Downtown Loop - My favorite walk

I live downtown and have always been a runner. I've got a torn meniscus on my left knee, so I've started walking instead. That's okay actually, since I'm training for The MoonWalk - you've actually got to be walking every day - running won't get you in shape for the overnight marathon walk.

Here's my favorite walk right now - it takes about two hours, moving at a pretty brisk pace. Through Tribeca, down to City Hall, and across Chinatown. End up on the East River and walk south past the South Street Seaport around the Battery, past Wagner Park, the World Financial Center and the North Cove and past Pier 25 (beach volleyball!) and Pier 40 (Trapeze school and soccer fields). Refreshments at the Ear Bar....

It makes me love living in NYC because we pass through so many different neighborhoods and see so many different kinds of people. 

Here are some pics from the walk - spanning a lot of different seasons.

Brooklyn Bridge - love it!

Awesome place to take a break, looking across to Brooklyn

At the Battery - careful when the tide is high!

Staten Island Ferry arriving

Freedom Tower on a snowy day last month

Festival near Pier 25 on the Hudson River

Nice place to end the walk - at the Ear Bar...!

Pigs-in-a-Blanket on the NY Mayoral Campaign Trail

(Christine Quinn)

The New York Times last month had a great article about how our NY mayoral candidates try to stay in shape while they are on the campaign trail.  

Obviously - it's not easy for any of us to eat right every day and stay in shape, but think about facing months of "eat-and-greets in all five boroughs, power breakfasts followed by power lunches (sometimes three in a day), and ethnic festivals and cultural nights where sampling the local delicacy is tantamount to a mandatory show of respect." 

These men and women are basically embarking on the most stressful  and photographed period of their lives - so how do they handle it?  Christine Quinn lost 25 pounds last year (thanks to Soul Cycle she says), but says that "every other time I've run for office I have gained weight".  She says “I do have a pig-in-the-blanket exception,” she said. “If there’s pigs-in-the-blanket, I get to have two.”  I agree and I think she may have my vote just based on that...

Good news - Walking better than running for your health?!

Brisk walk really may be just as good as a run, study finds  (from Health on the Today Show)

Very very good news for those of us training for The MoonWalk - a study was just released that showed that a brisk walk could be just as good or better than running for your health.

Here were some of the results - you can see how good walking is for you:

• Running significantly reduced the risk for being diagnosed with hypertension by 4.2% while walking reduced the risk by 7.2%
• Running reduced the chances of having high cholesterol by 4.3% and walking by 7%
• Running lowered risk of diabetes by 12.1% while walking dropped the risk by 12.3%
• Running reduced coronary heart disease risk by 4.5% compared to 9.3% for walking.

The best part - walking is an exercise that most of us can actually do, work into our schedule, get better at, do more of!

Read more about this in the Time Magazine blog - Alexandra Sifferlin @acsifferlin 

Walkers at the starting line at The MoonWalk

Getting Started - The MoonWalk NYC 2013

It's The MoonWalk and it's coming to NYC on Saturday night July 20th!!

Have you heard about The MoonWalk?  

It's an overnight marathon that women (and men...!) walk in crazy bras to raise awareness/money for breast cancer causes. It's been going on overseas for over 15 years (with over 300,000 participants and $126,000,000 raised to date) and it's coming to New York City on Saturday night July 20th. It starts in the evening with a big dance party and opening ceremony at Randall's Island - at 10pm the walkers will set out, and the route goes down the east side of NYC and back up the Hudson River, finishing back at Randall's. There is both a full and half marathon option - so that's 26.2 and 13.1 miles.

I work with the team that's bringing it to America for the very first time at LeadDog Marketing. We're already signing people up and putting teams together to train and walk together. Just like a running marathon or any big athletic endeavor, there's a recommended week by week training schedule to make sure that walkers are in shape and ready to walk all night. 

Since exercise and a good diet helps prevent cancer or improve the outcome if you have cancer - I like the idea that just participating fights breast cancer - even if you don't end up being able raise a lot of money/etc. Plus - let's face it --- it's walking! Really - anyone and everyone can be a part of The MoonWalk.

In this blog, we are going to track the progress of people who are training for the event, find out more about why they are walking and what's keeping them motivated and having fun while they clock the miles. We'll also post training tips, info about what to walk in, suggestions on safety while you're training, and insight and inspiration from Nina Barough, the founder of Walk the Walk, the organizing charity behind The MoonWalk.

To learn more and to register - www.WalktheWalkAmerica.com

And watch our :30 second spot 

Or this 3 minute video 

Friends getting ready for the best "Girl's Night Out" - 26.2 miles of walking, talking, laughing.