Bleacher work.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

It was scorching hot when I arrived at the park for what I figured to be a ‘hiking and steps with the pack’ day. I’d been sweating at work all day and was feeling entirely drained. I was trying to pump myself up in the parking lot to do the hike, but little voices kept telling me to go home and rest and maybe do it later. I wasn’t going to give in until I came up with a plan to visit the high school track and bleachers after the movie Holly and I were planning to see. By then it would be cool and the bleachers are a good replica of the strain I put on the legs when climbing trails with a pack in the Adirondacks. I headed home.

The movie, ‘Back-up Plan’ with Jennifer Lopez, was pretty silly and only mildly entertaining. I’m okay with chick flicks if they have some substance, but this one did not. I invited Holly to join me at the track as we drove home, but she didn’t think walking in the dark on the track or in the bleachers was for her. I changed and headed to the high school at 10 p.m.

I passed a squad car just outside the track parking area and feared he’d give me a hard time. He didn’t and I put on my pack and headed for the bleachers.

There are 46 steps to the top with each step 9 inches tall. I did seven sets to begin and the thighs were talking to me by the end. I walked out onto the track and timed myself for a half mile. I was walking 16-minute miles, which is pretty good considering I had 60 pounds strapped to my back. After two laps, I headed back to the bleachers and did two more sets before returning to the track for another lap. I continued this pattern for a total of two miles on the track and 20 sets of steps in the bleachers. I guess I climbed around 700 feet by the time I’d completed the workout, which is very comparable to what I will have to do when heading into my base camp in the Adirondacks. And I was whipped, but I wasn’t done.

I’d been wondering how fast I’ve been running on the trails, but there is no good way to know when you don’t have mile markers…which I don’t have off-trail. I figured I’d run a mile at the conclusion of my pack workout and see where I was. As I settled onto the bench next to the track and unloaded the pack, stood up and walked onto the track, I seriously wondered about the wisdom of my decision to try and run. My legs didn’t feel connected to my hips – not unusual after an hour of climbing with a pack when you haven’t been doing it. Oh…what the hell. I set my reset the stop watch and started out at a comfortable jog pace.

After 100 yards, my legs were feeling pretty good and I thought it would work out. I couldn’t see my watch – there were no lights on the track – so I didn’t try to check my split as I finished the first lap. I tried to run a moderate pace…like the effort I’d be making in the parks. I didn’t want to push and get an inaccurate picture of how hard or far I was running. I finished the mile feeling pretty good and knowing I could have done more in a time of 8:15. It’s nice to have a baseline on my running and to know that I could have gone considerably faster had that been my goal and if I hadn’t done the workout first. It’s a long way from the pace I would have run when racing in my 30’s, but I’ve still got 15 pounds to lose.

This was a good night because I proved to myself that I can put off the workout until late at night and not blow it off entirely. It was so much cooler, the high 70’s, which makes so much more sense than the 90’s from earlier in the day. I also enjoy going to the track and incorporating variety, such as using the bleachers. It keeps it interesting. I’m anxious to see how sore I’m going to be tomorrow.

Hike duration: 54 minutes. Run duration: 8 minutes

Training Heart Rate: 100-130 with the pack.

Calories burned during workout: 650.