Nordic Walking heading North

The February edition of the Lake Superior Magazine is hot off the press and it features an article by Molly Hoeg about staying true to your fitness resolutions for the new year.  Thank you Molly for including information on Nordic Walking as a great way to stay motivated for your daily walk.  As we all know, adding poles to your walk makes it more fun, adds an all body rhythm and workout, and gives you the balance and confidence to be out even in the winter.

Winter in Minnesota tends to send Nordic Walkers underground.  Although it can be done outdoors all year round the cold and the dark make it difficult to be outdoors. The fun group walks and classes of spring and summer are harder to find.    Many of us are seasonal walkers, set Nordic walking aside while taking up poles of another flavor for the winter; cross country, downhill and snowshoeing. Some Nordic Walkers can be found indoors with their poles at local malls and indoor tracks.

Never fear!  We are still Nordic Walking and we have great plans for spring and summer.

There will be community ed classes, community events and meetup walks here in the Twin Cities. For those of you on the North Shore we are coming to Duluth and Grand Marais on the weekend of April 19-21.  Partnering with the Duluth YMCA, Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply and other groups we will be offering free Nordic Walking Tastes, introductory classes and group walk leader clinics. Details are still in the works but we will post times and locations as soon as we can.

Keep checking back for new updates!   I hope to see you out there soon.

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New Vision for Hoigaard’s Outdoor Women

One of the many hats I wear is that of the Coordinator for Hoigaard’s Outdoor Women, fondly known as HOW.  As a women’s outdoor program it is unique in that it is sponsored and supported by a family owned specialty outdoor retail shop.  Started in 2005 as a means of creating, inspiring and supporting the female outdoor enthusiast it has grown to a membership of over 2000 today.

HOW is an opportunity for women to enjoy the outdoors in a fun, safe and social environment.  There is no fee to join, most activities are free and we even provide the equipment.  We do seasonal outdoor activities: paddling, hiking, camping, Nordic Walking and biking in the summer; cross country skiing, downhill skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing in the winter.  We also have educational clinics and social events at the store.

We recently had some Fireside Chats to create a vision of HOW for the next five years.

The women shared what they love about HOW:

  • The weekly email with it’s updates.  It seems we also have many women who read the email and have not come to HOW events but are inspired to get outside to play through the email.
  • The connections to other women who like to be outdoors
  • The variety of events and programs, the welcoming of all ages, experience and skill levels, and the freedom to drop in
  • No fees, being able to try new activities with equipment provided
  • Both week night and weekend activities
  • Good leadership and guidance
  • The opportunity for women to develop their skills and pass it on to others

They shared visions and ideas for the future of HOW:

  • An actual calendar to make it easier to track activities
  • Daytime activities for “stay at home” mom’s and retired women
  • In place of a weeklong trip do 2-3 seasonal weekend events
  • More camping, hiking, biking – possibly weekends that include all of it
  • HOW members taking leadership roles for activities and events
  • Hoigaard’s continuing to be a leader in women’s programs
  • “get back out there” programs to encourage women who have not been active to come out with us
  • HOW Facebook page to enable members to get together outside the calendar of events and activities
  • HOW programs that include families and children

I am inspired and motivated by all that they have shared.  Here’s to a bright future for HOW!

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Nordic Walkers Meet Up

I’ve been walking and teaching and coaching Nordic Walking since 2005.  The most consistent request from all walkers is “where are all the walking groups and how do I join up with them?”  Up until now it was the tough question as we really don’t have many consistent walking groups and have even less people willing to lead them.

How do you find other Nordic Walkers?  The good news is that it’s 2013 and there are MeetUp groups for all kinds of activities and interests.  So last week I created the Great Lakes Nordic Walkers / MN Meetup group.  I thought about just infiltrating other outdoor hiking and walking groups with my poles but figured that it was best to come out of the closet and create our own group for all those people with poles who want to walk together.

It will be interesting to see if we get anyone to sign up, if we get anyone to post and host a walk or a group, if we ever go on a walk together.  What I do know is that our Nordic Walking Tuesdays are still walking strong after 6 years and we’re already talking about what the new season will be so there is hope for any and all other walks.

Stay tuned to find out if there are any meetup Nordic Walkers out there 🙂

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Resolve to Nordic Walk!

I love turning the calendar over to a new year.  A fresh calendar has so many possibilities.  My one and only resolution this year is to embrace change as I anticipate that this year could be an epic year of life changes for me and my family.

One thing that will not change is my commitment to change the way people walk by continuing to promote all the fun and fitness of Nordic Walking.  Based on the energy I’m feeling I’m sure that this is going to be the year that Nordic Walking explodes in the US.

Are you onboard?  If you haven’t tried it yet what are you waiting for?

This year I’ll be working hard to get group walks started in different areas.  Perhaps creating a Meet Up group is the way to go. Or maybe I’ll just infiltrate existing walking and hiking groups and bring poles to share.   Any thoughts?  It seems to be the one thing that people are consistently asking for – a group to walk with on a regular schedule.  Maybe you’d like to be point for one in your area?  It won’t cost you anything and the rewards will be priceless.

I’ll keep you posted about developing plans!

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Happy New Year !

The newest press on the Nordic Walking Queen was in the December issue of the St Louis Park Magazine.  It’s a delightful article about the wonders of Nordic Walking.  Thank you to Emily and Amanda for their hard work.

Every time I start to wonder if all the hours I spend with Nordic Walking is all worth it something happens.  I’m convinced that 2013 will be the year that Nordic Walking explodes in the US.  There’s just a certain energy in the air and new levels of interest in poles.  Over the holidays I had lots of new customers at Hoigaards looking for poles for a variety of reasons.  Some came for the balance and stability, some were referred by their fitness coach or trainer, some by their PT, some were facing knee or hip surgery, some looking for that new fitness activity that they could stick with in the new year.

All of them left with poles and smiles.  How much fun to have the gift of health in your hand.

I hope your New Year’s Resolution includes Nordic Walking !  Let me know how I can help you get started.

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New Fall Walks Posted

Want to keep walking through the rest of fall?  Did you know that the best way to keep off  those holiday pounds is to keep walking? Just got your poles and looking for a group to walk with?

The good news is that Rhea and I have both scheduled free group walks for November and December.  Rhea will be doing walks at Ritter Farm on Sunday afternoons and  I’ll be at Centennial Lakes on Tuesday evenings and French Regional Park on Saturday mornings. As always we will have extra poles with us and provide a quick “how to” before each walk.  This cooler weather is perfect for walking and you can also use your walks for a bit of preseason conditioning for your winter sports.

Don’t be left inside!  Grab that hat and gloves and come on out to enjoy some brisk walking with your poles.

Full details of all walks can be found on Trail Calendar or check out my calendar for the Tuesday and Saturday walks.

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Congratulations to the New Nordic Walk Now Instructors!

It is my pleasure to introduce you to our brand new Nordic Walking Instructors.  I led a Nordic Walk Now ITP training on Saturday, October 13 at Struthers Parkinson’s clinic, a huge thank you to them for hosting, and had five participants complete the training.  My congratulations to Desyl, DeLynn, Kay, Liz and Maria.  It was a special afternoon.

I was especially excited about the many different ways that our new group is planning on sharing Nordic Walking.  You can look forward to new programs for women, seniors, breast cancer survivors, Parkinson’s, and community walking groups.  Just a small sampling of the many applications for walking with poles.

One of my new favorite things to do is to video walkers in my classes and clinics.  As a ski instructor I always find video to be a great tool for self awareness of what I’m actually doing on the snow.  We’ve found the same to be true for Nordic Walking.  Please enjoy this video of the group skipping to celebrate their accomplishment and to increase their heart rate at the end of our training 🙂

The next instructor training will be scheduled for early spring.  I’ll look forward to seeing many of you there!

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Nordic Walking Instructor Training

I will be leading the next Nordic Walking Instructor Training on Saturday October 13 from 12:30-5pm in Golden Valley MN.  This training is designed for group exercise leaders, outdoor recreation leaders, fitness professionals and anyone who would like to share their passion for Nordic Walking with the community.

This is a great opportunity to increase your knowledge and improve your Nordic Walking technique.

Register on line at Nordic Walk Now and receive the early bird rate of $129 instead of the regular $149 for this training.  Poles will be provided for use during the training and available for purchase.

Questions?  please email me today!

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Free Nordic Walking Intro Downtown Minneapolis

Have you ever wanted to Nordic Walk through Loring Park and across the bridge to the Sculpture Garden?  Do you live downtown and see pole walkers and wonder what it’s all about?  Does the cooler weather make you want to go outside for a walk?

Then you should join me on Monday Sept 24 at Minneapolis Community and Technical College for a Free Intro.  Poles and smiles provided.  Get your first taste so you can’t wait to come back for more in the upcoming classes.  Registration is requested but the class is free!

Hope to see you there!

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Fall Classes now online

The Nordic Walking classes for fall are now all loaded on my calendar. There’s something for everyone; from Delano to St Paul, afternoon and evenings, free intro’s to 3 part classes and clinics. Hope to see you this fall.

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