the river hangs in shadow. This, too, is to the fisherman’s advantage.

Or so I am told.

After watching them for a while, taking some obligatory photos of their casts, and strikes, and catches and misses, I finally wander off ahead of them down the river, leaving them to their patient stalking and constant tinkering with their gear.

I guess one of the things I like about wandering with fishermen is their near universal regard for quiet. You don’t wanna agitate the fish, for Pete’s sake, by talking too loud.

And, too, I’ve found that fisherman are often concentrating so deeply upon what they are doing that they don’t want to waste mental powers on blathering.

Peace and quiet and solitude are the province of the fisherman. A serious attempt is made to blend in rather than stand out. These guys are trying to understand and fit into the environment rather than conquer it. And certainly, they don’t wish to harm it. Quite the contrary, in fact, as we all take the time and effort to pick up the discards from other previous visitors. The beer bottles and cans.

“Idiots,” I murmur to myself as I pick up a plastic bottle that had evidently contained flavored vitamin water. “ I guess that’s supposed to be good for you,” I think. The irony of it brings one of those fake, half smiles to my face.

Continued on Page 15

13

Duke City Fit Dr Elaine Adams

Athletes and non-athletes deal with the stressors of life. Sometimes we forget the simplest of things that help us heal both ourselves and others. Those who read Duke City Fit tend to be those most connected to the outdoors and to nature, so you are a step ahead of many of those city dwellers who don’t look at the stars or even notice the sunset. Those individuals may be trapped in the chaos of modern convenience. We have more tools so that we can stay more connected and do more every day. How many of you have two or even three cell phones so that you can stay connected in different ways? This can lead to a disconnectedness with those around you.

We spend time with family and friends if we can work it into our schedule. But how relaxing can it be if we have to work it in? This super techy disconnectedness can also lead to the feeling that we are not connected to our environment. The earth is our home and sometimes we forget to spend some time at home. If you need to decrease stress, eliminate anxiety, boost your performance, increase your energy, upgrade your learning or promote healing, then discovering the skills of meditation and guided relaxation will help. More than 3,000 studies prove the benefits of relaxation on health and wellbeing, says the University Of Maryland Medical Center. Relaxation techniques have been clinically proven to manage stress, decrease pain sensation, improve sleep disorders, and help prepare people for surgery or childbirth.

In my practice I take care of people who live in stress soup. Technology, responsibilities, uncertainties of the job market, sandwiched between parents and children, so many stressors that they find their way to my door for a little bit of help. Chiropractic and massage are wonderful ways to deal with this onslaught of stress, but it’s hard to carry those services with you. So I’ve tried to design some practices that you can take with you. You can use some of them while you are steeped in stress soup and you can take some of them with you out into nature and experience the double blessing of the great outdoors and some distress techniques.

Here is a twenty one day technique that connects you with an “alpha” state. This is the state that you reach with meditation. This scenario is a little different from meditation and it allows you to connect with the physical world around you in a little deeper way. This process has been adapted from Dr. Michael Cohen, an innovator in the field of Eco psychology. You only need to set aside ten to fifteen minutes twice a day for twenty one days. This process of course will develop a habit for you and it will gradually be incorporated into your life. Be prepared with a journal since journaling is a part of this process. (If journaling is not your thing, you can do the getting acquainted with the alpha state part and leave the journaling and storytelling for those who enjoy it.) Okay, here is how we begin.

• Find a natural place that appeals to you. A place you can get to with ease for the ten to fifteen minutes that you need. Settle yourself in comfortably and pay close attention to what attracts you as you connect with your surroundings. Note to yourself what you have been drawn to. It may be a tree, a rock, a view of the mountains, a tree or any other natural presence in your environment.

• Now allow yourself to seek permission from this natural source of interest. You are just seeking permission to observe. As you wait quietly, allow the messages that you receive to simply sit with you. You will feel yourself begin to become a part of your surroundings. As you allow this feeling to deepen, you enter the alpha state.

• As you sit quietly, cover your eyes with your hands

14

(thumbs in) and try to breathe with the energy around you. This is the energy that connects you with the natural system.

• Now open your eyes • Observe closely what is around you and what thoughts enter into your mind.

• Make mental notes since you will be journaling this later.

• Notice how tuned in, relaxed, but aware that you are.

• Later, journal your experience in detail.

• At the end of twenty one days, compile your notes and create a story. Make it a story that might be told around a campfire.

This is a meditation practice for a non-meditator. This practice allows you to develop the deep relaxation that is a part of meditation. Meditation in itself is a relaxation technique. A practice that calms the mind and loosens the body, sometimes the idea of having to sit in silence with your thoughts can make meditation seem daunting. To prepare the mind and body for meditation, relaxation techniques can wind the mind and body down and allow you to connect with your breath in an intrinsic way.

Meditation is a form of relaxation that has been used in various forms for thousands of years, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Originally it was used for spiritual purposes, but it has become a popular way to fight stress. There are many types of meditation.

Most are done mentally, but some include physical movements.

There are even brief techniques that can be worked into a busy day, because they only take a few minutes.

Mantras can be used during meditation to help your mind stay focused. A mantra is simply a word or phrase that you keep repeating in your mind as you relax, the Mayo Clinic explains. It fills your thoughts to keep out distractions that might cause stress. You can use a mantra while sitting in a comfortable chair or lying down for your meditation session.

Come up with a word or phrase that is particularly meaningful for you. I have been using the same two syllable mantra for more than forty years. I can attest to the fact that they don’t wear out. It is a wonderful focusing device. But it is just one of many ways to meditate.

Meditating with a focus on mindfulness can help you fight stress because it teaches you to simply accept your state of being, according to the Mayo Clinic. You sit or lie down, close your eyes and focus your thoughts on what you are doing and feeling. For example, you can concentrate on your breathing and any body sensations. Dr. Andrew Weil has put out several DVD’s with breathing exercises and guided meditations on them. These are great tools for meditating with mindfulness.

Outside sounds may also be incorporated into the meditation. You simply acknowledge them in your mind without thinking about them any further. If thoughts or emotions enter your mind, you let them occur without judgment. This teaches you to accept thoughts without allowing them to cause you stress. This technique is also useful with eating. If you eat mindfully, you are less likely to

under or over eat. You are less likely to eat things that are bad for your body. Mindful eating guides you toward healthy foods.

Guided imagery can be a powerful relaxation technique because it takes your mind to a peaceful, restful place. A meditation leader will guide you to a peaceful place in your mind by giving stepby-step instructions on calming your thoughts and mentally moving to that place. The instructions might also include physical instructions like tensing and relaxing muscle groups or imagining weightlessness in limbs and other body parts.

These meditations are often accompanied by soothing music.

They may take anywhere from five minutes to half an hour, and can be used as a quick stress-buster or a way to relax before bed.

Guided meditations can be purchased on CD or in MP3 format.

When I was in graduate school we had a guided meditation almost every day in class. It was a wonderful experience and we didn’t get into any trouble for falling asleep in that class. In fact I think that we got extra credit. You can also use your own visualizations at stressful times during the day. Take a minute or two to close your eyes and imagine being on a beach or in calm, relaxing place.

The Mayo Clinic recognizes yoga as a form of meditation, even though it is a physically challenging activity. It uses body postures to help participants calm their minds as they make their bodies more flexible. It reduces stress by providing a physical release and helping people to stay in the moment rather than dwelling on outside stressors. Yoga can be done in health club classes or at home with exercise DVDs. We have a yoga instructor on staff and she is able to help our patients find comfortable poses specifically for the issues in their lives. It seems to benefit their overall health as well as their specific complaints.

Tai chi is actually a Chinese martial art, but the Mayo Clinic identifies it as a meditative activity. It consists of a series of slow, controlled movements and postures done while the person also focuses on deep breathing. Tai chi is appropriate for almost anyone, including older adults and people with physical challenges, as it can be tailored to an individual’s pace. Many health clubs offer tai chi classes, and DVDs are available for home use. I steer my older patients toward tai chi because it seems to be so beneficial to balance which can be such a problem for older citizens.

So sit back, relax, enjoy your summer and don’t forget to take a break. Contact my office if you would like further information.

Dr Elaine Adams, DC has been practicing chiropractic for 21 years. Her clinic, Lifetime Chiropractic, specializes in nutrition and stress reduction. www.lifetimechiropractic.com email: dradams@lifetimechiropractic.com

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t o N Fishing

Duke City Fit Transcend Your Limits . . .

LMT# 5687

Continued From Page 13

There are also the little foam tubs that had contained earthworms lying around, and occasional salmon egg jars, emptied and discarded on the shore. I realize that I shouldn’t generalize about fishermen, they are not all as conscientious as my comrades. They are not all concerned that this area remain pristine for their kids, and their kid’s kids.

I know from long experience to walk softly when I am ahead of fishermen… to stay back from the water a bit, watching my shadows and refraining from plunking rocks into the stream as I might otherwise do.

I notice, too, that I am looking at this river world in a different way because of them. I am naturally paying more attention to the river itself. To the back-currents and overhangs and midstream boulders, the places where the fish might be. I realize that I am looking at the river this day as more than a spectacle for my entertainment. It is a habitat, a home, a whole world really, right here before me. These fish, unseen, live their whole lives here. Wide-eyed, hungry, and nervous… even as I, in my life, am sometimes wide-eyed, or hungry, or nervous.

It is a moment of revelation for me. Again. Looking at the river… at the rocks and the trees and the clouds, I feel for these few moments that I am not just a visitor here, that I belong. It is a rare thing. A good thing. It is the lesson of the fishermen, to be “a part”, not “apart”.

I guess I’d better head back, I think, and see what they’re up to now. I take one last long look at the river from this quiet place where I’ve been sitting. Over there, I see a nice spot in the water, under a tree and behind a half-submerged log. That’d be a good place, I think.

And then I see it, there in the water… the flicker of silver. A tail waving back and forth.

Really.

Wow. I wonder if, maybe, I have a sparkle in my eyes.

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15

The day ends near Cabezon Peak in the White Mesa Bike Trails area.

Viewed from atop the Dragon’s Spine.

Fire in the Gila. The smoke masks the sun all the way up in the Duke City. Perhaps this is what the afternoon sun looks like on Mars?

Mama Rufous. Taking a closer look at this visitor with the one big black eye.

An uncommon sight. The crossing of the tram cars from Domingo Baca Canyon.

The Gateway Arch.

Why? Why not?

Sights

The Platte River in Nebraska.

A far cry from its humble beginings as a gurgling creek in the Rockies.

Wandering

Duke City Fit

n & Bob Julyan

Ken Orth & David Rya

I stared at it. Down there at my feet. In the red, sandy grit of the desert. I just stared at it for a bit.

I wasn’t sure what it was, or if it was what I thought it might be. So I just stared, a little afraid to find out, I guess.

The other guys I was with, they find stuff.

I never find stuff. Except rocks maybe. I have a lot of rocks.

That’s probably what this is, I thought. Just a rock. An odd shaped rock.

Finally, gingerly, I knelt down and picked it up. The top side, the exposed side, was a dull gray. Rock like. Angular and flat, kinda like shale. It was the underside I needed to see.

I flipped it over in my palm. My heart skipped a beat. There were decorations there. Black on white. Squares and diagonal lines.

I held in my hand an honest to goodness pottery shard.

I couldn’t believe it… I’d actually found an ancient piece of pottery.

I sat down in the sand, right there, and studied it minutely.

It was curved, slightly, and the decorations had been painted on the inside, concave side of the curve, as if it had been the inside of a bowl or dish or something.

I later learned from my archaeologically trained hiking buddies that this pottery was between eight-hundred and a thousand years old. I heard those numbers and I have to say that they didn’t really register. They just floated past me.

Through me. A thousand years old?

In the course of the day, the several hours that we spent wandering the barren desert plateau just west of Los Lunas we found countless pieces of pottery. Countless. Many of them were much like that first one. The decorations varied, from some that seemed … well… amateurish? early? beginner? hurried?… to some that were incredibly complicated and artistically impressive.

One in particular had a set of about ten parallel lines on it.

Fine, thin lines… perfectly straight and perfectly parallel. Truly, the craftsmanship amazed me. I thought that I’d like to see someone paint lines so perfectly, even today, with the finest paintbrushes money could buy, much less a thousand years ago with a brush made from the chewed fibers of a yucca leaf. On the inside of a bowl.

People lived here, it became obvious. Quite a few people evidently lived here. In this apparent wasteland, far from any water source, they not only lived, but thrived. They didn’t just survive in this harsh land, they had extra time, disposable time, that they could use to create artwork on their dishes and bowls and pots.

And it wasn’t just a quickly scribbled fish or handprint and let’s call it a day. It was often sophisticated, complicated geometric art. Time-consuming and intricate. It spoke, in some way, of the people who lived here. They evidently didn’t create fortresses and walls of rock, defensible and solid. They created artwork. On their dishes and bowls. I think that I should have liked to have met them.

Wandering”.

The purpose, if there is a purpose, is to try to experience the value of the place where you are. Where you find yourself. Rather than walking through a place, on the way to someplace else, their strategy is to let the place itself be the guide. To follow your eyes, not a trail. To let your heart and your intuition be your guide. Listen to the birds. Or the bugs. Notice the differences in the land… the blown out arroyo coming down from that rise. There are rocks scattered about there, and fragments of rocks. Washed down there perhaps, and recently exposed.

Pottery shards?

Maybe.

We wandered this area because my friends suspected that there might be remnants about. This, from a previous brief visit.

It did seem unlikely, however, to all of us, that we would find such things in such a harsh and forbidding environment. And so far away from water.

But still, they thought, it was worth a wander. It was worth a few hours or a day of letting the land guide us and show us what it wanted us to see.

Too many people too much of the time, Dave tells me, are in too much of a hurry to see what’s practically right under their feet. They are going where they are supposed to go. Or where they think they ought to go. They take a picture or two and say they have been there.

Better to stop and smell the roses.

I glance around at the God-forsaken wasteland in which we currently wander, and a sarcastic comment about the lack of roses hereabouts comes, unbidden, to mind. But I stifle it.

“They are, of course, metaphorical roses,” he says.

Of course.

Look down there at your feet… you almost stepped on one.

What? A rose?

No… a pottery shard, my friend. More delicate than a rose. And more timeless. The story of a thousand years in a fallen fragment.

Listen to the land.

So, I tried. I did. I put a conscious effort into it. It became more than words I simply recited.

I looked at the stunted juniper, twisted to the east, and I seemed to feel the harsh west wind, though the day was calm.

I saw the arroyo, blasted out by a fierce thunderstorm and excavated by the wind long ago.

Or yesterday. Tomorrow.

Time seemed to have less relevance. Things happened when they happened.

But this story is not about those people or their pottery. Not really. Or, it is not supposed to be. This story is supposed to be about wandering.

Wandering?

I set out that day with my two hiking buddies, Bob and Dave, so that they could demonstrate to me how one could go out and hike, with no real destination in mind. No goal. Just “wander”.

These guys do it all the time. Dave has even written and published a book about it… “The Gentle Art of

18

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Duke City Fit

There were tracks in the sand. Little tracks. With a tail dragging. A kangaroo rat perhaps. A scuffle over there. The huge solid imprint of a cloven hoof. A mule deer? An elk?

Then I imagined other tracks. Footprints. Little footprints. Children played here. They drank from earthen cups festooned with designs that told a story of some kind. Perhaps they knew the story and thought of it when they looked at the cup. Perhaps they knew it not.

A lone small mushroom, tall and thin and pale, grew out of the sandy nothingness and up into the heat of the desert sun. How very odd, I thought, for a mushroom to be growing here. I looked around, half expecting to find a white rabbit with a pocket watch. Had a mushroom like this grown back in the day? Back in the ancient day? I think maybe so.

I tried to listen, too. And more importantly, I tried to hear.

I looked, and I tried to see.

When I found that first piece of pottery, it was a breakthrough event for me. I do not normally find things like that. I suspect now that it had to do with the way that I walk. The way that I traverse the land.

As Dave so artfully put it, I do not take the time to smell the roses. Sure, I stop and gawk at the appropriate places and I photograph the appropriate things. I watch the butterfly.

But in general I usually feel like I am a visitor. A trespasser even. And mostly, I am just passing through, eager to get to that lake or that mountaintop. It is as if I am taking a shortcut through someone’s living room in order to get to the swimming pool out back.

And in some places, many places, it is even easier to simply pass through on your way to somewhere else. The desert, for example. The barren wasteland. Often times it is simply between me and my destination, and I hurry through.

So I guess it was high time that someone took me aside and slapped my wrist and said, “slow down”.

Look around.

Breathe.

I actually got halfway good at it. We would just wander… not following each other, or leading, but going where we would. Not further away from each other than shouting distance, we approached hills or washes or copses of trees from different perspectives.

Sometimes I thought I could actually imagine an adobe home of some kind on top

Summer 2012

of a hill, long since melted away into the land and buried under the shifting sand. But the remnants of their existence would be… where?… over here in this gully where the wind and the rain have eroded the hillside. And there, by golly, there’d be a piece of pottery.

And another. And another.

“Hey guys, over here, a bunch of ‘em.”

“I found a corrugated piece over here.”

“Here’s a handle, from a cup or something.”

When we stopped to eat lunch in the paltry shade of a desert juniper, we talked about several things.

One was the surprising sheer number of artifacts that we were finding, all within the couple of miles we’d been wandering. It was evident that quite a few people had lived here. Considering where we were, that was an interesting revelation in itself.

The other thing we discussed was learning the gentle art of wandering. I was picking up on it pretty well, but it seemed important to keep in mind that while it was pottery remnants that we were finding this day, there could and would be other things on other days. My friends believe, and I believe with them, that the important thing is to simply pay more attention to where you are. To get into the frame of mind where you let the environment tell you where to go rather than the other way around.

It is an art. A gentle art. A listening, seeing, hearing art. It is an art you can cultivate and practice and get better at.

Here in the desert this day, it was ancient civilizations that longed to be seen.

Along the Platte River back in Nebraska it was deer antlers and hawk feathers.

Huckleberries in Montana and Morrell mushrooms in the east mountains. In his book, Dave talks about finding old stairways in Los Angeles. Yeah, you can even wander in the city and find interesting things.

It’s not really difficult. Take your time. Notice what is. Notice what fits so well that you can hardly see it. And notice what is out of place. What doesn’t fit. What is subtly different.

Even in your own backyard you can wander. Try it. As practice. I bet you find something.

Wander the Ojito Wilderness Thinking about doing some wandering in a place where you might actually stumble onto things? Bob and Dave recommend The Ojito WIlderness. Its about 40 miles from ABQ. Take I-25 to Bernalillo then west on 550 about 20 miles. Take a left on Cabezon Road and follow the left fork about 10 miles to the Ojito Wilderness sign. The wilderness is to the right, north, side of the road.

The best wandering is found at the second parking area. Just head more or less straight north. If you have one, set a GPS waypoint at the car. Otherwise, have a compass and you can get yourself back out to the road by simply going south.

Follow your instincts and think about the lay of the land. Don’t be in a hurry. You’ll eventually get the hang of it, and you WILL find things.

Web: www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/wilderness/ojito.html

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Duke City Fit

20

www.dukecityfit.com

Duke City Fit

Dynamic Fitness Lifestyle The POWER of Sleep for Living Dynamically!!!

Good morning Duke City Fit readers! Forgive me if you are reading your Duke City Fit before bed, but I am writing this article on an absolutely beautiful New Mexico morning… The birds are singing, the sun is shining and I am enjoying clear blue skies for as far the eye can see! The only thing that could possibly make this morning any better would be a majestic Albuquerque skyline covered in hot air balloons!

With that said it shouldn’t be hard to imagine why I am absolutely beaming this morning. But I must say that I would still be thoroughly enjoying this morning even if it were cloudy and cold. You see I woke up this morning completely energized and feeling mentally, physically and spiritually reinvigorated after a very restful night of deep sleep! Can you say the same?

If not, then you are not “Living Dynamically” and we must try to change that.

Because if you are not “Living Dynamically” then you are simply not living up to your full potential!

First of all let’s take a look at the definition of SLEEP. Sleep is a state of not being awake. Duh! REALLY? K, K, I’ll be serious… Sleep is the body’s “Rest Cycle.” Sleep is a state of partial or full unconsciousness that occurs in people and in animals, during which voluntary functions are suspended and the body rests in an effort to recuperate from environmental stresses and restore itself to complete homeostasis. Sleep stimulates a heightened anabolic state brought on by a complex group of hormones that respond to cues within the body and the environment around it. These hormones accentuate the growth and cellular rejuvenation of the immune, central nervous, and musculoskeletal systems.

There are Five Phases to a Sleep Cycle: Stages 1, 2, 3, 4 and REM (Rapid Eye Movement). We begin our Sleep Cycle in Stage 1 and go through each stage until reaching REM Sleep, and then our body begins the cycle again.

Each complete Sleep Cycle takes anywhere from 70 to 110 minutes. Our brain acts differently in each stage of sleep. In some of the stages, our body may make movements, but in other stages our arms and legs are immobile.

Practicing healthy sleep habits helps to ensure that are we getting each type of sleep that we need.

Stage 1 Sleep is the slow eye movement period that occurs when we are drifting in and out of sleep and takes place between being awake and completely asleep. If awakened during Stage 1 Sleep, and this is easy to do, we often feel as though we were never asleep. Our eye movement and body movements slow down during Stage 1 Sleep. We may experience sudden jerking movements of our legs or other muscles during Stage 1 Sleep as well.

These jerking motions are known as hypnic myoclonia or myoclonic jerks.

They are also known as “sleep starts” that can give a sensation of falling and are caused by the motor areas of the brain being spontaneously stimulated by the Alpha waves that are making way for the slower Theta waves.

Stage 2 Sleep occurs approximately 50 percent of the time that we are sleeping. Our eye movement stops entirely and our brain waves become slower. Our heart and breathing rates slow way down. And most of us rarely ever dream during Stage 2 Sleep. Though the sleep is deeper, we can still be awakened easily during Stage 2 Sleep.

Stage 3 Sleep is our first stage of deep sleep. Our brain waves are a combination of slow waves, known as Delta Waves, combined with the slightly faster waves known as Theta Waves. During Stage 3 Sleep it can be very difficult to wake someone up. If you are awakened during this stage, you may feel very groggy and disoriented for several minutes.

Stage 4 Sleep is our second stage of deep sleep. In this stage the brain is almost exclusively making the slow Delta Waves that are associated primarily with deep dominant Stage 4 Sleep. During this stage of sleep it is also very difficult to wake someone up. Both Stages 3 & 4 of deep sleep are extremely important for feeling refreshed upon rising in the morning. If these stages are too short, sleep will not feel satisfying. There is quite often dreaming in this stage, more than in Stages 1 & 2, but much less than in REM Sleep.

REM Sleep or Rapid Eye Movement Sleep occurs 60-90 minutes after we fall asleep and is the sleep stage in which dreaming occurs. Our first Sleep Cycle has a shorter phase of REM Sleep. When we enter into REM Sleep, our breathing becomes fast, irregular and shallow. Our eyes will move rapidly and our muscles become immobile. Our heart rate and blood pressure increases.

Men may also develop erections during this phase. For adults approximately 20 percent of sleep is REM Sleep. Toward morning, the time spent in REM Sleep increases and the deep sleep stages decrease. If our REM Sleep is disrupted, the next sleep cycle does not follow the normal order, but often goes directly to REM Sleep until the previous night’s loss of REM Sleep is made up for.

General Sleep Requirements for the Average Person: Below is a Chart that generalizes Daily Sleep Requirements according to Age and Condition… It is important to remember that Lifestyle… Career Demands… Level of Fitness… Functional Health Conditions all play a part within each age group and sleep needs will vary from individual to individual.

Up to 18 hours • Newborn baby - • 1 to 12 months of age - 14 to 18 hours • 1 to 3 years of age - 12 to 15 hours • 3 to 5 years of age - 11 to 13 hours • 5 to 12 years of age - 9 to 11 hours

Summer 2012

• Teenagers - 9 to 10 hours • Adults - 7 to 8 hours • Women during pregnancy – 8-10 hours Respect Your Internal Body Clock We are all born with an internal body clock that regulates the release and suppression of hormones during our natural sleep/wake cycles. These natural sleep/wake cycles are called the Circadian Rhythm and they cycle through every 24 hours. These hormones have a direct effect on our functional health and overall wellbeing. Our Circadian Rhythm revolves primarily around the light of day and the dark of night resulting from the rotation of the sun and moon. These very complex cycles affect nearly all living creatures but they especially have a profound effect on humans because when we disrespect them our body, mind, and spirit suffer greatly.

Stress activated hormones like cortisol are produced as the sun rises around 6:00 AM and their levels peak around mid-morning at approximately 9:00 AM. By noon these levels have decreased significantly and they maintain steady until approximately 6:00 PM. By sundown these stress hormones are near their lowest levels and leave way for the bodies’ release of melatonin so that the body can begin to wind down from sunset until approximately 10:00 PM. At this time the body then begins to increase the production of growth and repair hormones so that most physical repair can take place from approximately 10:00 PM until 2:00 AM during the first four hours of sleep. And then from 2:00 AM until approximately 6:00 AM that psychogenic healing of the mind and emotions occur. And then at approximately 6:00 AM the cycle starts all over again as the sun rises.

Now take note that it is for this exact reason that I am professionally against high intensity evening exercise because it stimulates the release of adrenal hormones that disrupts this natural hormonal rhythm. On the other hand light exercise like a brisk evening stroll and self myo-fascial release combined with gentle stretching can be quite therapeutic for destressing and winding down in an effort to achieve a great night’s sleep.

Bedtime MATTERS!

Dwain Kindelberger has been a Personal Trainer since 1981. He is a graduate of The National Academy of Sports Medicine, and is the owner of Designer Bodies Exclusive Personal Training and Nutrition Management Center.

Visit us on the web at

www.designerbodies.net After more than 30 years of Personal Fitness Training and Lifestyle Coaching it truly saddens me to tell you that one of the biggest obstacles that I face is getting adults to understand the importance of going to bed on time!

Now don’t get me wrong, I love modern day conveniences as much as the next guy when used responsibly. But when adults engage in 24 hour movie access, video-gaming, and web-surfing into the late evening and wee hours of the morning with total disregard for their health, it then becomes what I call Adult Bedtime Behavior Disorder (ABBD). I call it a disorder because these folks will give all kinds of excuses for staying up past 10:00 PM while they are experiencing everything from severe body aches to headaches to skin rashes/ eczema/ psoriasis to ADD to forgetfulness to general fatigue and even dyslexic behavior.

You see, staying up past 10:00 PM forces your body to produce stress hormones late into the evening. This happens because your brain recognizes fluorescent lights along with TV and computer screens as sunlight because they flicker on and off anywhere from 60 to 120 cycles per second. Since cortisol can take hours to clear from your blood stream, this also prevents the normal release of melatonin and growth/immune hormones which will lead to severe hormonal imbalances causing many unwanted side effects because you are cutting into the body’s heeling and repair time.

On a good note, once I have convinced these folks to give up the late night frolicking they begin to feel and even look better within as little as 2 weeks and many of their modalities have begun to clear up!

The information contained in this article is not meant to treat, diagnose or cure any ailments or diseases. Please consult your physician before starting any exercise or nutrition program.

Continued on Page 23

21

Duke City Fit Demand Soars For Relief of Severe Neck and Back Pain!

People Are Swarming in Overwhelming Numbers For Treatment At The New Mexico Back Institute.Treatments are FDA Cleared, No Side Effects & Best Of All...

It’s Non-Surgical & Painless!!

Denver, CO – Recent medical breakthroughs have led to the development of advanced technologies to relieve severe back and neck pain without drugs or surgery. Through the combination of proven scientific principles, the latest technological developments and the brilliant work of physicians and medical engineers– this space age technology is available to the general public via licensed and trained doctors, in its incredible DRX 9000 spinal decompression equipment. The DRX 9000 is an FDA cleared medical technology for providing True Spinal Decompression and has been clinically proven with up to an 88.9% success rate with back pain and symptoms associated with hernated and/or bulging discs...even after failed surgery.

WHY SO MUCH EXCITEMENT? Since 60% of spinal fusion surgery patients continue to suffer and conventional treatments such as medications, injections and exercise therapy offer temporary results, the future is bleak. The treatment program at The New Mexico Back Institute works for: • Back and Neck Pain • Sciatica/Numbness “ I had such intense pain from a sec- • Herniated and/or bulging ond herniated disc that I could not discs (single or multiple) walk without the aid of crutches.

• Degenerative disc disease Couldn’t shower or even dress and was out of work for a month. After • A relapse or failure 3 weeks of treatments my pain was following surgery GONE! I have recommended this procedure to at least seven people. I • Facet syndromes pray that they try it.” ~ Eva Wilkstrom, Denver • Spinal Stenosis • Spondylolisthesis CLINICAL RESULTS Several university studies at Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Duke have confirmed what doctors in practice have known for years, the treatments plain WORK! Dr. John Leslie, who is a clinical researcher from the prestigious Mayo Clinic reports a 50% relief of back and leg pain after 2 weeks and an overall 88.9% success rate at the end of a six week protocol. Our own case studies have shown 50% reduction of disc protrusions after 4 weeks relieving the pressure on the sensitive nerves, thus reducing your pain.

HOW IT WORKS The advanced computer system automatically adjusts to the proper angle of decompression, allowing us to target specific discs...that are causing your pain and symptoms.

Call Now

Mention this ad for a complimentary consultation.

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The gentle decompressive forces utilize a logarithmic curve to avoid proprioceptor (pain) response, which would create muscle spasm. The split table design decreases friction and allows gentle separation of the vertebra to reduce pressures on the tissues causing pain and encourage hydration of the discs.

PAIN-LESS TREATMENTS Patients describe the treatment as a gentle, painless, intermittent pulling of your back. Many patients actually fall asleep during treatment! A spinal strengthening and stabilization program is often included with the treatment protocol in order to achieve optimal long term results. The number and duration of treatments are determined by the supervising physician. Many patients get substantial, immediate relief after just a few treatments.

GETTING STARTED Call one of the Albuquerque area clinics to schedule a no-obligation consultation. Only a consultation and evaluation by the doctor can determine if you qualify for this treatment and the number and length of the care plan.

The New Mexico Back Institute has more experience with decompression than any other health center in New Mexico.

MENTION THIS AD FOR A COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION

The New Mexico Back Institute

NE HEIGHTS - 8001 Wyoming Blvd. NE

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WESTSIDE - 1634 Alameda Blvd. NW

505.899.7777 22

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Duke City Fit

Dynamic Fitness Lifestyle Continued From Page 21

Not Meeting Your Daily Sleep Requirements Can Lead To Sleep Deprivation: Sleep Deprivation is a Sleep Disorder that can occur when you don’t meet your daily Sleep Requirements. According to the The National Institute of Health somewhere between 50 & 70 million people in the USA are thought to be affected by Sleep Deprivation or some other sleep related disorder due to improper lifestyle choices. As a Personal Fitness Professional & DFL Coach I am here to tell you… Sleeplessness is grossly underrated as a problem by most people and it is causing more health and well-being issues than most will ever know or admit!

Sleep Deprivation Can Lead To: • Lethargies… Chronic Fatigue!

• Metabolic Disorders • Arthritis • Nausea • Dizziness • Higher Blood Levels of C-Reactive Proteins (Inflammatory Proteins).

• Increased urine production and more salt in urine.

• Erectile Dysfunction… Impotence!

• Body Aches and Pains… Especially in your muscles!

• Suppressed Immune Systems… Slower Healing Processes!

• Sluggish Metabolism… Weight Gain!

• Chronic Dry Mouth • Hallucinations • Hand Tremors • Headaches… Chronic Migraine Headaches!

• Hypertension… High Blood Pressure!

• Insulin Resistance • Diabetes • Fibromyalgia • Irritability, Moodiness, Anxiety, Depression… Temper Tantrums in Children!

• Memory Problems • Mental Illness • Obesity • Problems Concentrating • Short Attention Span… A.D.D.!

• Higher risk for accidents when driving automobiles or operating heavy machinery.

• Decision Fatigue… Problems with Decision-Making!

• Problems associated with Processing Information • Heart Disease • Premature Aging You can Achieve a Dynamic Sleep every Night by Adhering to the Following: • Nutritional Wellbeing… Health starts with digestion. Eat a clean healthy diet that ensures efficient digestion. When your insides are happy you are well!

• Stress Management… Destress by exercising 3-5 times a week. High intensity exercise should be performed and completed by 6:00 PM and for most people limited to 3 times per week. Any exercise performed after 6:00 PM should be low intensity in nature. (I.e.) A Brisk walk, myo-fascial release and gentle stretching can be performed up to 5 days per week!

• Power Nap… You heard me correctly! A 20 minute Power Nap can help relax and refresh your mind during the day resulting in less stress when it comes time to turn in for the night!

• Avoid the Use of Stimulants… Caffeine, sugar and tobacco excite your sympathetic nervous system which in turn triggers the production and release of cortisol. If you must drink coffee understand that an 8oz cup contains around 300mg of caffeine that has a half-life of 6 hours in the average person. This means if you are going to unwind from 6:00 PM until bedtime you shouldn’t have any caffeine after 12:00 noon. For those of you that are thinking to yourselves, hmmm, I can drink a pot of coffee and fall asleep, so that’s not a problem for me... Well, let’s just say that if this describes you, then the damage has already been done. You have already compromised your endocrine system to the point that your natural fight or flight response (in other words, your survival mechanism) is not functioning properly. If this is you, wean yourself off of the coffee and other stimulants right away. If you can man or woman-up to this challenge you will find that in 2-3 weeks you will have more natural energy than you have experienced in a long, long time. Stop making excuses… And gut out the headaches, because a detoxification headache will be the least of your worries if you don’t give up the stimulants!

• Unwind… Give yourself from 6:00 PM until bedtime (10:00-10:30PM) to Unwind. Enjoy a lite healthy dinner. Sit on your patio and read a book. Take a hot bath, sit in the hot tub or take a hot shower. And Limit electronic time after 6:00 PM to a minimum.

• Give It Up… Don’t go to bed angry or worried! Forgive the people, places or things that you are angry with.

A DYNAMIC Night’s SLEEP Supports: • Hormonal Balance… In both Men & Women!

• Production of Anabolic Hormones… Growth Hormone, Testosterone & Insulin Growth Factor!

• Dynamic Libidos… Better Sex for both Men & Women!

• Dynamic Metabolisms… Less Body Fat! • Stronger Immune Systems… Faster Healing & Recovery Times During & After Exercise!

• Increased Energy… More Productive Lives!

• Digestive System… More Efficient Breakdown, Oxidation & Elimination Processes!

• Stress Reduction… Decreased Catabolic Cortisol Levels!

• Artistic Creativity… Studies show that sleep consolidates memories, in other words your brain reorganizes and restructures your memories thereby making them stronger, which results in enhanced creativity!

• Athletic Performance… A Stanford University study found that college football players who tried to sleep at least 10 hours a night for seven to eight weeks improved their average sprint time and increased overall stamina!

• Overall Wellbeing… Emotional Recovery and Balance!

So there you have it… Why you need to sleep... When you need to sleep… How long you need to sleep… How to achieve Dynamic sleep… The benefits of sleep… Everything you need to know about the importance of Sleep for Living Dynamically!

Summer 2012

23

Duke City Fit The Fruits of

SummerTime The Prickly Pear Margarita

The fruit of the prickly pear, called a “tuna”, is both delicious and nutritious. It is also dangerous. At least, in the sense that it would love to get its little, nearly invisible spines into you if it can. Ah, and that’s the rub. Picking and eating the fruit while avoiding the spines.

There are many different methods of harvesting and safely preparing the fruits for consumption. The safest is probably to simply buy prepared Prickly Pear juice or syrup, and be done with it.

If you’re inclined to try it the hard natural way, here are some tips: • Choose ripe, unblemished fruits. They should be a deep magenta color and shiny. Slightly soft, not hard.

• Use long, metal tongs to grab and twist the fruits off the pads. Do not touch the fruit with your bare hands.

Use heavy gloves if you’re going to be touching them.

But don’t.

• Put them in a 5-gallon plastic bucket with holes drilled in the bottom. When you get them home, you’re going to hose them off good right in the bucket. Don’t be walking around barefoot in the water.

• One by one, use the tongs to hold the fruits into an open flame. I use a backpacker stove. You want to thoroughly roast the outside skin (don’t worry about burning them, you’re discarding the skin anyway). You want to burn off all the spines, even the little invisible ones. Place the roasted fruits in a second, clean bucket.

(Note-If you don’t want to roast them, there are other ways to remove the spines, get yourself into the google intertubes and find them.)

• Now, one by one, tackle the cutting of the fruits. With a sharp knife, cut both the top and bottom of the fruits off. About the thickness of the skin. Just into the fruit.

You’ll get the hang of how deep to cut after a few fruits. Then slice through the skin from top to bottom, slip your finger under the skin, and peel the skin off. Voila. You got yourself a fruit.

What to do with the fruits? The sky is the limit. The seeds are hard (“jawbreakers”) but can be eaten, or spit out, or discarded prior to consumption. Try the fruits raw. Add ‘em to salads. Slice ‘em up. Use your imagination.

The fruit can be mashed and pushed through a food mill or sieve to get juice.

The juice can be stored for a week or so in the fridge or frozen for later use.

(Prickly Pear ice cubes?)

The juice can be combined with sugar and water and cooked down into a syrup.The juice or syrup can be used in any number of ways.

Finally, the tuna destiny toward which they all strive... the fruits can be used for the perfect Prickly Pear Margarita. Here ‘tis...

• Place the whole skinned fruits in a big, clean jar.

Size of the jar depends on how much you’re making.

Then fill the jar with a good quality silver tequila, put the lid on, and set the jar in the fridge for a few days weeks months. Infusion!

• On Margarita day, pull the fruit out of the jar, mash it through a sieve or food mill to get out the seeds, and put some of the mash into a blender. Maybe 3 or 4 ounces or so.

• Add about 4 ounces, more or less, of the Prickly Pear tequila from the jar, 2 ounces of frozen limeade, and about an ounce and a half of triple sec, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier. Add some ice, blend, and serve. This is Margarita nirvana. Toast the mountains. Mama is watching.

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www.dukecityfit.com

Duke City Fit The Fruits of

Part II

SummerTime Perfect Tomato Soup

Rio Rancho 896-4700

Albuquerque HighDesertBicycles.com

909 36th Place SE

842-8260 8110 Louisiana NE

So now you are harvesting all of those wonderfully delicious homegrown tomatos, and you are using them up in BLT sandwiches and salsa. But you haven’t tried, you are reluctant to try, using them in... dare I say it?... soup.

Tomato soup. That stuff that mom tried to force on you back in the day. That condensed, canned stuff. Eewwww.

Well, homemade, homegrown tomato soup is about as far from that as you can get and still be on the same planet. They’re not even related. This soup... well... this soup will raise some eyebrows and your culinary reputation. That is, if you share it.

Don’t bet on it.

One thing, to make tomato soup you’ll need a food mill. Information about a food mill can be found at the end of this story. A good thing... it can also be used conveniently to make the prickly pear margaritas on the opposite page.

Okay, here’s what you’ll start with: About 12 medium homegrown tomatos, chopped (about 6 cups) 1 medium onion, chopped 6 cloves garlic, sliced 3 cups of chicken broth a couple leaves of fresh basil Throw them all in the pot, bring to a boil, and boil gently for about a half hour.

Remove from the heat and run the mixture through a food mill. Into a separate bowl. Discard the stuff left in the mill.

Now, in the empty pot make a roux 3 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour Melt the butter, over medium to med-high heat stir in the flour. Keep cooking the roux until it turns medium brown. You may need to gently increase the heat to get it to brown. Reduce heat.

Gradually whisk in the tomato mixture, a little bit at a time, so that you don’t get any lumps.

Finally add any or all: 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1 good dash of cayenne pepper (or 2?)

Fresh ground black pepper Bring back to a simmer, stirring so that you don’t burn it. As usual for many soups, this one might just be better the next day. As a variation, try cheddar goldfish crackers in the soup. I’m likin’ it.

2401 Jefferson NE • Albuquerque, NM 87111 (505) 884-8012 • www.libertygym.com Summer 2012

About the Foodmill The food mill is basically used to get the seeds and skins out of stuff as it purees it through a strainer. It is indispensible for tomato soup, or even tomato sauce.

I have an Oxo Good Grips Food Mill with several size strainers. Costs about $50 at Amazon or Bed, Bath, & Beyond. It is solid and dependable. I Recommend it.

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Duke City Fit

2012

Events in red require preregistration or reservations

Summer Calendar June - July - August

Ongoing Downtown Farmers Market, Every Saturday 7am-noon, Robinson Park at 8th & Central Sarah Wentzel-Fisher, 243-2230 x127

you. Contact 884-1991 www.nmvfo. coached by Lobo record-breaker Ashley Grisdale 314-0418 org

ABQ Uptown Growers Market, Starts June 21, Every Saturday & Tuesday 7am-noon at Louisiana & Indian School (NE parking lot) Nancy Erickson, 865-3533

Old Town & Sculpture Garden Walking Tours, Tuesdays thrru Sundays, Free, Sculpture Tours 10am, Old Town Tours 11am, ABQ Museum 2000 Mountain Rd NW 2437225

Qigong in the Park, Saturdays & Sundays 9-10am: every Saturday at Altura Park located at Hannett and Morningside NE, Every Sunday at Robinson Park at 8th & Central, Nob Hill Growers Market, Every Thursday 3pm-6:30pm, Morningside Qigong practice for all, Loretta 6811924 Park at Lead & Morningside SE qigonginthepark.com Catherine Gordon, 934-8960

Northeast Farmers Market, Tuesdays, 3 pm - 7 pm , West side of ABQ Academy, 6400 Wyoming Blvd. Enter campus at Burlison go right (south) and the market will be on the right hand side across from the softball fields.

Jedrek Lamb, (505) 858-8887

Best Masters Swim Program, $40/ month, 6-7am, Monday-Friday, Rio Grande Indoor Pool, 2312 Arenal SW, for adult swimmers/triathletes,

Rio Grande Nature Center Bird Walks, Free, 8am, Saturdays & Sun- June 14 days, join a naturalist for a quiet bird Hershey’s Youth Track & Field, walk, preregister, 344-7240 10am, Albuquerque local qualifiers at Milne Stadium, 1200 Hazeldine Rio Grande Nature Center Nature SE, Contact: Walks, Free, Sundays, 10am, an Vicente Ramirez 314-0422 insightful nature tour of the bosque, preregister, 344-7240 June 16 5th Annual Jim Thorpe Native American Championships & Open Community 5K, SW Indian Polytech Institute 9169 Coors NW, 710-3323 www.active.com

June 12 UFO’s - Do You Believe?, Free , 6:30pm, A fascinating program on

Open Space Sunday Morning Hike, Free, 9am (Some start earlier), every Sunday out of various Open Space locations. For info & to register: Bill Pentler 452-5222 Yoga With a View, $15, 8-9:30am, Every Sunday, , Open Space Visitor Center 6500 Coors NW, Yoga in a beautiful setting (1st class is $5) contact 897-8831 NM Volunteers for the Outdoors, Various trail cleanups and construction around town. Possibly one near

26

June 16 Bike Mechanic Seminar, Free, Parks & Rec Admin Building 1801 4th NW, learn brakes, derailleur adjustments, headsets, bottom brackets, wheels, and general bike maintenance. 768-5300 June 17 JCC Fathers Day 5K Run/Walk, 8am, a healthy fun run/walk to start off your Father’s Day, contact: 5076216 www.active.com

Corrales Growers Market, Sundays 9am-noon, Wednesdays (Starts July ) 3 pm - 6 pm, Recreation Center 500 Jones Rd & Corrales Rd, Mary Jane 898-7927 Open Space Sunset Series, $2 parking, Various presentations every Saturday night at 7pm, Elena Gallegos Picnic area, east of Tramway on Simms, Info&Directions: Bill Pentler 452-5222

UFO’s and extraterrestrial music, Esther Bone library in Rio Rancho 950 Pine Tree Road SE, 891-5012 x3128

Open Bowling All the Time At Sandia Bowl, we’re all about having fun with your family and friends. Come on in and bowl a few games with a burger and a beverage... our snack bar is top notch.

And our full-service lounge, well, it’s the neighborhood place to be! Join us for the game on our big screen TV, or just hang out while the kids bowl.

Finally, don’t forget, it’s bowl til you drop on Tuesday afternoons for just 5 bucks!

Family, Friends, Good Times at

Sandia Bowl 293-5675

11342 Lexington NE Albuquerque, NM 87112

www.sandiabowl.biz

Meet a Friendly Wolf, 12:302:30pm, Free, Open Space Visitor Center 6500 Coors NW, with Stephanie Kaylan, founder and president of the Wanagi Wolf Fund, info: 8978831 cabq.gov/openspace June 21 Ayurveda - An Evening of Meditation, Free , 6:30pm, Meditation allows us to take a pause from the “busyness” of life, Esther Bone library in Rio Rancho 950 Pine Tree Road SE, 891-5012 x3128 June 23 Pollinator Awareness Day, Free, Open Space Visitor Center 6500 Coors NW, Annual event with honey tasting and beekeepers Q & A, info: 897-8831 cabq.gov/openspace

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Duke City Fit June 20 Camping Basics, Free, 6-7:30pm, REI Clinic Room 1550 Mercantile Ave NE, learn what you need to take on your first camping trip, cover camping gear, staying warm and comfortable, ideas for fun activities, and local areas for car camping, 2471191 June 21 Bike Maintenance Class, Free, 6-8pm, REI Clinic Room 1550 Mercantile Ave NE, how to lube a chain, fix a flat tire in record time, and make other minor adjustments, 247-1191

July 15 Chunky Monkey, 5 & 10Ks, 7pm, Valley High School www.irunfit. org.

July 20 Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra, Free (Donations accepted), 7:30pm, 1st of 2 chamber orchestra concerts, conducted by David Felberg in Keller Hall at UNM Center for the Arts 433-7445 www. nmapo.org

July 27 Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra, Free (Donations accepted), 7:30pm, 2nd of 2 chamber orchestra concerts, conducted by David June 24 Felberg in Keller Hall at UNM Cherry Garcia Run, 5 & 10Ks, 7pm, Center for the Arts 433-7445 www.

A flat and fast course run on paved nmapo.org roads in the scenic North Valley, www.irunfit.org.

July 29 Cochiti Lake Triathlon, Beautiful June 30 setting and challenging courses!

Birds, Bees, & Flowers, $3 Parking, www.chasing3.com Talk by Carolyn Dodson author of Mountain WIldflowers of the Southern Rockies, Rio Grande Nature Center 2901 Candelaria NW, Call for time 344-7240

August 1 Albuquerque Museum of Art & History, Free Day, 9am-5pm, 2000 Mountain Road NW, A free day at the museum! Do a lot of walking.

243-7255 www.cabq.gov/museum

August 12 Rio Grande Half Marathon & 5K, National Hispanic Cultural Center, www.active.com

August 25 Taos Ski Valley Up & Over Trail Run, 10K high altitude challenge with 2,612’ elevation gain in 1st 3 July 3 miles, Rio Grande Nature Center Full taosskivalley.com/trailrun Moon Walk, $3 Parking, The Bosque Rio Grande Nature Center Full comes alive under the light of the Moon Walk, $3 Parking, The Bosque 800-517-9816 moon, Call for time & reservation comes alive under the light of the Live-Love-Tri, 7am, Rio Rancho 344-7240 moon, Call for time & reservation Aquatic Center, NM’s only all 344-7240 women Triathlon, www.livelovetri.

July 6 blogspot.com Hoof It to Happy Hour, 6pm, $25, August 5 5k walk/run, Benefits Carrie Tingley 47th Annual La Luz Trail Run, Albuquerque Color Run, Hospital Foundation, From Ned’s on Registration Closed, 7am, premier Crazy colorful 5k for all levels the Rio Grande, www.chasing3.com race in the southwest, starts on 333 one-half mile from Tramway, shoul- www.thecolorrun.com/albuquerque/ #race_map July 4th Family Fun & Games at der parking allowed on Tramway, Paradise Hills Pool,, noon-3pm, finish at the Crest, August 26 5801 ParadiseBlvd, 898-0956 www.abqroadrunners.com A Day of Mindfulness & Meditation- Open Space Sunday Morning July 14 August 5 Hike, Free, 8:30-10:30am, Open Women’s Distance Festival, 7am, Bosque Wild- Open Space Sunday $25, 5k walk/run, state’s premieir Morning Hike, Free, 8:30-10:30am, Space Visitor Center 6500 Coors women only running event, SouthOpen Space Visitor Center 6500 Co- NW register: 897-8831 cabq.gov/openspace west Indian Polytechnic Institute ors NW register: 897-8831 www.abqroadrunners.com cabq.gov/openspace

Summer 2012

August 31 Rio Grande Nature Center Full Moon Walk, $3 Parking, The Bosque comes alive under the light of the moon, Call for time & reservation 344-7240

September 2 Dam to Dam Run 2012, 8am, $25, 5k / 10k, Starbucks 12201 Academ Rd NE, run along the dam arroyos with majestic views of city and Sandias, www.active.com September 5 Albuquerque Museum of Art & History, Free Day, 9am-5pm, 2000 Mountain Road NW, A free day at the museum! Do a lot of walking.

243-7255 www.cabq.gov/museum

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Uncle KC’s KC’s Corner Corner

Road Trip!

The dragon on the dashboard absolutely glowed a fluorescent orange-red… cast by the sun going down directly behind me. A typical New Mexico sunset, though I was actually well into the Texas panhandle, heading east on Interstate 40 toward Amarillo. I had already diverted all the rearview mirrors so that I wasn’t constantly being blinded by the ball of fire behind me, but when one of those big silver “England” semi’s went by me, its back like a giant mirror itself, there was nothing I could do but slow down, divert my eyes, and wait for the after-image burned into my retinas to go away.

The dragon on the dash… well, he was a hand-carved, wooden fella that I’d picked up at a Renaissance Faire in Phoenix. He had the details of a typical Chinese dragon, and since this was, I knew, the year of the dragon, he seemed like a well-suited dash figurine. A good-luck kinda thing. Not as fashionable, perhaps, as a bobbing hula girl, but adequate. He didn’t bob, but he did have a very menacing growl to his open jaws as he looked back over my shoulders. He seemed to sneer at what was behind me… my past… the sunset… New Mexico.

I needed a good luck figurine. I was heading out on a long, 3-week journey from my high-desert homeland all the way to Lansing, Michigan, and back, in a circuitous route that would take me to many old haunts, friends, and relatives. It would be well over 3,500 miles when it was all said and done, in an 8-year-old Japanese convertible.

I needed some luck. Some good mojo. I didn’t need a tire blowing out in the middle of Oklahoma somewhere, or an engine over-heating in Missouri. And that sneering dragon might just remind me to check everything. Again.

But I had no idea that it could glow like it did in the waning sunset. I was impressed. I sat my Nikon camera on my shoulder and snapped a few blind shots, trusting in the camera’s auto-focus capabilities. (Eat your heart out, Paul Simon.) It seemed like a good omen. Hey, when your near future consists of looking at Amarillo, Texas, for God’s sake, a glowing dragon is like manna from heaven.

You know, being from New Mexico, I am used to some big, wide open spaces. Places where there isn’t any cell phone service and even the GPS says “heck, I don’t know”.

But it always seems like there’s something around that catches your eye. And your imagination. Bluffs, buttes, mesas, river valleys, Pueblo ruins, volcanos, lava flows, mountains… something. There’s always something.

But across the Texas panhandle, and Oklahoma, too, the things that catch your eye are… well… let’s see. There’s a glowing dragon. And stockyards. Lots of stockyards. You

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Duke City Fit

From the Duke City to Michigan. And back.

With a little car and a little time and a dragon on the dash.

usually smell ‘em before you see ‘em. Ah, the sweet smell of success. And then they just go on and on.

When I finally crossed up into the green of Missouri, a collective sigh went up from me and the dragon. (Was he actually sticking his serpentine tongue out at what we’d left behind?) It was nice to have some hills and trees again.

Life. Other than bovine life. There are forests in Missouri.

And the Ozarks. I noticed Mark Twain National Forest just south, but unfortunately on this leg of the journey I had to get my buns to Lansing, so there was little time for dillydallying.

In St. Louis, however, the Gateway Arch called to me.

Strange thing, that. I guess I’ve seen it a half-dozen times over the years but never had the urge to go up in it. Heck, I think for many of my years, I didn’t even know you COULD go up in it. But you can. And I did.

Why? I don’t know. But it’s a funky little ride up in a funky little 5-seater, fiberglass, enclosed box thingy where all the riders share a very limited knee space. And if you have mild claustrophobia like the mother sitting across from me with her eyes tightly closed hugging herself, it might not be the best of rides. It gets you up there though, gazing at the bowels of the building through the door windows.

And once at the top you can mill around with the other 100 tourists looking out the little windows, reminiscent of gun slits, wondering what its all for.

Why not? Ten bucks and a couple hours and a good Lewis and Clark museum at the bottom and now I can say I’ve done it and I never have to do it again. It took me a lot longer to find my way out of downtown St. Louis than it did to go up in that arch.

Approaching Chicago, which I kinda hafta go through to get to Lansing, I find an Illinois state park just a little ways south of the Windy City. It is deserted. Of course, it is a Monday night in late March. Still, that I have it to myself this close to a metro area of nearly 10 million people surprises me.

Actually, I’m not completely by myself. When I wander down along the river that evening, the Kankanee River, a big ol’ beaver stops what he’s doing out in the shallow water to eyeball me. I guess he’s deciding whether or not to whack his tail and take a dive. That’d be cool. But he doesn’t. After a few moments he just goes about his business, whatever that is. Damming up the Kankanee River, I suppose. He has lofty goals.

He and I and an owl of some kind that I hear but never see share the evening together. I have a weird dream that night about a dragon chasing a beaver. They end up

Along the Kankanee River

befriending each other and they build a castle-fortress of sticks on a bluff along the river.

Must have been something I ate.

Michigan is greener still than Missouri and Illinois.

There’s a reason for that. Evidently, it rains in Michigan.

Not the best of climates for a Japanese convertible.

Although, to be honest, it only REALLY rained one day out of the five that I was there. Mostly just “spitting” otherwise. I looked at it as a good opportunity to test out the top… kinda like testing out your air-conditioning during the winter to make sure it still works. Yep, top works. That’s enough rain.

The effects of the climate are obvious. Trees, trees, and more trees.

And among those many trees are many houses.

Michigan, it seems, is full to the brim with people. When you wander the back roads of Michigan, you are never, ever farther than a stone’s throw from a house. A farm house, or a little country charmer with one of those painted plywood ducks out front, its legs spinning in the wind.

Truthfully, though I love all the greenery and the creeks and the trees, there is something a little claustrophobic about it all. I just can’t see very far. Ever. I am hemmed in by the verdant life and the clouds. Perhaps I’ve been conditioned by the expansive world in which we live back in New Mexico. I am reminded of the indigenous peoples of the South American jungles that were unable to cope when exposed to wide open spaces. It’s like that in reverse.

I wonder if something similar affects the peoples of Michigan. Makes ‘em a little off. They do, after all, have plywood ducks in their front yards.

If you travel the back roads of Michigan long enough, you’ll eventually run into a lake. They are everywhere. And if you keep wandering in a westward direction, sooner or later you’ll hit the big one. Lake Michigan.

Continued on Page 30

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Summer 2012

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Duke City Fit

Continued From Page 28

Here, finally, you can see a ways. Like, as far as your eyes can see. On a gray, cloudy day the lake is ominous and dark, and the line of the horizon is vague and indistinct.

Behind me, there are huge dunes, some over 100 feet high, with tough grasses clinging to them here and there in clumps. They are battered and wind-blown, these dunes, obviously beaten by rain and crashing waves. I wonder what it is like here when the biting winds of winter blow, fierce and mean. They change the face of the dunes, relentlessly shifting them from here to there.

And there. And there.

A big, old-fashioned carousel does its thing in a big, old building out by the beach. Nearly empty, the calliope music reverberates out over the water. The flashing lights and the dancing horses create a strange, surreal atmosphere, blanketed as they are by the heavy clouds and the monotonous gray waves. It is a far cry, I think, from what it will be like this summer, with the throngs of kids and the cottoncandy and the swim-suited tourists from Illinois and Indiana. There is a dragon chariot in there amongst the horses, I notice.

But it doesn’t bob. It just stoically goes around in circles.

Later, down around the southern tip of Lake Michigan, the wind is really blowing.

Welcome to Chicago.

As I approach the city from the lake side the buildings rear up like fangs in the morning sunlight. My dragon seems to be grinning. He is back in his element, I think to myself, as a train clatters by overhead shaking the world and scattering dust in the streaky rays of light through the tracks. The crusty buildings and aging streets remind me of feudal castle scenes… and I wouldn’t be surprised to see chickens wandering, or a pack of feral dogs. No wonder the dragon smiles.

There are churches every few blocks, and this being a Sunday, eventually the bells begin to peel and the doors to open and the people begin streaming out. The ladies are smiling and talking loudly in their big hats, and the kids are rough-housing in their Sunday best. Traffic crawls, and finally comes to a standstill when a laughing church lady hands a palm frond through the window to the driver of the car ahead of me.

I’m smiling too, and soaking it all up like I would the New Mexico sun. It is a boisterously good Sunday morning on the crusty streets of Chicago. And the wind blows. And a palm frond skitters by in the gutter.

After the closeness of Michigan’s woods and the buildings of the city, it is good, finally, to emerge out onto the rolling plains of the midwest. Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska.

From the top of each hill I can see the cornfields stretching off into forever, the landscape dotted here and there by farm houses and barns and the few trees that usually surround them. A silo on the horizon, or a water tower bespeaks a small town of some kind. Elkhorn, or Cedar Falls or Broken Bow. I like to stop in the small farm towns in the late afternoon to see if I can find a likely-looking small little tavern. Many times, there will be a gathering of farmers and farmer types there, stopping in to have a cold one with friends and neighbors before

30

! p i r T d a Ro heading on home after a long hard day.

It is almost a ritual.

They straggle in, one at a time, often looking a little haggard or worn. Dusty.

Everybody already there greets the latest arrival by name, and somebody offers to buy him a beer which the bartender is already sitting out there on the bar. He dutifully greets everybody, also by name, and then takes a second glance at the stranger. That’d be me. “Is that your little foreign car out there?”

“This is KC,” the guy next to me says, a big husky guy with a scraggly beard, a small pony tail, and a beat up John Deere baseball hat pushed back on his head. “He’s from Nebraska and is passing through on his way to Albuquerque. Got family in Lincoln… ain’t that right?”

I gave my bonafides early on. Sometimes it’s enough and I can sit comfortably and even join in on the conversation.

Maybe even get a beer bought for me.

They talk about pivot irrigation and that new tractor that Bob got and that crazy Caskill kid who drove his pickup off the road and into the canal and Hardy ended up dragging it out with his backhoe.

Farmers bitch all the time about something or another. Either it’s raining too much or not raining enough. It’s too hot or too cold or too windy. It’s the price of corn or the price of beef… ah Jim, just forget it. Let me get ya another one.

“No, no,” I pipe up. “I’ll get it. And yours, too. It’s my turn.”

I am sorry when the little crowd disperses out into the long shadows of the late afternoon. I hear the mournful wail of a train way off in the distance, and I can vaguely see its tell-tale three headlights far, far down the tracks. So I pull over and and put a couple coins on the track and wait patiently for the train to roar by. Afterwards, I can only find one of the three coins, a quarter it was, now flattened and distended and about the diameter of a ping-pong ball. I sit it on the dash by the dragon’s feet. A treasure of sorts, I guess. A reminder of the farmland.

I camp that night in the Pawnee National Grasslands. The setting sun makes a hazy outline of the mountains so very far to the west. The Rocky Mountains. Disappearing slowly, majestically, into my future.

Oh you Rockies, how do I love thee? I cannot count the ways.

Continued From Page 28

The St. Vrain River tumbles its way down, churning and gurgling, out of Rocky Mountain National Park, even as I mosey my way up into it. I have to stop, repeatedly, to ponder the wonders of it all, creekside, atop a boulder, dousing my feet in the crystalline, foaming madness.

“Wake up!” the chill water cries out.

“Awaken. The long night of slumber is over.

Winter is gone. It is time to move and be moved. To be fierce and fearless. To go, and to go, and to never stop going. Just for the sake of going. Run the gauntlet and carve a path into what will be.”

By way of camaraderie, I dunk my head into the freezing maelstrom. The minerals are good for my hair, I reason, and the chill is good for my scalp.

Sure.

The high road through the park, Trail Ridge Road, perhaps the most magnificent road in our country, is closed, still, this early in the year… the passes choked with heavy snow. So I travel the low road toward Bear Lake. “Toward” is the operative word here, for I never actually make it back to the

through Denver with its river walks and kayak courses and later becomes the mighty muddy flat Platte in Nebraska where my brother and I canoe and walk the sandbars in search of arrowheads and eagle feathers.

But here, it is a little gurgling creek amongst the trees. Its destiny is ahead of it, and unknown to it.

Like mine.

Kenosha Pass at 10,000 feet still has much snow, so I have to sit and gaze upon the long chain of beaver dams from afar. The many little waterfalls are strangely quiet in the cold… awaiting the rush of water that is soon to come with the snow melt. It will test the architectural limits… the hydroengineering prowess of the dams creators. I must come back in July, I think, to see how they fared.

Finally, San Antonio Mountain looms ahead and I know I am coming back into my homeland. It is, I have been told at the Ranger Station in Tres Piedras, the largest free-standing mountain in the U.S. (Not in a chain). That seems like a strange claim to fame to me, but I like it, and thoroughly enjoy the two hour gravel road detour around the back side. My car, however, is not as happy with it and will probably need an alignment as a result.

The last leg is to head over to the Rio Grande Gorge. To stand in the wind and gawk at it. To walk the edge. To feel the Rio Grande River… it is like feeling the pulse of

lake. I am delayed and detoured, again and again, by pull-outs and meadows and an old trail that leads off into some newly budded aspens. I chide myself about not getting to my destination, and then chide myself about chiding myself… I am already at my destination, wherever I am.

On the road, 285 south through central Colorado, that thought becomes my mantra.

I stop again and again, albeit briefly, to revel in the here and now. There is a little campground that I know of, that I found by accident years ago, about 5 miles off the highway. It is situated squarely on the headwaters of the South Platte River.

This is the self-same river that wanders

New Mexico. It is alive and well, and I am home.

You know, sometimes I think about that trip and I can still see that dragon glowing orange in the sunset, looking back over my shoulder at what is past. And other times, I see it at dawn, smiling at me with the light of a new day. Beckoning, toward the future.

And here I sit, I guess, between those two dragons. The past and the future. Their lesson, it seems, and the lesson of the trip, is to enjoy the journey. The here and now.

There be dragons to both sides, front and back. Smiling, sneering dragons.

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Duke City Fit

Summer 2012

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