Spring 2013
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Livin’ It and Lovin’ It in Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Spring 2013 Cruces Basin
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Spring 2013
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Duke City Fit From the Publisher
From
Where I Sit Ken Orth The kingdom in the autumn of its life There’s an old wooden bench in our front yard. A park bench. It has been sitting there for a long time. It is weather-beaten and wobbly. The wood is reminiscent of old barn wood that has been exposed to the elements for far too long. It is grayed a dirty gray with dark streaks of black grain running through it like the wrinkles of an old man’s face. It has character, too, like an old man. It has come by its ragged appearance honestly, sitting there in the blazing sun day after day. And sloughing off the snow or the freezing rain or the blowing, sandy grit of summer. It has a job to do, that bench. Its job is to be there, ready and supportive, when someone has need of its sunny location and its grand view of the mountains… or of the front yard, or the neighborhood. Its job is to provide a resting place, a reliable and friendly resting place where one can find a moment or two of respite from the hurried life out there… out there beyond its reach and sphere of influence. Often it is a quiet, meditative place… at least it is these days. It is a place where I can rest my weary bones. And weary mind. A place to contemplate life , to read, or to gaze up longingly at the Sandias in anticipation of hikes to come. Sometimes my eyes glaze over as I sit there, my sight looking at nothing, at everything, perhaps focused inward somewhere. My neighbor tells me that sometimes it looks like a mannequin has been propped up there on the bench, like a Halloween surprise, so lifeless and still is it. At those times she opts not to disturb the aura with a cheery greeting or the latest neighborhood news. I think I am grateful for her thoughtfulness. It is a throne of sorts, the bench, if an aging and dilapidated one. It is the seat of judgement and justice for the little kingdom that is the front yard. It is often from this vantage that monumental decisions are made… to mow the lawn or to wait. To chop off and root out the rebellious yellow dandelions, or to allow them a few more days of colorful dissent. The bench… the throne… old as it is, lends a certain air of dignity and authority to such judgements. A certain calm thoughtfulness, as if to say that this decision is not spontaneous, nor is it made with undue haste, but rather, it is thoughtful and done for the good of the kingdom Just beyond the old bench, dangling above a tiny patch of lawn from the branch of a mulberry tree, there is an old tire swing. It is almost as old as the bench. It arrived right on the heels of the bench. And if the bench is the throne, then the tire swing must be the court jester. If the bench’s job is to lend dignity and authority to the noble proceedings, the tire swing’s is nearly the opposite. The swing is intended to entertain, to evoke laughter and mirth, and humility. Over its many years of giggling servitude, he has done just that. Children uncounted have encountered and been lifted up by his humorous antics… citizens of the kingdom and visitors alike have come within his circle of influence to test and be tested by his ever-oscillating sense of humor. More than a few younglings have learned something of life in the swinging gaiety of the black tire. An underlying lesson lives there… an eternal truth about the laws of karma, namely, what goes around comes around. If you choose to dance with the black jester, to push him and swing him while your laughing comrades ride his rubbery shoulders, do not turn your back on him. Do not be distracted by passing dogs or cyclists. Do not be lulled into thinking that once you have sent him spinning away, that is the end of things. He is not gone indefinitely. He will return. As surely as night follows day, he will return, often with an exhilarating vigor, swinging and spinning more wildly than when he last danced away. And, laughing all the while, he will gladly lay rubber to the unwary back side of any and all… be it child, parent, onlooker, lawn chair, dog… anything that happens to be within reach of his dancing circle. Even our aging dog, senile as he was, learned to position himself outside of that invisible circle. As, soon, did the non-partiicipating kids, and the mothers… the mothers who were often quite wary of the thing anyway, the black swinging monstrosity upon which their children strove to stay mounted. It was a throwback to another era, that swing. It was a harsh, goofy teacher of the laws of physics who would quite willingly smack down a recalcitrant or slow-learning student, just as surely as old Sister Margaret would levy justice with a thin wooden ruler. Whap!
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Ah, but those days of laughing children and concerned mothers have slipped away into the mists of time. They are gone now, with the kids, into high schools and colleges… into proms and cars and late night rendezvous’ . They disdain their old fanciful friend now. He dangles undisturbed, for the most part, until the chill winds of spring set him dancing again in a solitary waltz. Or until I am drawn from my lassitude on the bench to rise and shamble over and give him a good shove for old time’s sake… He spins away, then, as in the days of old, laughing and giggling and happy to be doing once again what tire swings are supposed to do, even it be bareback. And, still true to his nature, it is not long before he clips back around, as he was always wont to do, a gleeful glint in his single, wide-open eye. He comes back around to see if I remember the lessons of physics that he spent so many hours laughingly teaching. Do I? Perhaps it is a test of my destined dotage. When the day comes that I can no longer safely dodge his dancing rebuttal, I will know that it is time to stop with this malingering minuet. The dance of the old-timers. I think of these things from my place on the wobbly bench. Throne, indeed! The old bench is as much past its prime as its black rubber counterpart. One day, I suppose, if it is not the swinging black jester that plants me on my butt, it may well be the aging bench finally giving up the ghost in a tangled heap. It’ll be me and the throne, mashed up there on the ground in the front yard, with the jester on the sidelines, laughing in the wind. I consider, occasionally, removing both of them. But I can’t seem to be able to bring myself to actually do it. I guess it seems wrong somehow to disturb the equanimity of age that has settled upon us all. The peace and quiet of a day in its dusk. I still sit there now and again to contemplate and to deal out the yardly judgements. The trimmings and the mowings and the watering schedules. But they seem somewhat less important these days. Less timely. The mowing can wait. The protruding bush branch is not being obtrusive and obstinately rebellious so much as… artistic, maybe… abstractly expressing his individuality. He is due his moment, I think, in the front yard sun. And even as that sun wanes, and the ghostly memories flitter hither and yon, I pat the bench fondly and I rise. “Watch this, “ I tell him. I walk over to the old swing and I grab the rope, like the reins of a skittish horse. I step up into the gaping black rubber stirrup and swing myself astride. He dances away, twisting and turning, playfully trying to unseat me if he can. “Not today!” I cry, one hand high in the air like a bucking bronco rider. My smile turns to laughter, and the jester laughs along with me, giggling convulsively. And we both look over at the bench. All he gives us is a wan, little smile. He has his image to preserve, don’t you know. Through it all, he still has his dignity. I am a bench, he says, not a tire swing.
Duke City Fit Editor: Ken Orth
Copy Editor: P Joan Orth, RN
Editor@dukecityfit.com
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Duke City Fit is solely owned and published by Duke City Fit, LLC. It is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December. Copyright © 2013 by Duke City 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 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 use common sense and consult with a professional before attempting any potentially harmful activity. Duke City Fit encourages your submission of articles, photographs, comments, criticisms, and ideas. All submissions will be considered for publication. Recommended 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. Duke City Fit is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Our mailing address:
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City of Albuquerque
Spring
Spring
50+ Sports and Fitness Program March
April
May
Walk Abouts
50+ Fitness Hiking
Walkers will learn the science of walking, how to use walking poles and receive pedometers. Walk the Botanical Park, Historical tour of Bernalillo, Nob Hill, The Bosque, the Zoo and a Plaza to Plaza tour, just to name a few!
Designed for the beginner to intermediate hiker, select wilderness hikes to match your abilities.
Hiking 101 Half day hikes through the foothills. Learn techniques, conditioning, and safety while having fun.
Kayaking A perfect sport for all ages, learn to Kayak in a safe environment. Includes two pool lessons and a river trip!
Center Hiking
The ABQ Centers offer weekly hiking year round. Schedules at front desks. www.ASCHG.org
Indoor Rock Climbing
The gym is a great way to venture into rock climbing. Get high in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Great full body exercise!
Competition Alert: Albuquerque 50+ thru May rch Ma Volunteers Needed,
311 or TTY 764-6405
880-2800 cabq.gov/seniors
Spring 2013
Paddle Boarding 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 is offering classes on the Rio Grande and at Cochiti.
June
Mountain Biking for Beginners Explore new and exciting terrain with off-road biking. This includes a 2 part introduction and one hour off road Bosque ride with a biking expert.
The 50+ Sports & Fitness program also offers numero us ďŹ tness classes, sporting competitions and workshops, free strength training orientations, year-round open play spo rts, and 4 state-of-the-art ďŹ tness centers.
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.
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e n o g t s u I’ve j for a e d i R e Bik xxoo
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Looking down on The Big I from up on the Diversion Trail, volcanoes for a backdrop. I stayed up late last night. For a while I was out in the backyard with the old guitar, banging and crooning away. I might have said I was howling at full band to back me up, I could sail off into wild harmonies now the moon, but there is just a sliver of a moon these days, and and again, even as the musical muse dictated. what little there was had already gone to bed. It was a night for singing. For singing happy songs. It was a Fortunately, for the neighbors, it was cold enough outside that night for my heart to soar as I looked into the flickering flames they all had their windows closed up tight and were spared the and imagined them dancing to the songs I sang… to the rock and major brunt of my impromptu concert. roll beat of my distant youthful years, those years now as safely Unfortunately, it was also cold enough that my fingers started tucked away in a bed of the past as the crescent moon and the chilling rather quickly and I was unable to hang in there for very dusty 12-string. long. On top of that, I don’t play anywhere near enough these I’ll be tucked away like that, I thought, in the not-too-distant days to keep the callouses up on my fingertips and I’m telling you, future. I’ll be tucked away to gather dust and possibly, to dream it wasn’t long ‘fore the fingers started yelling at me. Somewhere dreams of what was and what might have been. And I wondered around song 7, I think it might have been “Me and Julio” (doing if I’d rise again, like that slivered moon will… a little bigger and a something down by the schoolyard… I’ve never figured out little brighter and a little more mature. exactly what, and I’ve been singing that song for three decades But not tonight. Not now. now), I decided it was time to put the old 12-string to bed, in This night was for singing. This night was a celebration, I feeble imitation of the long-since retired moon. realized. On this night I would sing the praises of the day just I moved my own sorry self inside, too, where an Irish Coffee passed. On this night I was ever so grateful for the brilliant New came to the rescue. It warmed the cockles of my heart and Mexico stage upon which I was able to play. The sunlight had soothed the strained cords of my throat, pushed as they had smiled upon me today, I knew, and I sang a song for the sunlight. been by the screaming vocals of Roger Daltrey and John Fogerty. Cat Stevens sang with me, and we were aided by iTunes, and Looking out my back door, indeed. by my Irish buddy Jameson. “Morning has broken,” we sang The renewed warmth and the medicinal effect of the late night spiritedly, “… praise for the singing, praise for the morning…” beverage soon had me crooning again. In the family room this It is strange, I thought then, how simple things can become so time, with a fire in the fireplace and the stereo cranked up. With a meaningful. It was just a bike ride…
It was just a bike ride through the streets and bike paths of Albuquerque. Through the back ways where the dogs and joggers go. To the asphalt trail where the spandexclad bikers ride, whistling by, their shirts aglow in fiery red or orange. Where a grandmother pushes a stroller, gently, talking to her wideeyed little passenger like the captain of a plane, storytelling over the intercom about the wonders of the world before her. Opening up whole new vistas for a whole new generation. I longed, briefly, to ride in that stroller with that infant, and I longed to listen to grandma’s story. I wanted to be wide-eyed again with wonderment. And then I realized, I WAS wide-eyed. I had my own storytellers along on this journey. Grandfathers. Both of them. Wise with years and crotchety with age, and full to the brim with stories of what was and what might have been. It was my great good fortune to have ridden this day, once again, with the old fogies. That they allowed me to tag along with them on one of their cross-town excursions was a joy indeed. It was a pilgrimage for me. A semi-annual, sacred pilgrimage, although I hadn’t really realized it until that evening when sat before the beating, flickering flames of reflective fire. These old guys were not just tour guides, they were that and much more. These guys were bike riders. Veteran bike riders of Albuquerque and the high desert. “You know, Tramway was just a dirt road when I first started riding it to work… from up there by the tram all the way down to Sandia Labs. That was back in the 70’s.” Pete was the teller of this tall tale as we pedaled north along Tramway. I had known this, I know, for a long time… about Tramway and all of these roads being dirt back in the day, but I had never thought about it while I was actually pedaling up the road. I turned and gazed back down the hill at
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The new bridge over I-25... abstract, tubular art
the pavement and the cars and the stoplights, and I had a hard time conjuring up a deserted dirt road that led along the foothills from Route 66 at one end to the newly built tram at the other. That’s a long road, I thought, that runs from that day till now, and these guys have ridden it. “I was riding my bike out through the canyon one time…” he continued later on in our ride. “What canyon is that?” I asked, interrupting his train of thought. “Canyon? Oh, yeah… Tijeras,” he said. “Tijeras Canyon.” He pronounced “Tijeras” with the enunciation and the roll of the “r” that bespoke of a long-time resident. Or native. Of one who understood and appreciated and propagated the integrity and history of our place names and their Spanish/Indian heritage. “I got a flat on my bike there in the middle of Tijeras Canyon,” he told me. I was fixing it there on the side of the road when some guy going the other way stopped and came back to see if I needed some help. We chatted there by the road while I finished fixing my bike. He ended up inviting me to go riding along with a group of his that went out every Wednesday morning. I started going and have been going ever since. “What year was that?” I interrupted again, wanting to know how ancient this history was. “Ah, it was about 96, right after I retired. That’s when I finally had enough free time to go riding. That’s where I met Ed… riding with that Wednesday morning group.” Story Continued after the map, Page 9
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311 768-2680 857-8025 857-8650 768-2453 452-5200 243-RIDE
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924-3690
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Just a Bike Ride...
Up ahead of us, Ed, our erstwhile guide, glanced back at us in the little rear-view mirror attached to his sunglasses. I could tell when he’d do that by the minuscule cock of his head that brought that little mirror popping out to the left side. He must have heard the mention of his name. And I noticed we were on a quiet backstretch of a bike trail where there was no noise of traffic that would’ve otherwise drowned out our conversation. I love biking on these “multi-use” trails. Any and all of them. I like the “back door” view of the city that they often provide. The back side of businesses and schools and neighborhoods. A side that you cannot see from the streets, or even, sometimes, from within those places themselves. It is like you’ve been invited to a secret viewing. A private place. A place known only to the few… the bikers and the joggers and the mongrels. I am reminded of a Michael Martin Murphy song about the alleys of Austin… “the bricks and the bottles and the mongrels, trying to make sense out of it all..” I imagine him singing a similar song about the bike trails of Albuquerque. Part of what I love about riding with the old fogies is that Ed likes to determine the route. He decides where we are going and how we are going to get there. He pays attention to where we are and what time it is and if there’s a cyclist or a car coming up behind. He warns us when we’re stopping with the traditional arm down stop signal, as he also signals his turns with the arm up or out. I love seeing his arm pop out, or his mirror. I feel safer and more secure knowing he’s taking care of business up there. We’d had a bit of a discussion, he and Pete and I, back at the beginning of the ride when I was donning my chartreuse biking helmet. My wife’s helmet. I don’t actually have a helmet and I don’t normally wear one. But I know full well what these guys think of that. And I also know that it’s darn near mandatory to wear a helmet if you are going to ride with them. So I mentioned to them what I’d been reading recently about bike helmet usage in European countries. France, I think, where they have done a bunch of studies and determined that the actual benefit of wearing a helmet is relatively minuscule when compared with the total number of bike miles ridden. That is, the chance of a helmet actually making a significant difference to your health is pretty darn small. And what they have found, in addition, is that if you relax the “mandatory” helmet thing, you get more people to ride their bikes. Strangely enough, some people would rather not ride than wear those silly helmets. “Their values are all screwed up,” Ed told me in no uncertain terms. He went on to tell me that in his many years and miles of biking, he’s busted up a few helmets. “Busted the helmet instead of my head!” “Yeah,” Pete chimed in, “I don’t have any doubt at all that I’d be dead if I hadn’t been wearing a helmet. I’ve busted about 4 of ‘em. One time a guy in a pickup ran a red light right into me. I woke up later with some people holding me and my helmet in pieces. Got a concussion out of that one, and I was lucky that’s all I got.” “Great,” I said. “I’m writing and experiencing a story about biking, and you’re gonna scare me into thinking about helmets and concussions and happy to be alive…” “Well, we think it’s important that you know, and your readers know,” they told me, “And anybody who is going to go bike riding knows… things can happen. We ride a lot of miles. A LOT of miles. And most of those were on the streets. And you share those streets with cars. Cars can be dangerously unpredictable.” But also remember that now Albuquerque has a great many off-road trails and paths. And designated bike lanes, marked and signed and significant. And many, many drivers are aware of bike riders now, and the fact that they share the
Spring 2013
Duke City Fit Continued from Page 6
road. Things are getting better for bike riders. But they still need to wear a helmet. We talk of other things as we ride. Up and through the new bike/pedestrian bridge over I-25 with its modern looking corrugated steel mesh and abstract art tubular feel. It is a big step in connecting Bear Canyon and Tramway in the northeast heights all the way down to the north/ south Diversion Channel trail west of I-25. Going south on that Diversion Channel Trail, along the embankment above it, I am told that this is one of the oldest bike paths in the city. When they built the diversion channel (back in the 70’s?) the engineers who built it and intended to maintain it wanted to keep the trail alongside it private and closed, for official use only. But there were some strong, savvy, forwardlooking biking enthusiasts at the time, and cooler, bike-minded heads prevailed. The long, glorious trail from the north side down to the UNM campus was born. When we come down off the heights and the lofty solitude of the diversion trail into the chaos of the UNM hospital and the impending campus, we are single file with me a distant third in the back. I am a bit bemused by the glory of the day and the ride and the city of dreams. There is a “round-a-bout” intersection there, relatively new and relatively confusing to many. I am aware of this, of this very intersection, and I also know, therefore, that I should pay more attention to the traffic around me. But my thoughts are scattered. Suddenly a little blue car is passing me by and it veers to the right to make a turn. It cuts me off and I smack into its passenger side, right behind the front fender. It knocks me to the ground, not really in slow motion, but slow enough for me to have time to wonder if I am about to test out my wife’s chartreuse helmet. I end up on my side on the street, my bike a ways behind me. I have a bruised hip and a bloody elbow and my scratched up biking gloves lead me to believe that I would also have had fairly bloody palms had I not been wearing them. My head, and the helmet in which it is ensconced are untouched and undamaged, having gone nowhere near anything hard. The middle-aged lady driver of the car is a nervous wreck, and truthfully, I am soon more concerned about her than I am myself. She didn’t see me. She’s never had an accident. Do I want her to take me over to the hospital? (It reminded me of a time, many years ago when, as a pedestrian, I almost got run over by an ambulance. I thought at the time that if you were going to get hit, twould be best, I supposed, to have it done by an ambulance. And here was I… hit… a mere block from a hospital.) I didn’t need the hospital. Didn’t need the ride. Got back on my bike, after much dithering about, and finished up the ride. Me and the old boys made it straight to the Winning Coffee Shop over off Central. There, on a sidewalk table, a Hazelnut Latte and a blueberry scone did much to mollify my buddies and my own frazzled nerves. The college kids gawked at the geezers who’d invaded their space, one of them banged up and bloodied. No one asked. We talked then, the old guys and I, a little more seriously than we otherwise might. We talked of biking and trails and the fleetingness of life. I had not seen my life flash before my eyes, I admitted. But I thought about it a little then, at the wrought iron table on Route 66. And I thought about it more, later that night, in front of a flickering fire, with John Denver singing along with me about sunshine on our shoulders. It makes us happy. I thought back upon the glories of the ride. The sights I had seen, the thoughts I had had, the conversations with my biking comrades… the guidance, the hope, the insights. The wide-eyed wonder of a boy on his bike. So I stayed up late last night. And I sang some songs. I sang loud and I sang with vigor. The songs were for a bike ride. Just a bike ride.
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Trout fisher folks tout the Guadalupe Box in Jemez country. So this writer offers this fish story... sort of. Year back, I, and my hiking buds of the long trail, took off one summer day heading for Jemez Dam, or some more popular hiking trail, and got lost on some socalled road up there, which was our usual modus, as we didn’t travel with a topo, compass or any sort of map then. GPS gizzies weren’t around, and would have been rendered mute in the canyons. Hear the off-key singing filling the truck - James Taylor “Hey girl, I’m your candy man! Comma, coma, coma, coma, coma come, come .... handy man! “ We park and start the trek up this unnamed river. Maybe it’s the Rio de lasVacas or the Rio Cebolla - who knows? When the trail ends, we start slogging in the rather ample river, spellbound by the 16 inch rainbows swimming up-stream. No fishy story here - these pups were probably bigger and fatter than any of us had ever imagined, or seen. As a result, lack of concentration of footing on the river’s slick rocks, produce wild gyrations for balance and eventually, one of us, who shall remain anon, falls face-flat, and goes under. Upon turning, the loud shrieking starts as we slog to her aid. Two more bite it, but not with the total perfection of our aforementioned pal. We pick her up, drag her out, help get her out of her soaked duds and share some of our clothes. Like how cool is it to wear a zip rain jacket for a pair of pants, tied by a length of rope we always carry? The upward path of the massive rainbows alters not one bit. While her wrung-out hike stuff is drying on the bushes, we eat lunch, gagging with laughter - all but one. Comes along now, this couple, hiking the opposite side of the steam, on a trail, which we now see. They hit the boulders and light a smoke ... fill in the blank. Clothes sort-of dried, we slosh over to the trail, make it back down, only crossing when we see the car. End of fish story. Back to Duke City Fit hiking. This day, we’re on Highway 4 to Jemez. I can smell the Rio Guadalupe before we finally start into the Box, aka: Gillman Tunnels, #376, and Jemez Canyon. Great towering, rugged black and red sculpted rocks arc over the road, worn down by the relentless white gush of the river, and the flash flooding that have been constants for the last 60,000 years. Light fills a round hole through the rocks, like some sort of divine microscope barrel, now focused on the truck windshield, as we’re swallowed for a moment in time, in total darkness. New Mexico always amazes me, because no matter how many years I’ve hiked in this country, there’s always something new to see. We stop to admire the beauty of the river’s gush - white wedding veil against red and black walls. This day, smiling, on the way to Schoolhouse Canyon, I’m looking here and there, trying to remember the road less traveled, taken so many years ago, humming the old James Taylor Candy Man song. Somebody
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picks up the tune beside me. I don’t find it. Now captured by the beauty of this enduring landscape, I admire volcanic blows which created the pumice shelves that surround Bandelier and the Valles Caldera. We turn at Walatowa onto FR 485. One of 19 pueblos in New Mexico with 3,400 members, it’s a nice rest stop for travelers. The Walatowans came in the late 13th century, building amazing structures, some four stories high, with 3,000 rooms, a style which is Chaco and Bandelier, and some others. Two hundred years later, enter the Spanish Conquistadores. Peace lasted four decades, until the later arrivals tried Christianizing the Indians by force. Thus began the Pueblo Revolts. The road shakes, rattles and rolls the passengers, making ears itch. Patches of spring green dot the landscape, and riots of gilt dandelions wave, safe in that they will never meet weed control patrols. At the turn of the last century, the railroad came to little logging towns like Gilman and Porter Landing, hauling the great ponderosa timber to the West Coast. Crossing the bridge, the human-made scars on the landscape of a hundred years ago, have mostly faded. Only a fireplace remains now, which once belonged to the superintendent’s office. A school house was built for logging camp kids, at the now School House Canyon trail head. Today, we park in a very svelte spot, marked by beautifully crafted, crossed timbers, edged by a stream. Besides great trout fishing, good rock climbing, School House is a perfect spring hike, our goal of the day. Happy to begin a moderate two miles up to the shelf where there’s a great expansive views of the Valles Caldera and the Sierra Nacimiento, conversation babbles round; all of us feel happy for the day, the hike, our good health, always giving home to the trail ahead and yet another adventure. And so, let the hike begin. We begin up a moderate, wide slope, dotted with huge ponderosa, probably the great grandchildren of those lumbered a century ago, and soon come out onto a narrow, sandy trail devoid of trees. “Betcha it’s the fire,” I share with my new pal, Deb. “Couple years ago. Los Alamos.” I was right. June 26, 2011, began the second worst fire New Mexico has ever endured - Las Conchas - laying waste to 150,000 acres. It’s believed that a tree caught after it contacted an electric line. Only the Whitewater Baldy fire of 2012, in the Gila, surpasses it. Las Conchas flames licked up this Schoolhouse Canyon, digesting life, leaving only stumps and stubborn tall trunks. Like ebony
toothpicks, they stand mute on surrounding canyon flats and foothills. Red Tail Hawks soar on the wind, leaving dual shadows on the canyon walls. About an hour and a half later, the trail has some rough, rocky spots, and eventually breaks out on the flat shelf. Everyone heads over to the edge for the view, and then settles down in the shade, against an accommodating tree or rock to enjoy lunch, new friendships, quiet chats, and the sweetness of the spring air. The view takes us, calms us, makes us glad we hike, and all of us, I know, bless the rest given by this beautiful space. How about a stop at Walatowa on the way back for some ice cream? Renewal? Always. Loving New Mexico? Oh, yes.
HIKE STATS: GETTING THERE:
• 4.0 miles • 915 Elevation gain • 3 hours • Moderate
• I-25 to Bernalillo 550 west • Highway 4 to Jemez • Walatowa • Onto FR # 485, 4 miles along Rio Guadulupe • Shaw Road • Through Gillman Tunnels to Porter Landing • Cross bridge # 376 - see Girl Scout camp sign • See Arroyo del Tajo - Upper hike • Through cattle guard gate • Park in shade
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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 treat ments such as medications, injec tions and exercise therapy offertemporary results, the fu ture is bleak. The treatmentprogram at The New Mexi co Back Institute works for:• Back and Neck Pain • Sciatica/Numbness • Herniated and/or bulging “ I had such intense pain from a sec discs (single or multiple) ond herniated disc that I could not walk without the aid of crutches. • Degenerative disc disease Couldn’t shower or even dress and • A relapse or failure was out of work for a month. After 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.” • Spinal Stenosis ~ Eva Wilkstrom, Denver • 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 re searcher from the prestigious Mayo Clinic reports a 50% reliefof 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.
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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 actu ally fall asleep during treatment! A spinal strengthening and stabilization program is often included with thetreatment 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 evalu ation by the doctor can determine if you qualify for thistreatment 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
Spring 2013
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Duke City Fit
Dr Elaine
Rollin’ Along
It’s beginning to warm up and some of us are beginning to plan our vacations. Some may choose a relaxing cruise (although some of those have not been so relaxing recently) and some may choose a more active vacation. There are ways to prepare for those active vacations so that you return relaxed and not wearing a neck brace. I recently returned from a vacation to the “happiest place on earth”. Five adults and one four-year-old made the trip. I must say that we all returned, but I’m not sure that we all returned intact. I am a fan of roller coasters. I love to scream and carry on and ride them over and over. I am amazed to say that my four year old grandson was right there with me. He preferred those to the rides that we would normally assume a little one would love. I have to say, I kept up with him, but this grandma came back a little worse for the wear. I have some old degeneration in my neck due to a fall from a horse as a child and a couple of rear impact car collisions. This sets me up to have some trouble riding those crazy rides. They even post signs that if you have neck and back trouble you shouldn’t ride certain rides. I read them as I passed them in the line for the ride. But, I had done some preparation for the trip and because I had, I escaped any serious injury. I admit to soreness, but more from the twenty miles a day I walked than from the insanity of riding roller coasters. So if you are planning a trip this summer with a little one, or a not so little one, there are some things you can do to make your return to civilization a little bit easier. If you have a few months advance knowledge of your trip, make sure you are doing neck strengthening exercises. The stronger those supporting muscles are, the better they will hold you in your seat on your ride. Our necks tend to be very vulnerable to injury especially
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on rides that jerk you very quickly. The impact can be very similar to the impact of a car collision. So a little preparation using some simple exercises is well worth the investment in time. It might pay dividends even if you are not bound for a roller coaster. One of my favorites is one that you can do anytime and anyplace. Isometric neck strengthening exercises are the secret to survival on many roller coasters. The way I tell my patients to do these exercises is to begin while looking in a mirror. You want to place your hand or hands on your forehead and make sure that you keep your head straight. You push forward with your head while resisting the movement with your hands. I suggest that you push forward about ten times for about five seconds each time. Then rest for a few seconds and repeat the exercise. Next, you place your hand on the side of your head (remember to keep your head straight) and do the same thing. Push into your hand for about five seconds. You will find that you want to bend your head into your hand. Resist that temptation. That’s why you are looking in the mirror. Keep your head straight. If you don’t, you won’t be accomplishing your goal of strong neck muscles for the long roller coaster ride. Do this on both sides of your head. Finally, put both hands behind your head. Remember to keep that head straight. Don’t lean back into your hands. Push your head back into your hands. Same time and same repetition. I recommend about three sets. Do these a couple of times a day and you will improve the chances that you can ride that coaster without coming home with a whip lash. You may get sore when you start this exercise. Women especially tend to have weaker neck muscles and when we exercise them, we realize that we usually balance our heads on our necks and we don’t use the muscles to hold our heads. Another version of this exercise is to do basically the same thing, but using a playground type of ball. A soccer ball or basketball is too hard. Get a kid’s ball and put it behind your head on the wall. Again it’s important to keep your head straight. Push your head back into the ball. Same idea. Five seconds and ten repetitions. You look a little silly doing any of these things, but it’s ok, you don’t really look that dignified in an amusement park either. Remember when you are using the ball that you still go in all directions. You push to the side and from the front so that you are working all of those neck muscles. When you get to the amusement park and you are getting ready to ride the latest twirling, speeding coaster, take a couple of hints from those who have studied car collisions. This is an impact that you know is coming so you can prepare for it. If you are riding a coaster that leaves your body free, don’t be an arm waver. Brace yourself on the ride. You will have less impact on your body if you hold on. If you simply must be a daredevil and wave your arms around, do it on one of the rides that braces you completely and the only thing that you can move is your arms. Bracing yourself is great advice whether you are on a roller coaster or you are about to be hit by another car. Your neck will come through the momentum better if you brace for the impact. So brace on the roller rides too. If you do find yourself sore at the end of the day at the park, ice is your friend. Get an ice pack and spend ten or fifteen minutes with the ice on the sore spots. Epsom salts in a warm bath are also helpful. Your muscles and your joints may both let you know that they are not used to this kind of work out. Treat them gently after you have abused them all day. Another helpful hint is seeing the professionals before you leave on your trip. If you plan to ride anything that goes bump or jerks you around or spins you in a teacup, you should make a couple of appointments with your chiropractor and probably your massage therapist. This will get you into fighting form before you splash off of a mountain. You want your spine in alignment when you begin to bend it backward and forward in ways that it hasn’t moved in years. You also want to check in with them when you return from your adventures in wonderland and make sure that you haven’t stressed that spine. I always suggest that my patients schedule a visit with me and my massage therapist when they return. Vacations are a wonderful thing and I’m planning a trip to another amusement park in a couple of years. It’s got some record setting roller coasters so I will follow my own advice. I’m working on my neck muscles now because I want to be able to ride those coasters with my grandson when he is tall enough to take them on. If you want or need other information about how best to make it through an amusement park, contact your chiropractor and let them know what you are planning. We all have great suggestions for our patients. Or if you haven’t got a chiropractor of your own, call my office. We are still accepting new patients and I’m crazy enough to still love those amusement parks. 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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Duke City Fit
Spring 2013
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Duke City Fit
t I e v a S n a We C d ar u G al n io at N e th ck ba ll ca to te But it’s too la
Ken Orth & Dr Colin Shaw www.drcolinshaw.com
I’ll be honest with you. I have a love/hate relationship with my teeth. My thought is… they have a job to do and I just wish they’d do it without bitchin’ a whole lot about it. All they gotta do is chew, for Pete’s sake. It ain’t exactly rocket science. In return, I scrub ‘em periodically, run a waxy string around ‘em now and again, and flush ‘em with Cool Blue Mint Listerine if I’m not in too darn much of a hurry. Look, I tell them, you do what you do and I’ll do what I do and everybody’ll just be happy as pie. So what’s with this distress signal all of a sudden, huh? How come somebody over there on the upper right side is suddenly averse to cold food? We’re talking ice cream, here. “Your tooth is diseased,” I was told. Bacteria has gotten in there to the pulp. From there it has gotten into the bloodstream, and that ain’t good. Turns out your body doesn’t take too kindly to bacteria. Not in a cut and not in your tooth. “We’ve been invaded!” your immune system hollers. “Send out the National Guard.” And they do it, by golly. They send out the troops. White blood cells roar into action. It’s like Red Dawn. Except that it’s not happening in southern Colorado, it’s happening in that tiny little bicuspid sanctuary in your mouth. A toothy little kingdom that had always been so safe and secure (and quiet) inside its enamel castle walls. Those walls have been breached and the enemy has slipped into the inner sanctum. It was a cavity that originally broke through the enamel exterior. A plain old cavity. And had it been spotted and its growth arrested, that would have been that. A filling would have done the trick. But this little baby went unnoticed and unattended. It worked its invasive way through the interior of the tooth, the “dentin”, until it finally hit paydirt. The pulp. The nerves and the blood. That is when the distress signal went out. And that is when the immune system kicked into gear, sending out reinforcements to do battle with the invader. Unfortunately for the good guys, the toothy interior of this battleground was not built for this kind of warfare. The design of the tooth, and the working model, called for the enamel to hold. The enemy was never supposed to get in. Period. There really wasn’t ever any Plan B. Evolution has evidently only gotten as far as a solid wall, and that’s it. So when the enemy did get in and the battle ensued and the refuse of war began to pile up… well… the flow of blood in and out, in those tiny little veins and arteries, the flow was not enough to keep up. Eventually, amid the death and destruction, the blood flow plugs up. There is a logjam, right there at the tip of the root where the flow is the most constricted. The flow stops. It is inevitable. This is not good. Without the nourishment and oxygen that the blood supplies, the pulp of the tooth is doomed. The invading bacteria has its way, pillaging and plundering the toothy countryside. The bicuspid kingdom has met its Waterloo. But that is not all. Out there on the other side of that log-jammed bottleneck, outside that root in the bone of the mouth, the battle changes, but continues. Now the body, and its anti-invader troops look at that logjam itself as an invader, and they begin to attack it. Once again there are
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casualties, and once again the refuse of war begins to pile up. The swollen mess of death there is known as an abscess. With time, it is almost as inevitable as the demise of the pulp itself. “Does the pulp die every time?” I asked my endodontist, Dr Colin Shaw. “Every time,” he replied. “Once the bacteria has gotten to the pulp, it is irreversible. It is called ‘pulpitis’.” The vein/artery will eventually plug up. A side effect of this plugging up can be the tooth’s reaction to heat and cold. Particularly cold. It works like this… You remember a pressure cooker? Your mom might have had one. It’s a pot, sealed with a tight fitting lid. As you heat it, pressure builds up inside. You might think of a tooth, with its sealed coat of enamel, as rather like that pot. Heat or cold changes the pressure on the inside of that tooth. And this triggers a pain signal from the nerve in the pulp of that tooth. Now in a healthy tooth with a normal blood flow, that pressure change is compensated for rather quickly by blood flow in or out. The pain signal is pretty short-lived. But in a diseased tooth, you will recall, the blood flow has been interrupted or stopped. The tooth may be incapable of normalizing that pressure. That means that the pressure, and the accompanying pain signal, may be sustained over a longer period of time. The fact is that if you experience tooth pain from cold that lasts longer than a second or two, it is a pretty serious indicator that all is not right within the pulp of that tooth. “Really?” I asked. “I have an acquaintance who basically has been unable to eat cold stuff on the right side of her mouth for quite some time now…” This is not normal, and it should be unacceptable. She needs to have her dentist look into it. So what happens once the pulp is infected? The pulp consists of the vein, the artery, and the nerve. Once it is infected, there is no recourse but to clean it out. All of it. The whole kit and kaboodle. Right down the canals to the tip of the root. Or roots. It must be scoured, cleaned, and disinfected. But it may not be as easy as that sounds. “Trust me,” I said, “It doesn’t sound that easy.” Well, in some of your teeth, the front ones, there may be only one root. And there may be only one canal running down that root. Relatively, cleaning that out may be pretty straightforward. But many teeth have more than one root. And they may have multiple canals running down those roots. There may be multiple canals in each root. And those canals, believe it or not, might merge. And they might split. And they might do both. It can be quite a web in there. Often you can’t tell until you get in there. “Now wait a minute, these are tiny little canals you’re talking about aren’t they? How in the heck can you track those down?”
na 3 Ca
ls
For one thing, as an endodontist, a specialist, this is all I do, day in and day out. I have a lot of experience working my way through the inside of a tooth. And for another, I work using a microscope. What I am looking at is magnified 30 times. This is as opposed to those optic lenses you’ve often seen attached to glasses. They magnify about 2 or 3 times. And the drill bits I use are mad of flexible titanium. They are made to follow the curves and contours of the canals, rather like the roto-rooter things follow your bathroom plumbing. “All right, all right… so you’ve scoured it out. What then?” The canals are cleaned and sterilized. Sometimes the canals are filled with a calcium paste that is allowed to sit in there for a couple of weeks to more thoroughly sterilize them. Finally, the canals are filled with a natural, sterile rubber. Gutta-percha. This is from a rubber tree plant. (It is not a petroleum product.) Then it is back to the dentist to have the tooth filled, capped or crowned. “Okay, now I’m a little confused here. Why are we going to all this trouble to keep a dead tooth in my mouth? Aren’t we just delaying the inevitable?” Your tooth is not dead. This is a very common misconception. Your tooth will continue to receive blood through the outside of the roots. It is very much alive and viable. Keeping the structure of that tooth in there is a much better, healthier and more cost effective course of action than the alternative, which is to remove that tooth. It wasn’t all that long ago, in your grandma’s time, that cleaning out the canals and preserving the tooth, well, it wasn’t even an option. They had to pull it. And then, early on, the preservation process was rather primitive and painful. “Root canals”, as they came to be known, got a bad reputation. They became the punch line
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Duke City Fit
Jeff Galloway Summer Half Marathon Training Program Goal Races in October;
• Begins June 22nd & goes for 17 weeks • Innovative walk / run / walk program • For beginner thru experienced runners • Group runs at 7am on Saturday mornings • Two informal group runs weekday evenings • Running book & official technical running shirt • Guest speakers on shoes, injury prevention, nutrition, hydration, glycogen replacement, & more • Cost is $95 for new members & $75 for alumni
of many a late night tv show joke. But nowadays… well, these ain’t your daddy’s root canals anymore. They have changed dramatically over the years. The pain from cleaning out canals is pretty much a thing of the past. Even post-procedural swelling and pain is almost nonexistent these days… it’s down to about 5% of patients. And the success rate of the procedure, in the hands of a specialist, is well above 90%. Even on those complicated multi-canaled root systems. In the end, you’ll have a healthy, living part of your own dentition there in your mouth. It was created there, grew there, and it fits there. It was almost as if it were made for that spot. This is far, far better than an implant, a foreign metal object imbedded in your bone. Or a bridge that is attached to and must, by its nature, compromise the integrity of the neighboring teeth. Saving what we can of your tooth is a good thing. It is moving forward. Recovering from a setback. With an eye toward your future health and well-being. In a post-script to this story, I’d like to recount a bit of my own “root canal” experiences. As I implied in this story, I did indeed have to have a tooth cleaned and salvaged. It was not my first root canal. I had one done several years ago by my regular family dentist. I did not know at the time that there were specialists that could do this. It was a frontal tooth, apparently with one root and canal. The procedure ultimately failed. Within a couple of months the tooth went south with swelling and pain and eventually the tooth had to be removed.
Spring 2013
Duke City Half Marathon and
Denver Rock & Roll Half Marathon For More Information:
Donald K. Porter Jeff Galloway Program Director, ABQ
(505) 366-3120
www.JeffGalloway.com (New Mexico)
In the course of the remedial work, in the hands of a specialist, it was discovered that I had an old, undetected cavity elsewhere. Why was it undetected? You’ve got me there. Anyway, a second tooth salvaging procedure was needed, and this time I went to a specialist. Dr Shaw. That was over 6 months ago and I experienced no pain then, and none since. It appears to have been successful, it has been crowned, and the tooth is now back to doing what it is supposed to do, without bitching about it. Meanwhile, after interviewing Dr Shaw for this story, I had occasion to converse again with the woman I mentioned in the story… the one who could not eat cold food on her right side. Upon my secondhand recommendation, she had her dentist do a more thorough search for the source of her discomfort, and as predicted, a diseased tooth was discovered. Again, at my recommendation, she had the tooth salvage procedure done by a specialist. You’ll never guess who. That was a couple months ago. She reports “so far, so good.” The lesson?...As for me and mine, it is my considered opinion that for any work of this nature, we will always have it done by a specialist. Period. That it doesn’t necessarily cost any more is really a secondary thing. Look, if I have a problem with my car’s transmission, I’ll take it to a transmission specialist, not my general mechanic. The specialists will have the experience, the equipment, the expertise to increase their likelihood of success. If I’ll do that for my Jeep, how could I not for that toothy little battleground in my mouth? www.drcolinshaw.com 888-3395
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Cabezon Dawn
The mystical nature of Cabezon Peak is never more apparent than when it emerges from the misty darkness of dawn into all of its glowing morning glory.
Where We Live ,
Where W
Supervising
A Roadrunner checks out the new bicycle path construction site along Aroyo Del Oso. Workers there say he makes a near daily appraisal of the job.
Watermelon Meditation
As the Sandia Mountains do their thing at sunset, one rarely finds the time to sit and watch it happen, up close and personal.
Thistle and Thumb
Yin and Yang... in due time, the peak called The Thumb will itself glow pink at the top of a host of thorns, even as does this prickly tongue-twisting thistle.
We Love
Slumbering Rock
Perhaps this huge slab of granite has had a busy day. He seems to be dozing off even before the sun has completed all of its day’s journey.
Duke City Fit
Find your way to wellness One Healthy Meal... One Productive Workout... One Very Blessed Day at a time!!!
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Duke City Fit
Dynamic Fitness Lifestyle Nutritional Knowledge is POWER for Living Dynamically!!!
The TRUTH… The Whole TRUTH… And Nothing But The TRUTH… About Soy!!! Here’s hoping to find you all loving life and living it to the fullest! As the first quarter of 2013 is unbelievably nearing an end, I am motivated to shed some much needed light on a huge misconception. America’s favorite health food… NOT! After performing InBody Bio-Medical testing and studying comprehensive lifestyle and wellness evaluation profiles on many individuals who boasted about their primarily vegetarian and predominantly soy based diets. I unfortunately discovered that most of them had an excess of body fat and were quite deficient in lean body mass. Not to mention most of these people suffered with digestive problems, somewhat compromised immune systems, thyroid issues, low libidos, skin discolorations, complained of lethargy, muscle weakness and low endurance levels despite their efforts to participate in moderate forms of exercise. However, I must come to the defense of these good people… By indignantly saying that after decades of media hype and corporate marketing lies about how soy is the proteinrich super-food messiah that is here to rescue the masses from their dependence on meat; I can compassionately understand why so many people have yet to fully understand, the dangers of soy. I am going to lay out as many facts in this article as possible. Hoping that this information encourages you to fully research the dangers of soy on your own. I am a staunch believer that information without action leads to devastation. So please use this information wisely! Soybeans or soya bean plants are a species of legume that is native to Eastern Asia. Soy farming originally started around 1100 BC in China. At which time the soybean plants were grown to be used as green manure. Yes, you heard me correctly. Soybeans were traditionally farmed to be used as fertilizer to be plowed under the earth to help enrich the soil. Soy beans were not even considered fit for human consumption until the Chiang Dynasty around 1000 AD. This is when the Chinese finally came up with the fermentation methods needed to eliminate the soybeans of toxins and to make the soy somewhat digestible. Asian diets today include fermented soy beans in the form of natto, miso, tamari, and tempeh. The average Asian consumes around 10 grams per day, that’s roughly 2 teaspoons. However soy producers in this country recommend more than ten times that amount in the form of unfermented imitation soy foods. This means they are essentially indigestible… The human body cannot efficiently digest soy protein. And the protein in soy inhibits the body from absorbing the other proteins in one’s diet. Well, did you catch that? Asians only eat 2 teaspoons of highly fermented soy per day, usually as a condiment. Fermentation takes care of many of the dangers of soy. Plus, the typical Asian diet includes mineral-rich and nutrient-dense foods such as fish and fish broth that is naturally high in iodine & other minerals to support healthy thyroid function! The soybean plant is classified as an oilseed rather than a pulse or a “grain legume.” Grain legumes are yielded from one to twelve seeds of various sizes, shapes and colors, within a pod. Excellent examples of pulses are dry beans like pinto beans, kidney beans, azuki beans, lima beans, lentils, black beans and dry peas. Unlike soy beans, pulses are highly
Spring 2013
valuable food crops due to their high protein and essential amino acid content. Like many leguminous crops, pulses play a key in crop rotation due to their ability to potentiate a positive nitrogen balance within the soil. So, if soy is such a God send… then why is it classified as an oilseed, which is a plant that is primarily used for its oil content, rather than a pulse by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization? And why did our United Stated Food and Drug Administration refuse to approve soy isolate protein as a safe food additive? The real reason is because soy protein is virtually useless to the human body whereas pulses offer an excellent combination of complex and fibrous carbohydrates that also offer essential amino acids. In my professional opinion, it is fair to say that soy foods aren’t even real foods. They are not tried and true. And by no means are they traditional. In fact we could go as far as saying that processed soy foods are industrial waste products dressed up to be marketed to the unsuspecting public! You see in the West, the soybean has mostly been used for its soy oil, which is what you get in most products labeled vegetable oil, margarine, or shortening. Soy in this country is a product of the industrial revolution. At that time opportunists began using it to develop cheap meat substitutes, deceitfully hiding it in familiar food products as a cheap filler. They began to formulate soy-based pharmaceuticals and to develop a plant-based renewable resource that could replace petroleumbased plastics and fuels. Had these technologists stayed on that track it could have potentially been very good for the planet. A certain agricultural giant, whom I will leave unnamed, essentially withdrew their application for the coveted GRAS “Generally Recognized As Safe” status for their soy protein, after an outcry came from some of the industry’s leading food scientists because of the toxins and carcinogens contained in soy protein. However, even though the FDA wouldn’t deem soy protein GRAS, I find it quite disturbing that these money mongers can still put soy protein in your food… soy meats, soy ice cream, soy milk, fake cheeses and quote/unquote nutritional supplement shakes; with special permission per product. There is a “Natural” MSG that is formed during soy processing. And as most of you already know, MSG is not very good for us. But to add insult to injury MSG is added in, in duplicate and triplicate doses, along with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, vegetable oil, artificial this and artificial that, imitation this and imitation that in an effort to make these fake foods somewhat palatable while mimicking the flavor of the real food they are attempting to replace. When it is all said and done, it’s a shame that unsuspecting consumers are buying into this travesty. And all in the name of “Health”. It makes me wonder why the powers that be are not only allowing this to continue, but why do they also seem to be supporting it? We ultimately can’t control other people’s actions but we can most definitely control what we put in our own mouths. Again, I hope that you will take this information and act upon it by further researching the dangers of soy on your own and come to an educated decision as to what you will, and what you will not, put into your body. Until next time; Eat to support long term goals, not short term satisfaction…Your future self will one day say“Thank You”!
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
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.
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Duke City Fit
Tomato Love Ken Orth & Steve Skinner
“Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, what would life be without homegrown tomatoes? Only two things that money can’t buy and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.” ...made famous in a song by John Denver, lyrics by Guy Clark
Poets throughout the ages have sung the praises of the
lowly tomato. Were I a poet, perhaps I’d add a few lines of iambic pentameter myself. For truth be told, I have an annual affair of my own involving a sweet, young tomato. A very specific tomato. The first tomato. After all of the work and tender care spent on my small garden over the course of each spring season, I always watch and wait in wondrous fascination as one of the young fruits finally starts its slow change of color from green, through infinite shades of pink, into its final, fully ripened red. It takes weeks. Endless, endless weeks. I know of little in life that builds such frustrating anticipation within my very being as the daily ritual of checking its torturously slow progress. It cannot be hurried. Patience. And finally, on that appointed day, which has been “tomorrow” for so many days,... on that day I pick it gingerly, lovingly, admiring its simple, sun-ripened beauty. And I build a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. A BLT. I build it to the specifications of the tomato... the bigger the tomato, the bigger the sandwich. For here in the kingdom of this BLT, the tomato is the king around which all others are mere courtiers and servants. I nearly always eat this first sandwich alone. I do not want distractions. The first bite is something I’ve awaited for eight months or more and I don’t want others to see my goofy giddiness at the joy of it all. I want to be alone with my passion. With luck, there’s juice on my chin and mayonnaise in my moustache. I lean back sighing, reconfirming to myself that even if I don’t get another tomato all season (heaven forbid!), this one sandwich, nay, this one bite, has made all of the time and effort worthwhile. And I am grateful. “What would life be without homegrown tomatoes?” You can appreciate then, that when I finally got a chance to talk gardening with Steve Skinner our discussion turned inevitably to tomatoes. Steve, you see, knows a little something about growing tomatoes. He’s been in the greenhouse business for more than 35 years, the last twenty-seven of which have been with the Alameda Greenhouse right here in Albuquerque. He is the owner and head grower. Over all those years he’s grown more tomato plants, and plants of all kinds, than you can shake a hoe at. Unlike most of the other “garden centers” around town, which import all of their plants from who-knows-where, his greenhouse grows their own. These plants are natives. And Steve is the man behind the whole process. Who better to talk to as we turn the corner into another growing season in the Duke City?
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This story originally ran in the Spring of 2006. It is back, just in time for tomato planting season. Growing tomatoes here in the hgh desert is a little different from elsewhere. I have followed the advice found here for all these years now, and have had immensely successful tomato crops. The picture above was taken on October 12 of last year... still getting LOTS of beautiful tomatoes that late in the season.
Let’s talk tomatoes. Here in the high desert of New Mexico we have some unique aspects (problems, opportunities) to this delightful culinary hobby. Indeed, we have a long growing season, but that season is fraught with very hot days and cold nights, both of which can put a damper on tomato production. The soil here, being rocky, sandy, desert dirt is less than optimal, and there’s precious little water or humidity. But we do have plenty of sunshine. Mother Nature giveth, and Mother Nature taketh away. Yin and yang. But Steve thinks (knows) that we can take advantage of our strengths and overcome our shortcomings, and in the end, produce some mighty fine tomatoes. It’s a matter of paying attention. To the tomatoes.
Location, location, location.
The first order of business in tomato gardening is location. Tomatoes want, need, and hope-to-have full sun for at least six hours a day. More is better. See to it. Note too, that just because you don’t have room or a good location for a full garden, that is no reason to go tomatoless. There are many varieties of “bush” type tomatoes that grow perfectly in tubs. And those tubs can go just about anywhere where there is sun... on the patio, or porch, or roof. Roof? Nevermind. That’s a story for another day.
Soil.
After location, soil becomes the issue. As mentioned, the Albuquerque sandy grit is woefully inadequate. For one thing, it is highly alkaline (a tomato no-no), and for another, it is seriously lacking in organic content (humus). For your garden you’ll want rich soil down to a depth of about 12 inches. Work in peat moss, steer manure, and compost, replenishing every year. You can get this done in March or early April and give it some time to rest before you plant. Right before planting, work some fertilizer into it. The fertilizer should have a 10-20-10 ratio of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium. If you’re going the tub route, simply use good potting soil and some fertilizer.
Timing.
As for when to plant, it is desirable to go in after the last frost. Unfortunately, here in ABQ, that can vary widely from midMarch to early May. For what it’s worth, the average is April 15th. Generally, the safe bet is to plant in early May, keeping an eye on
the weather forecasts for the first few weeks, prepared to cover the fragile, young plants in the event of frost. For those eager to get on with it, there is a device called a “Wall of Water” which can be used to aid in early planting. Many people use them successfully. Essentially, these are rings of clear plastic which are filled with water and then placed around each tomato plant. These perform the double duty of intensifying the sunlight during the day and retaining heat through the cool nights.
Plants.
Concerning what to plant, there is a huge variety of tomato plants. Steve’s place, for example, carries over forty varieties. He has several suggestions. If you’re limited in space or growing in tubs, you’ll do best with “bush” type plants which grow up rather than out. Otherwise, because of our summer temperature ranges, your best bet will be early blooming, smaller fruited plants. But don’t get carried away with the Early Girls. You should hedge your bets by planting several different types of tomato plants. That way, if disease or insects strike, they’re less likely to wipe out the entire crop. Besides, in the gourmet world, variety is the spice of life. The so-called heirloom tomatoes have gotten a lot of press and notoriety in recent times, and justifiably so. These plants, like the Brandywine or Mr Stripey, date back genetically as far as the 1800’s. They have a much richer flavor than the more modern hybrids, and cost no more. You should include at least some in your mix. The Alameda Greenhouse, for example, carries about a dozen varieties of heirlooms.
Ground cover.
Now that you’ve planted, what about ground cover, or mulch, or something? It is Steve’s learned opinion that a well-planted, well-attended garden is better than mulching. Soil preparation and cultivation (good weeding) is paramount. Not only will your garden look good, but your plants will love the love.
Watering.
Not only do they love being tended, but they really love water. You’ll find it hard to over-water here in the desert. The young plants, for the first six weeks or so, require more water, more often until their roots set. Flood irrigation is best, but I have found drippers on a timer work very well... multiple times daily at first, dropping off to twice a day during the heat of summer (once in the morning and once around 2 in the afternoon). Deep, regular watering. And it’s better to water early in the morning, not at
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Duke City Fit night... photosynthesis does not occur when the sun is down, so watering at night when the plants can’t use it will result in a lot of wasted water through evaporation. Add fertilizer several times a month. Talk to your plants regularly, and don’t think about how the walrus talked to the oysters. It’s nothing like that.
Pollenating.
Tomatoes, unlike many fruits, are selfpollenating. They do not require insects, just wind. Lord knows, we’ve got plenty of that. When they develop flowers, you can help the pollenation process and the setting of fruit by vigorously shaking the plants. Or, you can spray the flowers with a product like “Tomato Set”. Or, you can just let the Albuquerque breezes do their thing. Of course, your plants may well be pollenating tomatoes in Los Lunas on some days, but them’s the breaks. After flowering, the fruit will set within the first week or so. A strange-but-true note here, the fruit will not set at temperatures under 65 or over 85. That’s a narrow window for a place that varies as much as our beloved city.
Problems.
The major problems for tomato plants here, other than lack of water, are three-fold... curlytop virus, tomato horn worms, and blossom end rot. Curly-top virus is spread by the leaf-hopper bug. Its symptoms include a plant that seems to wilt, cannot be revived with water, and in the end, simply dies. It can be controlled by stopping the bug, and this is done by applying preventative insecticide dust. Similarly, the tomato horn worm can be prevented with insecticide dust. Also, these worms can be (and should be) controlled by hand-picking them off the plants when the tell-tale signs of stripped leaves appear on the plants. You’re a
braver man than I am if you can pull them off bare-handed. Finally, blossom end rot is the particularly frustrating brown rotten bottom found on otherwise healthy looking tomatoes. This is usually the result of a lack of calcium sulphate. It can be prevented by adding gypsum to the soil around the base of the plant as they develop fruit. Steve’s word of advice is this, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of tomatoes. Hedge your bets again by using all three preventative measures as you go. It may well save you some heartaches later.
Let’s Wrap it Up.
And that my friends, is all there is to it. I leave the recipes and tomato culinary guidelines for another time. My many thanks to Steve for sharing his knowledge with us, and I highly recommend the Alameda Greenhouse for anything and everything related to growing plants. Particularly tomatoes. I, personally, look forward to a bumper crop of ‘maters this year now that I am armed and dangerous. By the time you’re reading this, it’s already time to be getting started. So let’s get out there and bring some goodness into the world. Cause you know there’s only two things that money can’t buy, that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.
Postscript Editor’s Note:
I have been following Steve’s advice for 7 successful seasons now. This year will be the 8th. I always have beautiful, bountiful tomato crops. I use a drip system on a timer with 2 drippers for each plant. I water them twice a day... at sunrise and again at about 2pm. Full sun and plenty of water! Fertilize about every 3 weeks. Get your plants (heirlooms!) and your advice (follow it!) at Alameda Greenhouse. You’ll thank me, and your tastebuds, friends, and family will be impressed.
We’ve got plenty of herbs, vegetables, trees and shrubs, and all garden supplies
898-3562
SW Corner of 4th & Alameda Enter on 4th, Across from the Church
Spring 2013
21
Dr Jason Karp
Interval
Duke City Fit On Running
Training
One of the main reasons for all of the attention on interval training is that it can improve fitness quickly. Furthermore, while aerobic training improves aerobic fitness, high-intensity, repeated anaerobic efforts improve both anaerobic and aerobic fitness, giving you two bangs for your workout buck. While the energy for muscle contraction during maximal exercise lasting less than 20 seconds is primarily derived from anaerobic metabolism (i.e., phosphagen system and glycolysis), the contribution of aerobic metabolism increases when short sprints are repeated. While interval training can be very effective, it is important to note that the results obtained (and thus the conclusions drawn) by most research studies were a result of subjects performing repeated all-out sprints on a stationary bicycle multiple times per week, a protocol that would not likely be performed by the average runner due to its very strenuous nature. For example, many of the studies comparing the effects of interval training to continuous aerobic exercise had subjects perform 4 to 6 x 30-second all-out sprints on a bicycle with 4 to 4½ minutes recovery three times per week for two to six weeks. One study included 7 to 8 x 20-second all-out sprints with just 10 seconds recovery five days per week for six weeks! In other words, the researchers hammered the subjects to induce molecular changes. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that if you do interval training once or twice per week that you will achieve the same results as that shown in research. Another reason why interval training has become popular Duke City Fit readers is because of its effect on metabolism and calorie burning. Take $10 off a $50 Its intense nature disrupts the purchase. body’s homeostasis, making Offer Expires 5/30/13 interval training more effective than continuous cardiovascular exercise for increasing metabolic rate following a workout, as homeostasis is reestablished. Research has shown that subjects have a higher post-workout metabolic rate following an interval workout (20 x 1 minute at 105% VO2max with 2 minutes rest) compared to continuous exercise WE HAVE MOVED !!! (30 minutes at 70% VO2max) 6550 Holly Ave NE, D2 and burn more calories during the Just North of Paseo Del Norte 24 hours following an interval between Louisiana & San Pedro
Once the training secret of the world’s best runners, interval training has become the new buzz term among elite and recreational runners alike. It seems as if everyone is doing it, from competitive athletes to grandma next door. While many athletes used interval training in the first half of the 20th century, it was distance runner Emil Zatopek of Czechoslovakia, winner of the 10,000 metres at the 1948 Olympics and the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres, and marathon at the 1952 Olympics, who popularized this method of training. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s that famous Swedish physiologist Per-Olaf Åstrand discovered, using a stationary bicycle in a laboratory, what many coaches and runners already knew—that by breaking up a set amount of work into smaller segments, you can perform a greater volume of work at a higher intensity. Sounds obvious, but Åstrand’s simple observation is the basis for interval training.
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Dr. Jason Karp is a nationally recognized running coach and owner of RunCoachJason.com, a run coaching and personal training business. The 2011 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, he holds a Ph.D. in exercise physiology. He has written more than 200 articles for international running, coaching, and fitness magazines and is the author of five books, including Running for Women and Running a Marathon For Dummies
workout (15 x 2 minutes at 100% VO2max with 2 minutes rest) compared to continuous exercise (60 minutes at 50% VO2max). The more intense the workout, the greater and longer the post-workout elevation in metabolism (expressed as the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC) because recovery is an aerobic process. However, the acute increase in metabolic rate following an interval workout should not be used as an argument for doing it, as the number of calories burned post-workout is still minimal compared to the number burned during a workout. Furthermore, while interval workouts have the capacity to burn lots of calories if designed properly, the caloric expenditure during a 20-minute high-intensity interval workout is still less than during a longer (e.g., 60- to 120-minute) but lower intensity continuous workout.
Recovery Intervals
When interval training was first studied in the 1930s by coach Waldemar Gerschler and physiologist Hans Reindell of Germany’s Freiburg University, they focused their attention on its cardiovascular aspects and believed that the stimulus for cardiovascular improvement occurs during the recovery intervals between work periods rather than during the periods of activity, as the heart rate decreases from an elevated value. Thus, the emphasis of the workout was placed on the recovery interval, prompting Gerschler and Reindell to call it an “interval workout” or “interval training.” Gerschler and Reindell’s original interval training method consisted of running periods ranging from 30 to 70 seconds at an intensity that elevated the heart rate to 170 to 180 beats per minute, followed by sufficient recovery to allow the heart rate to decrease to 120 beats per minute, signifying the readiness to perform the next work period. During the recovery interval, the heart rate declines at a proportionally greater rate than the return of blood to the heart, resulting in a brief increase in stroke volume (the amount of blood the heart pumps with each beat). The increase in stroke volume places an overload on the heart, which makes the heart stronger, and enables the skeletal muscles to be cleared of waste products quickly due to the elevated rate of blood flow when there is little demand for activity from the tissues. Since stroke volume peaks during the recovery interval, and because there are many recovery intervals during an interval workout, stroke volume peaks many times, providing a stimulus for improving maximum stroke volume and thus the capacity of the oxygen transport system. Also during the recovery intervals, a significant portion of the muscular stores of quick energy—adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and creatine phosphate (CP)—that were depleted during the preceding work period is replenished via the aerobic system. During each work period that follows a recovery period, the replenished ATP and CP will again be available as an energy source.
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Duke City Fit Designing Interval Workouts
Interval training manipulates four variables: time (or distance) of each work period, intensity of each work period, time of each recovery period, and number of repetitions. With so many possible combinations of these four variables, the potential to vary training sessions is nearly unlimited. Possibly the greatest use of interval training lies in its ability to target individual energy systems and physiological variables, improving specific aspects of your fitness level.
Aerobic (Cardiovascular) Intervals
One of the best methods to improve the capacity of the cardiovascular system— specifically, the heart’s ability to pump blood and oxygen to the active muscles—is interval training using work periods lasting three to five minutes and recovery periods equal to or slightly less than the time of the work periods (see Sample Interval Workouts). The cardiovascular adaptations associated with interval training, including hypertrophy of the left ventricle and a greater stroke volume and cardiac output, increase your VO2max (the maximum volume of oxygen muscles consume per minute), raising your aerobic ceiling. Since VO2max is achieved when maximum stroke volume and heart rate are reached, the work periods should be performed at an intensity that elicits maximum heart rate during each work period. This type of interval workout, which is very demanding, is one of the best workouts you can do to improve cardiovascular conditioning.
Anaerobic Capacity Intervals
Anaerobic capacity refers to the ability to regenerate energy (ATP) through glycolysis. Work periods lasting 30 seconds to two minutes target improvements in anaerobic capacity by using anaerobic glycolysis as the predominant energy system. These short, intense work periods with recovery intervals two to four times as long as the work periods increase muscle glycolytic enzyme activity so that glycolysis can regenerate ATP more quickly for muscle contraction and improve the ability to buffer the muscle acidosis that occurs when there is a large dependence on oxygen-independent (anaerobic) metabolism.
Anaerobic Power Intervals
Anaerobic power refers to the ability to regenerate ATP through the phosphagen system. Work periods lasting 5 to 15 seconds target improvements in anaerobic power by using the phosphagen system as the predominant energy system. These very short, very fast sprints with 3- to 5-minute recovery intervals that allow for complete replenishment of creatine phosphate in the muscles increase fast-twitch motor unit activation and the activity of creatine kinase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down creatine phosphate. Incorporating interval training into your programme will dramatically improve your fitness. And if you train smart enough, not only will you be the fittest of all your competitors, you may even be able to outrun an Olympian (or at least grandma next door). See Chart of Interval Training Examples on the Next Page
r:
A note from Martha Porte
I are excited again... Don and ar ye of e tim at It’s th now in its en In Training is om W at th ce un to anno years with both e bringing in 20 ar e W ! ar ye th 20 tions. Don will be tside training loca ading the Eastside and Wes n and I will be le tio ca lo de tsi es W leading the Eastside. u will be ur registration yo This year with yo odie bag and go y ar rs ecial annive sp a ith w ed id prov t-shirt. will notice that and register you When you go in reason for this is tions. The main National there are more op the 2013 RRCA ng sti ho is ub cl e that th king at the and I will be spea on D n. tio en nv Co es entitle you to ever, the day pass ow H n. tio en nv co May 4th and the ion on Saturday, one breakout sess on to 1:30 p.m. that have done luncheon from no looking for ladies so al e ar I d an Don is is you, please ars or more. If th ye n te m ra og pr the let us know. Training out the Women in Give us a call ab 1478. Program at 350-
Spring 2013
2401 Jefferson NE • Albuquerque, NM 87111 (505) 884-8012 • www.libertygym.com
Women in Training Program Celebrating 20 Years in 2013!
2013 Women in Training Program begins Saturday, May 18 EasT sidE: Led by Martha Porter TiME: 8:00 am Meet at Montgomery and Tramway in the parking lot next to Mcdonald’s.
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WEsT sidE: Led by don Porter TiME: 8:00 am Meet at alameda Open space. Walking Coordinator: Tammy Remiker
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Duke City Fit
Dr Jason’s Sample Interval Workouts Continued from Previous Page
(Make sure you warm-up and cool-down before and after each workout.)
Aerobic (Cardiovascular) Intervals:
5 x 3 minutes @ VO2max pace (95-100% max HR) with 2½-3 minutes jog recovery 3 x 4 minutes @ VO2max pace (95-100% max HR) with 3½-4 minutes jog recovery 3, 4, 5, 4, 3 minutes @ VO2max pace (95-100% max HR) with 2½-3 minutes jog recovery
Anaerobic Capacity (Glycolytic) Intervals:
4 to 8 x 30 seconds at 95% all-out with 2 minutes jog recovery 4 to 8 x 60 seconds at 90% all-out with 3 minutes jog recovery 2 to 3 sets of 30, 60, 90 seconds at 90-95% all-out with 2 to 3 mins jog recovery & 5 mins rest between sets
Anaerobic Power (Phosphagen System) Intervals:
2 sets of 8 x 5 seconds all-out with 3 minutes passive rest & 5 minutes rest between sets 5 x 10 seconds all-out with 3-4 minutes passive rest 2 to 3 sets of 15, 10, 5 seconds all-out with 3 minutes passive rest & 10 minutes rest between sets
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Multi-use Trail: A paved trail close to auto traffic Bicycle Lane: A portion of street with designated lane for bikes One-way Bike Lane: Similar to bike lane but one way Bicycle Route: Cars and bikes share the road Bicycle Boulevard: Shared roadway optimized for bike traffic Mountain Bike Trail: Unpaved but maintained trail Roads with Wide Shoulders Arroyos
Bicycle/Pedestrian Overpass Mountain Bike Trailhead Place of Interest High School Bosque Trail Parking Lots Rapid Ride Stop Bicycle Shop Rail Runner Express Station
3 1 0 2 Albuquerque Trails The City of Albuquerque plans for, develops, and maintains many of Albuquerque’s trails. The Albuquerque metropolitan area has more than 130 miles of paved multi-use trails and hundreds of miles of unpaved trails that are used by bicyclists and other users. These trails are connected with the on-street bikeway system to provide a recreational and commuter network. Look for them in green on the Trails Map. Albuquerque’s premiere trail, the Paseo del Bosque Trail, goes from the north to the south edges of the metro area through the Rio Grande’s cottonwood bosque, 16 miles of paved trails uninterrupted by roadways. It passes through Rio Grande Valley State Park, with opportunities to see birds, coyotes and other wildlife, but also takes trail users to the Nature Center, Bio Park, the zoo, and the National Hispanic Cultural Center. You may encounter many different kinds of users on the trails. Expect to meet other bicyclists, walkers, people with wheelchairs, in-line skaters, possibly equestrians. Courtesy and caution are a part of having an enjoyable and safe trail ride.
S A F E T Y
Ride in a Straight Line
Beware of Car Doors
Obey Traffic Signs
Scan the road behind
Trails-Keep to Right
Avoid dodging between cars. Watch for cars entering from driveways.
Be wary of parked cars.Be particularly careful if someone is in the car. Ride a car door width away.
As a vehicle, bikes must obey all the rules of the road. Cyclists and motorists have the same privileges and duties.
Shoulder check regularly and use a mirror to monitor traffic. Be prepared to manuever for safety.
All trail users must keep to right except when passing. Move off trail to right when stopping.
Ride in SIngle File
Dismount as Posted
Make Eye Contact
Turning Left - 2 Options
Trails-Signal to Others
Except when overtaking or passing.
Walk across posted locations.
Confirm that you are seen. Establish eye contact to insure they know you are there.
1-As vehicle, signal & move to left turn lane, turn when safe 2-As Pedestrian, Ride to far crosswalk & walk across.
Sound your bell or call out “on your left“ then pass on left.
Careful at Intersections
Control Your Pet
Earphone Dangers
Use Lights at Night
Be Visible
The majority of accidents occur at intersections. Vehicles making left turns are particularly dangerous.
Albuquerque requires pets to be leashed and owners to clean up after them.
Keep volume sufficiently low to be able to hear other trail users.
Use a strong white headlight and red taillight at night. See and be seen.
Reflective clothing and lights. Keep to right where you are expected to be.
Duke City Fit
About the Cover Nadine Waslosky:
I’ve been playing recreational tennis for almost 10 years on USTA league teams at both the Tennis Club of Albuquerque and Jerry Cline Tennis Center. I took up the sport after seeing my neighbor, Nellita Walker, enjoy playing tennis into her 80s. I thought I would like to play a sport that I could continue playing into my senior years as well. She encouraged me to join the Tennis Club of Albuquerque where I learned to play, made lifelong friendships, and enjoyed individual and team success at both USTA Regional and National competitions. I think Albuquerque is blessed to have many excellent tennis instructors and locations. And, you can play year-round, which is a great motivator for staying in shape. I’m looking forward to the USTA Spring league season which starts on March 23rd. This year I’m playing on a Ladies 3.5 Team and captaining a Men’s 3.5 Team, which will surely be a challenge! Last year I was a volunteer coach with the Hope Christian Middle School Tennis program and I found that teaching the children to play was a special joy and a good way to honor Nellita’s legacy.
Editor and Photographer:
This photo was taken at the Onate Courts off Chelwood on an early spring Saturday morning. Could there be a better backdrop than the Sandia Mountains dusted with snow? For photography or for tennis! The City of Albuquerque maintains a great many public tennis courts. You’ll find a current list below, or you can find them online with interactive mapping of their locations at the following address: www.cabq.gov/parksandrecreation/recreation
Albuquerque City Public Tennis Courts Court Name
Courts
Location
Alamosa
4 tennis
1100 Battan SW
Altura
2 tennis
4101 Aspen NE
Arroyo del Oso
9 tennis & backboard
5301 Wyoming Blvd NE
Avalon
2 tennis
9200 Starboard NW
Aztec
6 tennis
3400 Moon NE
Barelas
6 lighted tennis & backboard
701 7th SW
Columbus
4 lit tennis & backboard
5301 Guadalupe Trail NW
Eagle Ranch
2 tennis
3500 Congress NW
Fox Memorial
2 tennis
700 Alvarado NE
Glenwood Hills
2 tennis
4901 Calle de Tierra NE
High Desert
2 tennis
Academy & Tramway NE
Hoffman
3 tennis
2480 Mesa Linda NE
Jerry Cline
18 tennis,13 lit & backboard
7205 Constitution NE
Lauren C Bolles
4 tennis
13121 Skyview NE
Loma del Norte
2 tennis
7511 Burke NE
Los Altos
6 lighted tennis
Lomas & Eubank
Lynnewood
2 tennis
2721 Marie Park NE
Mountain View
2 tennis
Reseda & Tres Ritos
Montgomery
4 tennis & backboard
5510 Ponderosa NE
Onate
4 tennis
2104 Chelwood Park NE
Paradise Skies
2 Tennis
Rockcliff and Sagittarius NW
Pat Hurley
4 tennis
3828 Rincon NW
Quintessence Park
2 tennis
9801 Quintessence Rd NE
Rinconada Park
2 tennis
3125 Painted Rock NW
Sierra Vista West
10 tennis
5001 Montano NW
Sister Cities
4 tennis
6407 McKinney NE
StarduSkies
2 tennis & backboard
4301 Pennsylvania NE
Sunrise Terrace
2 tennis
850 102nd SW
Valley High
6 tennis & backboard
1505 Candelaria NW
Wellesley
2 tennis
304 Wellesley SE
Wilson School
6 tennis
6188 Anderson SE
Zuni Park
6 tennis
2423 Mesilla NE
Spring 2013
27
Duke City Fit
Uncle KC’s KC’s Corner Corner
The Medicine Cabinet in the Kitchen
6
We used to have a medicine cabinet. Well, I should say we used to have a medicine cabinet with medicine in it. Lots of medicine. Having been born, as I was, in the early days of the baby boom, we grew up in an environment that firmly believed in science. Science had ended the war and science was gonna get a man onto the moon. Science was our savior, and it could accomplish near anything. Because we believed in science, by default we also believed in drugs. Wonder drugs. When we were told to take this pill, we took that pill. When they said to get this shot, we got it, and we didn’t ask questions. Science knew best. That was our reality. It wasn’t until much later in life that we came to question the veracity of this opinion. When we started learning about “side-effects”. The questions started being asked then. Alternatives to the ever-present drugs began to be discussed. The underlying motives of the pharmaceutical companies came into question. In my own tale of discovery, a milestone point was the beginning of this paper back in 2004 and then subsequently stumbling onto Karl Thomas and his health pantry shop. I was trying to sell him ad space in this fledgling Duke City Fit thing. I ended up discovering a “cure” for my allergies. That was the beginning of a long, fruitful journey into alternative, “natural” health remedies. A journey which continues to this day, and for which I am immensely grateful. Our medicine cabinet doesn’t really have much medicine in it anymore. Bandaids. As a matter of fact, when I had to go to the pharmacy a while back to get antibiotics for a tooth abscess, the pharmacist there at our regular place couldn’t find our info. Turns out that they had purged data that hadn’t been used for more than 5 years. It had been 5 years since we had filled a prescription! And the reason for that is that our family has opted to go with a more natural route, avoiding pharmaceuticals whenever possible. Our medicine cabinet in the bathroom is barren because it has actually moved to the kitchen. Supplements and healthy food choices up front have replaced corrective drugs on the back side. Nigh unto 10 years into this health journey, I can honestly report that not only does it work, but it works far better than I ever anticipated it would.
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So, with all that in mind, I have decided to reveal, as a list, the contents of our nonmedicine medicine cabinet. The one in the kitchen. Regular, long-time readers of Duke City Fit will find no surprises here. Over the years we have done stories on pretty much everything on this list. But, this is the first time we have brought the major pieces all together into one story. One list. And for those readers who are new to this journey, welcome aboard, you’re in the right place at the right time.
1) Hay Asz capsules. The first and most important element of my health arsenal is Hay Asz. If these herbal capsules were here just for their effectiveness against allergy symptoms, that would still be more than enough to put them at the top of the list. At least for me and my family. Allergies were flat out knocking me down, and none of the myriad allergy medications that I tried over the years worked effectively… either they were simply too ineffective, or the side effects were ultimately too much to bear. And even when they worked (always with bad to very bad side effects), the relief was always temporary. Always. And in fact, the effectiveness of a given medication tended to lessen with time and use, meaning that I would use increasingly more and more of whatever it was, and the bad side effects would increase accordingly. Hay Asz, though, worked from the outset and with never any bad side effects. Period. At first I had to take a pretty good dosage, especially if my allergies were in full blown mode. (It is better to get going on the Hay Asz BEFORE you are totally wracked.) But the point is, they worked. They always worked. And beyond that… over time, you actually use less and less of the Hay Asz, not more. This is definitely my experience. And my family’s. Dr Michael James has been making Hay Asz capsules right here in Albuquerque since about 1980. It is his formula. It is his belief that Hay Asz actually helps your body build up its respiratory system. Thus, the lessening need for the capsules. It seems to be not only remedial in its effects, but preventative as well. In this vein, my boys and I use Hay Asz capsules at the first sign of any respiratory ills… sneezing, sniffling, anything. We’re on it with a few Hay Asz capsules. And the end result is that none of us suffer from allergies anymore. Nada. Zip. And even colds have pretty much disappeared. Finally, long story short, our oldest son was diagnosed and suffered mightily with asthma when he was about 8. About the time he was 12 we were introduced to Hay Asz capsules for my allergies. We incorporated them into a natural treatment for my son’s asthma. From the time we started the Hay Asz, he NEVER had another asthma attack. Never. He is 19 now, and does not have asthma anymore. 2) Redmond Clay Powder. Regular readers of DCF may recall that we had a story about this wonderful and versatile product in our last issue. I called this the “magic powder”, because that’s what it is. Its major use for us is internally… anything that has to do with the gastro-intestinal tract. For me, that would be the later-age problems that I am running into with bedtime indigestion and acid-reflux. A couple teaspoons of Redmonds shaken into a little juice and my stomach is ready to sleep like a baby. My wife has had chronic stomach problems for many many years, problems that the doctors have been unable to figure out. She has incorporated Redmonds Clay into her morning smoothies a few days a week, and the stomach problems have been very, very much reduced. Also, Redmond Clay in juice is VERY effective for food poisoning. In our travels, and my family’s travels, I occasionally eat something that my system decides it doesn’t like. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night, in a motel room, with the sweats and nausea and I’ll know that in a few minutes I’ll be worshipping the porcelain god. A quick and timely ingestion of some Redmonds will usually divert the worship service. Unfortunately, my youngest son seems
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to have inherited my gastro sensitivity in our travels, and he has learned, over time, about the efficacy of Redmonds for this late night motel issue. He is a firm believer, now, too. And believe it or not, it doesn’t taste bad at all in juice. Finally, Redmonds is also extremely useful externally, for cuts, scrapes, and burns. Make a paste of it, as I often do, and apply it to virtually any and all skin issues. Then, prepare to be amazed. It disinfects, helps the blood clot, and speeds up the healing. Really. I don’t leave home without it. It is particularly wellsuited to take with you traveling, or any outdoor activity... hiking, camping, biking... you name it.
3) Emergence-C. The reason these little packets are here is quite simply because we use them. They are the “wash down” of choice for Hay Asz capsules when it looks like cold or flu are in the air. It’s the Vitamin C, don’t you know. That and the other vitamins and trace minerals and electrolytes. In fact, Emergence-C is a “must” in my older son’s pre-game and prepractice hockey routine. For years. As a goalie in all that heavy gear, he sweats a lot and muscle cramps are always a hazard. Emergence-C has replaced those sports drinks, with more and better ingredients and without the sugar and salt. Plus Vitamin C. I have long since incorporated it into my pre-workout routines, too, whatever that work might be… from biking to soccer to splitting wood. If I’m heading out hiking, I’ll slam down a glass of Emergence-C and a couple Hay Asz just in case. 4) Supplements… Plant Enzymes. These are another of the later-age things. Turns out that as we age we produce less and less of the enzymes we need to digest our food properly. I fit this problem in alongside evolution’s decision that we aging men will grow hair more profusely in strange places, and our ears and noses will begin to grow exponentially. I’m sure there’s a good explanation for all that. (Sure there is.) Regardless, I don’t produce enough enzymes on my own anymore and I have found that a couple enzyme capsules along with a hearty meal helps things out tremendously. Particularly if the meal involves meat. “Protease” (pro-tee-ace) is the enzyme that breaks down protein. As in meat. Get more out of
Spring 2013
that meat with less waste. Both are good things. My digestive system thanks me. And if I forget the enzymes, at least there is some Redmond Clay around to come to the rescue later.
5) Supplements… Pantothenic acid. This is actually Vitamin B5, but is never called that, although you might find it on the shelf where B5 might logically fit. Pantothenic Acid has become a daily supplement for us. This is for all ages. It helps the adrenal glands regenerate themselves. The adrenal glands are the heavyhitters in your body’s hormone production and they are WAY over-burdened by our modern lifestyles. Particularly sugar and stress. Beat-up adrenals may be responsible for a whole host of issues, not the least of which is a depressed immune system. Pantothenic acid is a very inexpensive way to help out your adrenal glands in an on-going way. Between this, Hay Asz, and Emergence-C, our family has pretty much eliminated colds and flu from the resume. Perhaps they are like a threelegged stool… pull out one leg and the whole thing topples over. 6) Salads. Yes, you read that right. Salads. Actually, in particular, it is the fresh, raw vegetables that are of note here. And for me, salads are the easiest, tastiest way to get raw, fresh veggies into my system. Our diets are severely lacking in vegetables of any kind, and those that we do manage to consume are usually of the cooked variety. (Can you say “corn”?) And as we all know, cooking vegetables removes much of their nutritional value. The more you cook it, the more it loses. And we absolutely need all the vitamins and minerals they have to give. So you gotta get closer to the source. You gotta eat it raw. We make a giant salad every week and work on it for several days. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel, all the way around. And how quickly. It is noticeable to me now if I go even just a few days without my fresh, raw veggies. Maybe that stool that I mentioned actually has 4 legs?
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Duke City Fit
Calendar of Events
SPRING
2013
Events in red require preregistration or reservations
Ongoing Note - Open Space Visitor Center is closed until April 5 for remodeling Yoga With a View, $15, 9-10:30am, Starting April 7 Every Sunday, Open Space Visitor Center 6500 Coors NW, Yoga in a beautiful setting (1st class is $5) 897-8831 Los Ranchos Growers Market, Saturdays, 10am-noon, begins May 4, 6718 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, Sue Brawley 890-2799
March 10 Daylight Savings Time Begins, Set clocks ahead one hour
8:30am, RioRancho Aquatic Center www.irunfit.org
Center 6100 Unser NW 899-0207
Bataan Memorial Death March, 24th Annual, 7am, White Sands Missile Range, www.batannmarch.com
March 30 3rd Annual Open Space Route 66 Volunteer Cleanup, Free, 8:30am, Volunteers will do general clean up activities that protect wildlife and the landscape, bring work gloves, wear boots, and dress for the desert, Highway 333 east of Tramway 1 mile Contact 452-5213 Jim Sattler
March 21 Twilight Hike on a Full Moon Night, Free ($3 Parking), Dusk, Call for time & date, Rio Grande Nature Center 2901 Candelaria NW, 344-7240
Full Moon Run by Heart n Sole Sports, Free, 7:45pm, location TBD... along bosque or UNM golf course or ???, March 23 call HnS for location & info: 884-7653 Spring Equinox Solar Saturday, Free,11am-1pm, solar observation event, March 17 Petroglyph Natl Monument Visitor Shamrock Shuffle 2012, 10K/5K,
Corrales Growers Market, Sundays 9am-noon begins in May Recreation Center 500 Jones Rd & Corrales Rd, Mary Jane 898-7927 NM Volunteers for the Outdoors, Learn new skills with cool tools, “rub shoulders” with forest rangers, enjoy the camaraderie of new friends, & help to build & maintain a variety of trails. www.nmvfo. org Qigong in the Park, Saturdays s 9-10am: Altura Park located at Hannett and Morningside NE, Qigong practice for all, Loretta 681-1924 qigonginthepark.com Rio Grande Nature Center Bird Walks, Free, 8:30am (8am in May), Saturdays & Sundays, join a naturalist for a quiet bird walk, preregister, 344-7240 Rio Grande Nature Center Nature Walks, Free, Sundays, 1pm, an insightful nature tour of the bosque, preregister, 344-7240 High Desert Bicycles Group Ride, Free, 9-10:30am every Saturday, 909 36th Place SE in Rio Rancho, bring bike (or rent one) & join the group, 896-4700
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March April May
April 6 Small Steps 5K/1Mile Fun Run, 9am, Hoffmantown Chuch parking lot , run around Academy, www.smallstepsinternational.org
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
Ellen Reavis Race for Autism, 9am, Balloon Fiesta Park, Contact: Sarah Baca 400-6213 active.com Key: NM, Ellen Reavis 13th Annual Open Space Spring Cleanup at East End of Copper, Free, 9am, Volunteers will do general clean up activities that protect wildlife and the landscapes of the foothills, bring work gloves, wear boots, and dress for the desert Contact: 452-5216 Kent Swanson April 7 Forever Young Race, 9am, Memorial race for Charlie Young, Placitas- 1/2 mile east of Homestead Village on NM 165, race day registration www. abqroadrunners.com active.com key: NM Forever Young Open Space Bosque Wild Sunday Morning Hike, Free, 9am, join biologists for
www.dukecityfit.com
Duke City Fit a guided walk into the bosque, Visitor Center 6500 Coors NW, For info & to register: 897-8831 Super Senior Tennis Lesson Kickoff, Free, 1pm, Low-cost beginner and/or refresher tennis lessons for adults 60 & over, QuickStart method allows even beginners to learn quickly, Jerry Cline Tennis Center Corner of Louisiana & Constitution NE, contact: Don 296-8527
Open Space Spring Cleanup at Piedra Lisa Trailhead, Free, just north of Candelaria, see description on April 6... Copper Cleanup BikeABQ’s 19th Annual Bike Swap, Free, 10am-3pm, biggest swap in NM, check-in “for sale” items on April 25-26, Sports Systems 6915 Montgomery NE, www.bikeabq.org (See ad page 24)
April 27-28 Open Space 5th Annual Recycled Art April 13 Open Space Spring Cleanup at East End Fair, Free, 10am-4pm, “Revived, Lost, Found, & Reinvented Objects of Art”, of Indian School, Free, see description Visitor Center 6500 Coors NW, For info on April 6... Copper Cleanup & to register: 897-8831 Cedro Peak Ultra Marathon, 6am, April 28 ABQ Roadrunners First Ultramarathon, 2013 Making Strides Against Breast ultrasignup.com Cancer, 7:30am, Cottonwood Mall, 5 key: Event Cedro Peak mile walk along the Rio Grande, 2626025 wwwcancer.org/stridesonline Run Against Traffic, 5K Run/Walk, 8am,ABQ Academy, benefit against human trafficking, active.com key: NM against traffick Bike Commuter Essentials, $10, 10amnoon, by City of ABQ at Parks & Rec Admin Bldg 1801 4th NW, age 12 & up; basic principles of biking safely in ABQ, contact Julian julian@paintedsparrows. com April 20 Albuquerque Half Marathon, 8am, Alvarado Elementary School, www.irunfit.org April 21 Color Me Rad 5K, 9am, Balloon Fiesta Park, waves of runners getting plastered with paint every 5 minutes , you’ll end up looking like a kindergarten art class gone wrong. www.colormerad.com
May 5 28th Annual Run for the Zoo, 7am, www.bioparksociety.org/runforthezoo 764-6280
May 19 Worlds Toughest 10K, $27-$40, Scenic and challenging 10K starts at the Sandia Open Space Bosque Wild Sunday Morn- Resort and winds up Tramway ending at ing Hike, Free, 9am, join biologists for Tram, ABQ Running Shop 293-2786, a guided walk into the bosque, Visitor www.abqrunningshop.com Center 6500 Coors NW, For info & to register: 897-8831 The Santa Fe Century, $25, 28th year
May 11 National River Cleanup Day, Free, 8am1pm, Volunteers will do general clean up, lunch provided, Northeast side of Central Ave bridge, Contact: Open Space Spring Cleanup at East End 452-5216 Kent Swanson of Menaul, Free, see description on April Bike Commuter Essentials, $10, 10am6... Copper Cleanup noon, by City of ABQ at Parks & Rec Admin Bldg 1801 4th NW, age 12 & up; April 25 basic principles of biking safely in ABQ, Twilight Hike on a Full Moon Night, contact Julian julian@paintedsparrows. Free ($3 Parking), Dusk, Call for time & date, Rio Grande Nature Center 2901 com Candelaria NW, 344-7240 May 11-12 Full Moon Run by Heart n Sole Sports, Herbfest at the Nature Center, Free ($3 Parking), 10am-4pm, springtime Free, 8:15pm, location TBD... along bosque or UNM golf course or ???, celebration of herbs, wildflowers & native plants, Rio Grande Nature Center call HnS for location & info: 2901 Candelaria NW, 884-7653 344-7240 April 27 May 12 Warrior Dash, 9am, Worlds Largest Mother’s Day 5K, 9am, ABQ Academy Obstacle Race Series, Edgewood NM, adiosraceproductions.com www.warriordash.com
Spring 2013
of the famous bike ride, 25/50/75/100 mile routes along the Turquoise Trail, 3,000 riders, contact Willard Chilcott 505-982-1282 www.santafecentury.com
a guided walk into the bosque, Visitor Center 6500 Coors NW, For info & to register: 897-8831 June 8 National Get Outdoors Day Celebration, Free, 10am-2pm, Tingley Beach, fishing clinics/ bike workshops/ rock climbing/ wildlife interactions/ music and much more, bring the family, contact Julie 8423385 Albuquerque Walk Like MADD, 7am, Hispanic Cultural Center, support.madd.org Walk Like Madd
May 25 Full Moon Run by Heart n Sole Sports, Free, 8:30pm, location TBD... along bosque or UNM golf course or ???, 4th Annual Run With Kenyans for Global Health 8K, active.com call HnS for location & info: 884-7653 Bike Commuter Essentials, $10, 10amnoon, by City of ABQ at Parks & Rec Twilight Hike on a Full Moon Night, Admin Bldg 1801 4th NW, age 12 & up; Free ($3 Parking), Dusk, Call for time & date, Rio Grande Nature Center 2901 basic principles of biking safely in ABQ, contact Julian julian@paintedsparrows. Candelaria NW, 344-7240 com June 1 June 8-9 National Trails Day, free, participate Run the Caldera Marathon, 7:30am, with people from around the country, in meaningful conservation projects, regis- Also 10K & 5K, Great opportunity to run at over 8000 feet of elevation & see tration in April, 452-5213 Jim Sattler special areas of Valles Caldera, www.vallescaldera.gov/comevisit/run June 2 Open Space Bosque Wild Sunday Morn- (866) 382-5537 ing Hike, Free, 9am, join biologists for
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