7/13/04 Waco senior women gearing up for 50-mile walk to fight MS07/28/2004 9:52:30 AM
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Brazos Living
7/13/04 Waco senior women gearing up for 50-mile
walk to fight MS
By JOHN ALLEN Tribune-Herald staff writer
After thrilling adventures like skydiving, rafting the Grand Canyon and swimming
with sea lions near the Galapagos Islands, walking 50 miles for charity sounds like
a piece of cake.
So what if your hair's a little gray? Maturity doesn't mean your feet stop working.
That's the philosophy of the Waco Wonder Walkers, a team of women ages 60 to
70 who are training for the 50-mile Multiple Sclerosis Challenge Walk on Oct. 1-3
that begins in Prince Georges County, Md., and ends at the Capitol in Washington,
D.C.
The team began with Ramona Arterburn, who, at age 60, is the spring chicken of
the bunch. Her daughter, Rebecca Steele, 25, who lives in Washington D.C., was
recently diagnosed with MS and challenged her mother to take part in the walk to
raise money for research.
"What's a mom to do?" Arterburn said. "Of course I agreed to do it. Anything that
will help."
Arterburn mentioned the challenge to her daily walking partner, Nancy Harlan, who
eagerly came on board. Harlan, 68, who shared the aforementioned adventures
with Arterburn in recent years, was glad to take on another one with her longtime
friend.
Arterburn and Harlan recruited two more avid walkers — Wanda Raley-Pittman,
70, and Freda Virnau, 63, whom they knew through church — to complete the
team. Virnau, who said she has walked three or four miles daily for as long as she
can remember and has a nephew with MS, jumped at the invitation.
"When I first agreed to do it, I thought we were going to walk the 50 miles straight
through and that idea didn't bother me at all," she said. "I didn't know it was split up
over three days until later."
The 50-mile trek will cover 22 miles the first day, 17 miles the second day and the
final 11 miles leading into the nation's capital the third day. Even though the
women lead active lives and are all in good health, they approached Baylor
University Fitness Coordinator Van Davis to train them. As it turns out, Davis'
father, Craig Smith, of Tucson, was diagnosed with MS seven years ago.
"When they told me what they were doing, I said, 'Not only will I train you guys, I
will do it with you,'" Davis said. "They are an inspiration to me, actually. . . . It's
been a piece of cake, really, to train them because they are so committed."
Virnau, however, said Davis' training regimen has been anything but a cakewalk.
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The 18-week, six-days-a-week program they started May 31 includes weight
training at least two times a week, stationary cycling and plenty of walking.
"I had no idea so much training would be involved," Virnau said. "When someone
asks me to do something now, I have to check my schedule to see if I'm available.
But I love it."
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Davis made up training schedules in three-ring binders for the team, detailing each
week leading up to the challenge walk. Virnau said she is enjoying the exercise so
much that, when it's all over, she plans on flipping back to page one and starting all
over again.
Davis, 43, said it's especially important for seniors to stay active to avoid loss of
bone density and muscle strength. Brittle bones and weak muscles make injuries
from falls more likely to occur and more difficult to recover from, she said.
"A little activity is better than nothing at all," she said. "For seniors, that might mean
little things like walking around the block, chair exercises, stretching, walking the
dog, yard work — anything that can move them around."
For seniors with physical limitations such as arthritis, Davis said, there are
activities that can still provide good exercise. Water aerobics, tai chi classes,
cycling and PACE (“People with Arthritis Can Exercise”) classes are options, but
it's important to incrementally work up to longer periods of activity.
The three main components of fitness seniors should concentrate on, Davis said,
are cardiovascular endurance, resistance training to maintain bone density and
muscle strength, and flexibility to maintain range of motion.
"If they're not doing something, before you know it, they can't reach that zipper in
the back or they can't bend down and tie their shoes. Inactivity takes away from
quality of life," she said.
Raley-Pittman said she has enjoyed the overall regimen so much that she is toying
with the idea of becoming a personal trainer for other senior women.
"The training really energizes me and just gives me a totally different outlook on
my day," she said.
During the challenge walk, each team member will wear shirts bearing the name or
names of people with MS they are walking for. Arterburn and Harlan will wear the
name of Arterburn's daughter, Virnau will have her nephew's name on her shirt,
Raley-Pittman will have the name of a high-school friend's child and the name of
former Baylor football coach Grant Teaff's daughter on her back, and Davis will
wear her father's name.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, unpredictable neurological disease that affects the
central nervous system. It is not considered fatal, but there is no cure, according to
the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Medi- cations help slow the course and
symptoms of the disease, which affects about 400,000 Americans and 2.5 million
people worldwide.
"It's such a frustrating disease," Davis said. "One day you feel pretty good and the
next you can't get out of bed. What's bad is you have no control over which day
you are going to wake up to."
John Allen can be reached at [email protected] or 757-5730.
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7/13/04 Waco senior women gearing up for 50-mile walk to fight MS 07/28/2004 9:52:30 AM
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