Views from behind Centennial Park

Centennial Park's Back Door is a gentle walk that will take you to either the little valley north of Centennial Park or to a lookout area over the Carson City Airport.

Centennial Park is located on the northeast side of Carson City, but we are going to access it from off Goni Road. From College Parkway, drive north on Goni Road and then turn right on Kelvin, left on Salk Road, and then right on Bohr Road to the end of the road. As always, be courteous and park so that you don't disturb the people who live on this road.

Follow the jeep trail from the end of the road east. The road will take you to the ridge. 

If you're up for an adventure, you can keep going east and down to the hidden valley that seems miles away from a city. Right now, it may not look like much, but in a couple of weeks you'll see the wild flowers. There's quite a lot of desert peach and prickly phlox.

If you're not into the adventure or don't have the time follow the ridge, go to the right to a level area where you can enjoy the view of Carson City to the south. Please take note of the clear air and the beautiful view of the Sierra. We need to take a moment now and then to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.

Start a walking program

Since this walk is pretty straight forward and doesn't need an extensive description, I would like to take the opportunity to address starting a walking program. I addressed this before but now that its spring and we're all focused on getting into shape and being outdoors it's a good time to discuss it.

The first and biggest mistake that people make is starting off with unrealistic expectations. 

First, if you're very overweight, have not been exercising for an extensive period of time, or have a medical condition discuss this with your physician first. Then set small goals, very small goals. 

A program that I have found effective is to select a trail and make it your trail. By using the same trail each day, it's easy to measure your progress. 

Get yourself a small timer or if you have one on your watch use that. Set it for 10 minutes, yep just 10 minutes, and start walking. When the timer goes off, stop and build yourself a small pile of rocks off to the side of the trail " not to worry I haven't found a trail yet that is short of rocks. Turn around and go home.

Next day, repeat the process with the goal of getting at least one step beyond that pile of stones in the 10 minutes. Do this for one week. The following week add five minutes to your walk. Continue adding five minutes each week until you reach 30 minutes.

Think this won't make a difference? Test me. Try it for one month and see just how far up that trail you get. I think you'll be very surprised.

As you gain strength in your heart, lungs, legs and confidence in yourself you'll want to explore some of the other roads and trails available to us. 

If you are interested in joining some of our walks please feel free to contact me.

- Donna Inversin is walk leader for Muscle-Powered (www.musclepowered.wordpress.com) and co-chair for special events for We Can. She can be reached at 775-315-6763.