Walking movement encourages Detroit Free Press #seizethedays writer

GirlTrek:Detroit.

I have gotten in the habit of checking their Facebook page every day.

On GirlTrek, I know there will be something there to inspire me as I #seizethedays and complete my "Countdown to 60," the fun and fitness journey I pledged as I move toward my 60th birthday at year's end.

GirlTrek is a national organization focused on encouraging African-American women to walk to help combat preventable diseases that take an especially devastating toll on women of color. Their primary shero is the abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who walked from slavery to freedom and made numerous trips back into dangerous slaveholding territories to free others.

"If she could walk for her freedom, surely we can walk for our health," Chrysantha (Chris) Norwood, Detroit's team captain, told me during a recent walking meeting.

"Any woman who shows up is welcome to join us, but we're focused on African-American women and girls because we're the ones dying from preventable diseases."

That contention is supported by statistics from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities and Gary Bennett, director of the Duke Obesity Prevention Program at Duke University, who's also a board member of GirlTrek.

Compared with white women, black women have more than twice the risk of dying from heart disease, he said.

"All the conditions that plague the modern health system are borne by black women in excess," Bennett says. "One of the most promising ways to contend with the high rates of chronic disease in black women is walking. So what GirlTrek is doing is not only a great social movement, it's also good medicine."

I usually don't have walking meetings, but meet-while-walking is one of this month's GirlTrek challenges.

So Norwood and I did the bulk of our discussion at a local coffee shop, but finished with a walk-meeting in downtown Detroit, made especially fun by watching all the people dressed "Tigerific" on Opening Day.

Every month GirlTrek puts out various challenges to get women walking for the sake of their physical, mental and spiritual health. The national "MOVEment" seeks to inspire 1 million black women and girls to walk 30 minutes, 5 times per week.

This month's JumpStart into Spring challenge asks women to do at least 20 of 48 proposed walks, including a walk in a state park, a walk in a city park, a walk to the store, a walk to school with your child, and, yes, a walk while meeting.

GirlTrek connects and motivates women, primarily through social media. Women post inspiring comments and photos of themselves or others walking, and connect with each other via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Two friends talking

GirlTrek started in 2010 with a conversation between two girlfriends. Vanessa Garrison of Washington, D.C., and Morgan Dixon of New Jersey, both 37, were bemoaning the terrible toll poor health practices take on black women.

For the two friends, the issue is personal.

"My grandmother died at 62. I have an aunt who died at 58 and another one at 53," Garrison says. "There were too many women in our lives who we were losing."

Garrison and Dixon put out a joint e-mail to family members and friends encouraging them to walk just 30 minutes a day for at least five days a week; and to forward the e-mail to others. The response was so overwhelming they knew they had met their calling.

Since they launched GirlTrek in 2011, it has grown from about 570 women to 30,000 walkers, 450 walking teams and close to 200,000 online supporters.

Even first lady Michelle Obama shouted out to them in a tweet that promoted their JumpStart that started on April 1.

Hey @GirlTrek: #GimmeFive heart-pumping walks in your neighborhood over the next month, and pass on the challenge! #GirlTrek

"Oh my God! Are you kidding me!" Norwood exclaimed recalling that tweet. "Michelle Obama is the best healthy role model in the United States!"

GirlTrek trains leaders at an annual three-day training retreat and partners with key health and outdoor adventure proponents, including the National Park Service, Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative and companies such as REI.

And it's not all just walking.

GirlTrek, with its partners, has also offered trailblazer fellowships to expose black women to opportunities they likely would never experience.

That's how Norwood, 44, a single mom living on Detroit's east side, ended up camping in Alaska for 14 days in July 2013.

"I hadn't been camping since a YMCA camp when I was 8 or 9," Norwood says. "And this wasn't that kind of camp. It was like an extended episode of 'Survivor.' I hadn't even heard of kayaking before I was told I was going there."

Initially, Norwood wasn't among the 10 women chosen for its trailblazer fellowships. But one of the women selected had to drop out. Garrison and Dixon called Norwood because they were impressed with the enthusiastic way she had applauded and encouraged the women online who had been chosen.

"I sincerely believe in being happy for others when they have success," Norwood says. "I couldn't let my hurt feelings walk away from something that is bigger than me."

Norwood was the oldest woman and the only black woman among nine women on the wilderness adventure that GirlTrek sent her to. The other GirlTrek trailblazers went on different adventures.

The trip tested Norwood's emotional and physical strength. Just breaking down and setting up camp in a new location after hours of kayaking was challenging, not to mention activities at each locale.

Fortunately, she trained for weeks with Donna McKay and Dave Davis, co-owners of My Good Life Fitness Studio in Southfield. Their belief in her added to her determination.

"It's amazing how you can will yourself to do something because someone else believes in you," says Norwood, a Detroit educator. "Their confidence gave me courage."

Norwood's training reminded me of my training at local spinning and cycling studios to prepare for a bike ride from Selma to Montgomery earlier this year. It helps a lot, but nothing really makes you 100% prepared for that kind of challenge.

"Me being the only African American, I prayed every day, and I prayed out loud," says Norwood. "At first, I could see the others giving me the side eye. But after about the fourth day, they were saying, 'Chris, you think you could pray for some good weather?' "

The wilderness adventure reinforced lessons that would help Norwood become Detroit's volunteer GirlTrek team captain in 2013.

"I learned that when things are going rough, instead of looking at what's challenging, look at how you can get through the challenge," Norwood says. "And then praise Him when you get to the other side."

When the metro Detroit group started in fall 2012, there were about 20 walkers; now there are 1,200 women registered in Michigan, and between 50 and 100 women show up at various locations announced on their Facebook page.

In addition to monthly challenges, GirlTrek proposes walks for specific occasions. For example, in March, women were encouraged to walk 54 miles — to match the number of miles protesters marched from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., for voting rights. Next month, women are asked to walk 52.4 miles in honor or in memory of a woman who has made a difference in their lives.

Willing partners

While there are official walks posted, social media also allows women to connect with other GirlTrekers. It's not unusual to see posts from people looking for walking partners. Last week, for example, posts looking for walkers in the Troy-Madison Heights area got several responses, as did a query for women to meet at Eastland one night last week.

Such posts eliminate one excuse: fear of walking alone. "And when you know somebody is waiting for you, you're less likely to keep sitting on the couch," Norwood says. "Positive peer pressure is something everybody needs."

The photos help too.

"Seeing women who look like you, who have the same challenges as you, encourages women to get out there and do it too," Norwood says. "The goal is to walk every day for at least 30 minutes a day. OK, you might not be able to walk 30 minutes, but try walking around the block. You can start somewhere. It's all about your personal best."

Norwood's posts resonate with lots of women, including me.

GirlTrek inspires me to stick with my goals, including preparing to do a century bike ride (62 miles for a metric century or 100 miles for a regular century), learning to swim and a goal for which GirlTrek:Detroit has been especially helpful — drinking more water.

Norwood promotes the hashtag #cupsup to get women, including herself, to drink more water. It's good to know I'm not alone in this struggle. Regular posts about drinking water remind me to do so.

Last week, for example, a post said:

"Water Check-in!!! Call out!!

It is almost 11:00 a.m. How much water have you had today? WAIT!

Go get a glass of WATER and then post!! #CupsUp #StayHydrated

For those of us struggling a bit I thought this might help!! Set a reminder on your phone!!"

So every day when I see a post, if I haven't done so already, I'm reminded to try to get at least 64 ounces of water down before the day's end.

It hasn't been easy. Sticking to goals takes a degree of discipline that I don't have sometimes. (For example, I ate more slices of my homemade coconut cake on Easter Sunday than I should have!) Sometimes, I wonder why I agreed to make my countdown public. But when I meet women like Norwood, I'm reminded that my health is worth it.

#movingforward.

#seizethedays.

Tell me how you celebrate life and #seizethedays. Call me at 313-223-4580; e-mail me at cspratling@freepress.com or tweet me @cassprat. When you tweet me about your experiences, please use the hashtag #seizethedays.

How to get involved

GirlTrek leaders across the country host SuperHero Saturday walks at 9 a.m. every Saturday.

Locally, trekkers walk on Belle Isle and Palmer Park in Detroit, and Inglenook in Southfield, in addition to other local parks.

For info on other walks, visit the GirlTrek: Detroit Facebook page or call 248-790-5301.

Making the goals

So how am I doing on my journey to #seizethedays?

It's a question I get asked probably more than would like to answer. Once, a stranger (at least to me) asked whether I'd flossed today. It's an odd question until I realized he'd read and recognized me from the article kicking off this series. Flossing daily is one of my goals. No, I still don't floss every day. But yes, I do more than I used to and I'm still working toward making it a daily habit.

Other highlights:

Swimming: I'm more than halfway finished with the first session of swim lessons at the Boll Family YWCA. I say first session because I realize it's going to take more than one to reach the level of competence and comfort I seek.

While I'm not there yet, I'm kicking and floating across — a stroke in the right direction — thanks to patient instruction from teacher Lori Trout and support from my longtime friend and fellow student, Michelle Puryear, who, like me, didn't learn when we were younger.

Century Ride: In preparation for a century ride, I'm taking spinning classes regularly at JC Jones Bootcamp and the Y in Detroit, and RockNRide in Grosse Pointe.

I did my first outdoor ride on Tigers' Opening Day, thanks to warming weather and high parking prices in downtown Detroit. The ride from the house of one of my brothers where I'd parked my car was less than 5 miles round-trip, but it was my season opener. And it felt good, just feeling the springtime breezes and knowing consistent cycling weather is not far away.

Michigan's unofficial cycling season opener is the Metro Grand Spring Tour. Weather permitting, I'll be there.

Go to the website of the League of Michigan Bicyclists for information on it and other rides in the state. Michigan Ride Calendar

Speaking of that century ride that I pledged to do, my brother Reginald and I have decided to join the ride planned by Wayne State University for Aug. 22 instead of doing our own ride. Wayne State's inaugural cycling event offers various options up to a 100-mile century. Plus, the ride raises scholarship money for disadvantaged students.

For more info and to register, go to baroudeur.wayne.edu/.