By ANGELA ASSAF
cnlife@crescent-news.com
It's an all too common scenario.
A man on the foothills of middle age goes in to see his doctor and finds that despite his vigorous appearance his health is less than stellar.
That's exactly what happened to Pat Weber for whom death by cardiac arrest was almost a given in his family.
So when his physician, Dr. Robert Southworth, prescribed that he walk two miles in 30 minutes every day, he took the advice to heart and began walking for health with the challenge of beating the odds.
As the years have flown his pulse rate has dropped to around 50. He has also lowered his cholesterol and as an added bonus he's lost 35 pounds and his triglycerides are at an acceptable level.
"I feel confident that walking has done it for me," says Weber, a former co-owner of Defiance Memorial with Floyd Melia. "I don't think that I would have made it to age 75 without doing it."
Weber started out slowly.
"You can't start out doing a fast paced walk like that," he says. "Once I got into it, I walked every day and gradually worked myself up."
Weber has covered 24,000 miles over the 34 years that he's been walking. That amounts to traveling around the world three times.
He logs roughly 710 miles a year (he takes off 20 miles for the four days he misses during the year for inclement weather or for traveling.)
No fancy high performance wear for this walk about.
He prefers to do his workout in street clothes and his blue plaid topper designated his "to hell and back" hat.
In fact the only thing sporty about Weber are his New Balance tennis shoes. He burns through a new pair about every nine months. "I know that I need new ones when my knees start to be bother me."
Although Weber does have a treadmill in his basement (for bad weather days), he dreads using it. "I'd rather be outside and see something," he says.
"When I go walking I see things that I would not normally notice riding in a car. I see how the trees change with the seasons, who is growing flowers, who keeps up their home -- and who doesn't."
He does not exempt himself from walking while on vacation. Where others are trolling the beach he can be found kicking up sand with his fast paced gait. He says the beaches in South Carolina are long and the sand is hard making it a breeze to walk on. However the beaches in Florida, where the sand is fluffy, give his legs a real workout.
Quite often while he is on foot he is also deep in prayer.
"I'm never closer to Jesus than when I'm out walking. I take my worries with me sometimes when I go and by the time I return they're gone. Jesus walked the entire time he was on the earth."
After all these years Weber has stayed the same course. He leaves his home on Latty St. and walks up to Jefferson Ave., then over to Second St. At other times he walks to Riverside Cemetery.
Having grown up on Wayne Ave., the streets hold many memories for Weber; his wife, Marian, lived one street behind him on Latty St., back when they were kids.
He recalls, "I would run up our stairs to the window to watch for her coming through the woods, then go walk with her to school.
"My father would joke with me and ask, 'Who's the little red head you're always walking with?'"
After 55 years of marriage she is still walking with him.
"Marian walks with me in the summer, but she doesn't like the cold weather. Sometimes she walks with me in the mall.
"There are a lot of people who walk at the mall. I think it's a great idea," he adds. "Sometimes I meet up with my good friend, Nelson Hahn, and walk with him."
Weber has always led a fairly active lifestyle. Back when he was a Scout Master for the St. Mary's troop he used to go on hikes with the scouts.
He was a carrier for The Crescent-News back when the routes were far and wide. (He had 152 customers in all.)
What does his family think about all his walking ?
"They say it's a good idea and a lot of them have started doing it," he says. "There are still a few who I would like to see start, but so far they haven't. They do have stressful jobs, but that's all the more reason to do it. Perhaps they haven't had their wake-up call."
Weber says his awakening occurred when his two brothers, both under 50, had heart attacks.
"It was a real shocker. Dirg was 49, and Max was 43. That got me to thinking that I better do something to stop the flow."
He also has two nephews who were both in their 50s when they had their first heart attacks. Heart problems also tend to run in his wife's family who has already lost two sisters and a brother to heart related health issues while in their mid 50-60s.
"I can't say that I was careless about my health previously, but I didn't watch what I ate either. My wife and I have made some changes in our diet as well."
As with any long-term beneficial lifestyle change he says, in the early stages of his behavior modification plan, he often had to talk himself into go walking. Especially after a long day's work at the office or on the road. "It was harder back when I worked. I would walk in the evenings after supper."
Nowadays Weber does his walking early -- when the dew or frost is still on the grass, but his routine is not set in stone.
"When I wake up in the morning, I say to myself, it's not a matter of 'if' I'm going to walk today, it's a matter of 'when.'"