Fitness Update 2 - or is it 3, maybe 4
Nothing major to report, but I do have a couple of observations. My weight is stable – wish it was going down but at least it’s not going up. I’ve been hitting the gym two to three times a week for several months, which is my goal. I took a week off after surgery and another for my recent vacation.
The vacay fitness plan was interesting. I went on two multi-mile barefoot beach walks in Virginia and a multi-mile hike in the mountains of western North Carolina. The hike was on mostly groomed trails with some sloping ascent and descent. Some of the terrain was rocky but not too difficult.
If you’ve been following along, you know I have a dream of hiking into Grand Canyon. I know I’ll need to be in great shape to do that and I learned during my moderate NC hike that I have a long way to go to be fit enough for the Bright Angel Trail. At the end of my hike I was not sore; just a little ache in each calf that went away the next day. I was fine on uphill rocks and stairs but very tentative and unsure on downhill rocks. I was also paranoid on wet rock. I was never out of breath at any point BUT during the final mile or two, which was mostly gentle uphill, my heart rate spiked three different times and I had to stop for a minute or two each time. That concerned me.
The slightly embarrassing mystery is that my hiking partner, a 40-year-old smoker who claimed to be out of shape, never really had to stop. I think she was just being nice by not pushing me too hard. Maybe I should take up smoking.
I’m a little tired from working out at the gym awhile ago, so I’ll stop now. Working this keyboard is pretty strenuous. Totally joking about that last part.
The vacay fitness plan was interesting. I went on two multi-mile barefoot beach walks in Virginia and a multi-mile hike in the mountains of western North Carolina. The hike was on mostly groomed trails with some sloping ascent and descent. Some of the terrain was rocky but not too difficult.
If you’ve been following along, you know I have a dream of hiking into Grand Canyon. I know I’ll need to be in great shape to do that and I learned during my moderate NC hike that I have a long way to go to be fit enough for the Bright Angel Trail. At the end of my hike I was not sore; just a little ache in each calf that went away the next day. I was fine on uphill rocks and stairs but very tentative and unsure on downhill rocks. I was also paranoid on wet rock. I was never out of breath at any point BUT during the final mile or two, which was mostly gentle uphill, my heart rate spiked three different times and I had to stop for a minute or two each time. That concerned me.
The slightly embarrassing mystery is that my hiking partner, a 40-year-old smoker who claimed to be out of shape, never really had to stop. I think she was just being nice by not pushing me too hard. Maybe I should take up smoking.
I’m a little tired from working out at the gym awhile ago, so I’ll stop now. Working this keyboard is pretty strenuous. Totally joking about that last part.
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