My friend Grace had been telling me about the joys of Nordic Walking for a while.  “It’s a full body workout!”,  she’d tell me.  It’s low-impact, it’s something you can do anywhere and there are low equipment needs – it’s good for all kinds of reasons.   And I totally trust Grace.  She’s got so many cool interests and passions that when she manages to stuff another one into her busy life it’s worth taking note of.

We found a day that fit into our schedules and I met her in Mahone Bay, my favourite oozing-with-quaint town on the south shore.  We met at the general store on main street and there’s a trail just back from there that’s on an old railway bed.  I hadn’t known about it but it’s perfect for Nordic Walking –  it goes on forever, it’s flat and surrounded by beautiful woods. 

Grace first had to teach me how to use the special Nordic Walking poles.  They have rubbery handles that are easy to grip, adjustable lengths and little rubber feet that get good traction on the ground. 

I’ve seen folks using these poles around town and they use them like walking sticks.  Technically that’s not how it’s done (and it makes them pretty expensive walking sticks!).  You’re supposed to walk like a goosestepping soldier, straight arms, vigorous swing, and the pole lands on the ground just behind the line of your hip.  Then you press into the pole while you step your foot forward. 

I needed to concentrate on getting everything right, but when I did I could feel that my triceps, lats and shoulders were definitely in use.  Then when you go up or down hills, you use them more as traditional walking sticks,  they land straight down below your bent arm so your chest muscles are activated. 

After Grace teaches me the techniques we head off.  Every once in a while the rubber footies on my poles skipped off over the ground instead of planting.  We adjusted the length of my poles a few time and it improved each time. 

Grace had just come back from New York where she saw His Holiness The Dalai Lama.  It was one of those crazy synchronicity things where she decided she wanted to go, couldn’t find tickets, just happened to meet a person from NYC who could hook her up with not just tickets but VIP tickets, just happened to get the money she needed for her birthday to pay for the plane ticket, just happened to find the perfect place to stay – you get the idea. 

Oh, and the Dalai Lama blessed her kata (Tibetan silk scarf) because she just walked up to the front of the world’s largest cathedral where he was speaking and someone took it up to him.  Total synchronicity.  What a story.

And it’s funny because when she emailed me that she was going to NYC to see the Dalai Lama it was at the end of a really bad kid day for me.  I just wanted to either run away from home or sell my children to the gypsies and here’s my friend going off to do this awesome pilgrimage.  I wasn’t jealous, I was totally happy for her, but the comparison between our lives at that moment was pretty funny, in a dark sort of way. 

But that’s the life of a householder, more changing diapers than seeking out holy people.  Spending most of your energy grasping at whatever strength you have to avoid selling your children and spending the money on a nice dinner – at least on the bad days.

So I looked at my watch when we were on our way back into town and we’d been walking 2 hours.  The time had completely flown by.  I told Grace I was *starving*, so she took me to the Biscuit Eater.  It’s an oozing-with-charm combo bookstore cafe in an ancient building.  The place has, of course, awesome biscuits but I had a sandwich. 

When Grace had told me about Nordic Walking  there was a part of me that wondered if it was real exercise, you know?  Like it’s walking with some pole action, big whoop.  I wondered if  I’d really feel it or burn any calories.

After I left Grace in Mahone Bay, I drove back to Halifax and was running some errands at 3 in the afternoon.  I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me.  I felt all wrong-headed and woozy.  Then I realized I was hungry.  Like not peckish but bottomed- out-blood-sugar-passing-out kind of hungry.  I had to grab another sandwich so  I could make it to dinner time. 

It turns out Nordic Walking is a wicked calorie burn afterall.  But you gotta do it right.  So if you happen to be near Mahone Bay and are up for a full body, calorie torching workout with great conversation, Grace will hook you up.