German Village Walking Club Weekly Newsletter | March 1, 2016

Greetings!

I hope everyone made the most of the extra day we got in February. I bet all those 3,000,000-step-challengers used that day to get in extra steps. In the newsletter this week, we look back on the first year of the German Village Walking Club. Also, there are a couple articles on how coffee benefits your health, and how to crush your core.

Happy Anniversary, Ya’ll

The GVWC just celebrated our first anniversary! Reflecting back, this is quite an accomplishment—especially considering our uncertain beginnings. I don’t know if you remember, but it was ridiculously, brutally cold last February. Indeed, the wicked temperatures broke records from Canada to Florida. The first few sentences of this article, Polar vortex brings more historic cold in eastern U.S., which appeared in The Washington Post on February 20, says it all:

Friday arrived with an icy slap as Arctic air surged into the eastern United States. The cold snap caused long-standing records to tumble across the Midwest and Eastern Seaboard.

That article appeared only days before this article, Walking club founder takes exercise in stride at Schiller, which appeared in the German Village Gazette and promoted the official launch of the GVWC. You may wonder why the photo—about a walking club—is taken in my living room. That’s because it was so cold, the photographer refused to do the shoot outside.

People (i.e., my wife) said it was a mistake to launch the Club in the middle of the coldest winter on record. And when I’d return home—dejected—after standing alone at Schiller Statue just in case someone showed up to walk with me, people (again, my wife) reassured me the walkers would come as soon as the weather became more temperate.

One year ago, this is how the German Village Walking Club started:

Schiller when GVWC started

Standing there alone in the park, I felt like the German Village Idiot.

But, look where we are today. By the numbers:

60…Official members who make this the coolest and most fun place to be at 8am on Saturdays
4…Members representing “chapters” across the U.S. (Cleveland, Wheeling, Seattle, and West Orange, NJ) and the International Chapter in Turin, Italy
15 to 20+…Walkers who show up every week—even the winter
4…GVWC partners: Winans, Second Sole, Caskey Cleaners, and Larrimer & Larrimer
2…Community Urban Walks bringing walkers from clubs across Central Ohio (Gahanna Get Moving Team, Buckeye Striders, and New Albany Walking Club)
2…Special Events, including a field trip to focused fitness and the first GVWC Happy Hour at Second Sole
At least 250…Cups of coffee at Winans where we yuck it up after our walks each Saturday
S, M, L, XL…Short- and long-sleeve technical T-shirts and jackets sporting the GVWC logo

The GVWC is dedicated to helping to promote walking as a fantastic form of exercise, and showcasing Columbus’ cool urban environment. We are about fitness, competition, and community. People who have joined our Club or participated in our community walks have commented about how great and beautiful downtown Columbus is, and what a great environment in which to walk. We range from newbie walkers to marathon race walkers. We hope to keep growing and spreading the word about the positive impact of walking for fitness, and showcasing downtown Columbus.

Thank you all for your support!

Coffee Break Time!

And you thought it was milk that does a body good. Maybe, but this article, Drink Coffee to Boost Your Workouts and More from About.com, touts the great health benefits of coffee – from improving athletic performance to enhancing mental focus and preventing disease. Is it any wonder we hang at Winans? We know what we are doing.

Mark Your Calendar

On March 12, 2016, 5 to 9pm, the Hayley Gallery will host an Artist Opening Reception for Chuck Marshall, displaying over 20 new oil paintings. Chuck, a GVWC member, is best known as a Plein Air artist. We know him as an overall great guy. Hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to view Chuck’s work and catch up with him. The Hayley Gallery is located in New Albany, and here is the link to the official press release with details of the event. Congratulations Chuck!

Core Values

Strength, power, balance. It all starts with our core. From Men’s Health Magazine blog here is 90 second video of 22 versions of plank exercises to strengthen your core. Notice that he does this workout outside. Like I always say, you don’t need a gym or a stocked workout room to improve your fitness. Ok, 90 seconds, get some good ideas, go! (That guy looks pretty good, eh?)

Motivation of the Week

struggle