Physical training is tough...................

Taylor, a very bright and strong young lady, who is one of my wife's long term children from her daycare loves physical activity.

I took two strenuous hikes with her at the Holly Recreation State Park. They have a series of trails that are not your ordinary nature walk. They are up and down, often very steep. On our first hike together I was trying out my new trekking poles. I had another set that I received from my son and his wife for Christmas and Taylor was trying to use those.

This hike was a little over 4 miles around two frozen lakes. Taylor seemed to like doing this quite a lot. She is always game for adventure but I wasn't sure how she would handle a winter hike. No problem. She wanted to do it again.

On the second hike we took the longer route which covered around six miles. The day was cold, snow and ice covered the trail. We lost the trail and I was a little worried about how to find my way back. I don't know if Taylor figured out that I was a little lost or not. She is a very smart 9 year old and I suspect she knew something wasn't exactly right.

We reached a very flat area that was covered in ice. Within 5 seconds of me telling Taylor that she needed to be careful and to use the trekking poles carefully, "Down She Went". I was looking ahead and didn't see the fall but it sounded horrible. Taylor is also very brave. A tear came to her eye but that was about it. I helped her up, checked for injury and we were on our way again. We eventually found the path and headed back to the car. Getting lost added a mile or so and I figured we covered around 7 difficult miles.

Even though I was making progress with my endurance I was still having feet trouble, sore knees and sore ankles.

Once again I researched the Internet. I ordered two different types of shoe inserts designed to lean my weight slightly forward to take pressure off of my heels. My heels were now so sore I couldn't touch them.

The one pair of inserts were very effective. I took a couple of days off from my training to give my feet a chance to recover and I was off again. I did a 7 mile hike in the woods with my daughter Sandi's fiance. Chris is a sturdy 25 year old man who is very physically fit. He plays Hockey and has a job at Lowes. My wife and I like him a lot. Sandi seems to think he is okay too. We kept a strong pace and I finished the distance in record time. I really enjoyed his company and I felt quite good with my progress.

Just a few days later I had the opportunity to hike with my son. We only had a few hours before he needed to be home with the family.

My son Eddie has a beautiful family. His wife Lacey is a beautiful, very petite blond who is a terrific daughter-in-law, mother, daughter and friend. If she sounds to good to be true that would be wrong. She is very real and and I can't hardly believe how great she and her family are. My son, who has always been lucky, is truly blessed to have Lacey and her family.

To top it off they have two extremely bright and beautiful little girls, Tessa and Lily. There are loved by all who know them.

Back to the hike. I took Ed on the shorter more strenuous path and I did very well. Ed is a natural athlete and had been getting in shape recently for a 15K run so I don't think this was much of a challenge. A young man of 25 in his prime, in good shape will out do an older man every time.

I took him home to Lacey and the girls and went back to the park. I took on the rest of the trail and ended up with 12 miles for the day. My first goal was met.

Time to get serious.

I kept up the walking and hiking. Now I was ordering the equipment as well. I discovered an outfitter called REI. They do have brick and mortar stores but none of them are close to me. I began researching and buying my needed equipment from their online store. I ordered the back pack first so that I could start training with weight on my back. I had no idea how I would do with the additional weight but it was time to find out....................