More X-Country and NFL Play 60

This past Sunday after shoveling the driveway I headed to Mendon to x-country ski on the Lehigh Valley Trail. It was my first time on this trail. It is only 10 minutes from the house and I had only about an hour and half of play time. I passed up on Mendon Ponds as I wanted to avoid the crowd. The trail is straight as an arrow and flatter than flat. It was a bright sunny 25 degree day. A perfect day to get a light workout and enjoy the outdoors.



Upon my return from skiing I turned on the Giants/Eagles game as we began to prepare dinner. As I watched for the upteenth time Eli Manning do his PSA for NFL Play 60 I stopped and asked Jen since when do we need to have programs to get kids to play for 60 minutes a day. I know many of us recall our childhood as the good ol' days, but I can distinctly remember playing daily outside or in a friend's house or the community rec center when it was too cold. During the summer we would play one sport another all day long and only stop on the hour to listen to the church bells to determine how much longer we had before our games would be halted by dinner. In the evening we would either meet at the church down the street for a game of tag or hop on our bikes for a 2 hour tour around our 1 stop light town.

Although I cannot fault the NFL for Play 60 I do wonder whether kids now expect someone to determine what they are going to play and when. If we left children to decide on their own may they play 60 or more minutes a day? Of course we would have to limit 'screen time', but I would think that most children would turn to some type of play given the opportunity. Not having children I will not know the answer, but one can only hope that children still know how to play for at least 60 minutes a day.

X-country Skiing Close To Home

Broke out the x-country skis for the first time this season. Jen and I headed down the road a bit from our new home and hit one of the local trails in Pittsford. It is a short out-and-back trail with the total route measuring in at about 2-3 kilometers. The trail head begins at one of the last local farms in town.

It was one of those rare winter days in Rochester were the temp is just below freezing and the skies are a crisp blue punctuated by a few floating clouds. The trail itself is mainly used for walking although we could see where a set of skis had broke trail earlier in the day. 

Jen and I decided to ski side by side breaking our own trail so we could chat along the way. We had the trail entirely to ourselves except for a person about 100 yards ahead of us with their pup. When we passed the man we noticed he had a tennis racket which seemed odd for an afternoon stroll with your dog. When we pass him again later we noticed he was using it to hit a tennis ball that his dog would then retrieve. Witness to this act negated our earlier thought that he was trying to use a tennis racket as a show shoe.

On our way back we stopped at the local farm to pet the large draft horses. Actually they demanded our attention as when we began to pass they ran up to the fence looking for free handouts. We left the house empty handed so promised them that we would make it up to them the next time we passed. Not sure if they looked fondly upon our agreement as the turned from the fence to rummage through their stacked hay bales.

Although the trail itself is not very demanding in terrain it is convenient enough that I can get a quick workout in after work. It also provides a nice route for a day like today where after a hard session of spinning in the morning it was just nice to get out and enjoy the day.