A Rose Parade of Exercisers

As the already pleasant weather of Southern California turns even better with the coming of spring, one rule should apply: Stairmasters, begone.

And that goes for stationary bikes and treadmills, staples of the health clubs dotting the landscape. The clubs are good for winter, when the days are shorter and the forecasts actually include a chance of rain. But now there’s no excuse for staying indoors in the quest for a little exercise. Besides, if you choose the right spot, the opportunities for people-watching expand dramatically.

And so I chose the Rose Bowl as a destination. And I chose walking as my exercise. When I lived in Orange County years ago, I used to think of the Rose Bowl only as a place for football games, with tailgate parties and clogged streets surrounding the stadium.

But now that I live just one town away, I’ve discovered it’s much more than that. On any given day, but particularly on the weekend, the Rose Bowl complex is home to a slew of people bent on exercising in one of the most scenic settings in Southern California. Nestled at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, the bowl is surrounded by greenery, playing fields, an aquatics center and a golf course. The standing joke is that televised scenes of the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day are the reason a lot of people in chillier climes pack their bags and head west.

I’d been cycling over for a while, first making the three-mile loop around the stadium and golf course, then settling in for a few innings of the high-quality baseball that is played each Sunday at Jackie Robinson Field, adjacent to the bowl, before pedaling home. The field is home to the Pasadena Redbirds, one of the premier teams of the Los Angeles County adult league.

But on this day, I drove, only to find that I’d chosen the day of the Rose Bowl Flea Market (held the second Sunday of every month). That translated into thousands of extra people either looking to make a buck or find a bargain; the parking lot was nearly full when I pulled in.

Most of us walk at least a little bit each day, but not enough. Serious walking, though, has become a popular form of exercise, particularly for those of us in the 50-plus crowd. Walkers are a common sight at the Rose Bowl, many of them pushing strollers or exercising a dog. Although walking isn’t an exercise that is going to burn off calories by the truckload, it does produce benefits.

According to Medlineplus, an online service of the National Library of Medicine, regular, brisk walking--meaning with purpose and exertion--gives you more energy, reduces stress, tones muscles and helps control appetite. Further, walking can be done most anywhere and the cost is limited to how much you want to spend on a pair of shoes. It should also be done with arms swinging, chin up and shoulders held slightly back. The Web site recommends a nine-week program designed to gradually increase walking time for the beginner from 15 minutes to 40.

I clicked on my heart-rate monitor as I made my way past the first stalls of the flea market, where vendors were selling everything from used shoes to furniture. One seller, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was offering ancient washing machines similar to the one my mother used when I was a child--the kind with a wringer sitting atop it.

“I had this one guy come up and ask me what it was,” said the vendor to another as I passed.

Soon, the flea market was behind me and the Brookside golf course loomed ahead. I checked my heart-rate monitor and it was at 112, well within my optimal zone for exercise. I picked up the pace a little as cyclists of various stripe zipped past me. Runners, some of them just a gear above my own pace, inched by. And other walkers, going in the opposite direction, discussed children, romance and the general state of the world. At least that’s what it sounded like, given the snippets of overheard conversation.

At about the 30-minute mark, I was halfway around the course, feeling the slightest twinge in my left leg, which went under the knife seven years ago. I also found myself studying the strokes of the various golfers on the course, marveling at the incredibly wide range of styles. (Perhaps the golfers were looking out at me and wondering why I was walking without adding something more challenging to the mix--like sand traps and doglegs.)

Near the course clubhouse, an in-line skater cruised by me at a speed I’m sure would challenge even some cyclists. And then, a few minutes later, I began seeing some familiar faces--those who were making the circuit again. One was a very serious-looking young woman with sweat streaming off her face. Another was a jogger, and a third was a woman strolling with her golden retriever.

When I reached the end of the circuit, I switched off my heart-rate monitor and checked the results. The walk around the Rose Bowl, at a moderate pace, had taken about an hour. Of that hour, I had been in my optimum zone for more than 58 minutes, burning, according to the monitor, a modest 504 calories.

I was torn for a moment, having never been inside the Rose Bowl flea market. But it was Mother’s Day, so I headed for the car and lunch with several generations of my family. But not without a quick look to see how the baseball game was going at Jackie Robinson Field.

*

Snapshot:

Walking

Duration of activity: 1 hour, 33 seconds

Calories burned*: 504

Heart rate*: Average, 113 beats per minute

Time in target zone*: 58 minutes, 32 seconds

*This information was obtained using a heart-rate monitor. Time in the target heart-rate zone is a measure of the intensity of the workout. Target zone varies based on age, individual heart rate.

*

J. Michael Kennedy can be reached at [email protected].