Iowa Waffles and Back to Basics

Thursday, September 30, 2010

I told Ash we’d go to the park with Ollie, her three year old, and just do some walking around and hit the duck pond…that kind of stuff. Instead, I was scheming to take her to the site of the ‘Back to Basics’ survival workout and introduce her to a couple of the stages we follow when doing the routine. I brought her by the old Girl Scout cabins and did a demonstration with the rock we carry and press overhead. Then we moved to the picnic table where, after demonstrating what she needed to do, had her jumping up on the bench, to the table and down the other side for the next 60 seconds. She kept trying to stop for this reason and that, but I wouldn’t allow it…using my best drill sergeant voice to keep her moving. I had her climb the hill, which found her slipping in shoes with little grip. I didn’t care…I was in my element and pushing a not-completely-willing victim.

We did a couple of more things…like walking the line and climbing the swing set (total failure – no upper body strength) before heading for the duck pond. Ash said she was surprised at how much she felt the little we’d done in her quads. I explained how the intensity of such short bursts of power moves taxes the muscles so much more than the slower, more rhythmic movements of endurance exercise. She was intrigued…though I won’t go so far as to say ‘hooked’.

I’d already done my run for the day. Once again I was feeling confident that all would go well and determined to go further than I’d done since I’d started running again. This was only my fourth run and I was already at the same pace I’d been running when I’d stopped over eight weeks ago. Clearly, my training during that time off from running had been sufficient to maintain almost all of my running fitness. I did the same loop I’d done on Monday when I’d run 32 minutes, but found myself at the end of the trail almost two minutes faster than I’d run it on Monday. I ran past the car and onto another trail logging six more minutes. I walked a couple of minutes to the car to test the hip and found it to still be sound. I’m thinking I’ll try another week following this pattern before returning to the level I’d reached before injuring the hip. I have come to the conclusion that it was not running that caused the injury, but more likely the intense workouts I did at the track alternating between time in the bleachers with sixty pounds on my back and running fast miles in between bleacher sets. For now…I extremely pleased with the progress.

Holly wasn’t going to be around for dinner…so that meant it was in my hands. My craving for sweets continues, so I decided to have dessert for dinner…waffles. I have this fantastic recipe given to me by a friend from a pig farm in Iowa (if you didn’t already, you now know that the best waffles in the world come from pig farms in Iowa…but that’s another story) and relish the chance to make them. Ash and Ollie were in, but Jack…who is weird…said he didn’t like waffles. I whipped them up and with Ash and Ollie moaning with delight after tasting them, Jack asked for a couple. I sat down and smothered mine in butter and REAL maple syrup (none of that fake Log Cabin shit for me…though that’s all I’ll give the kids. At $40 a gallon…can you blame me?) I ate 5 pieces and could have had more, but I’m disciplining myself (some might call it gorging – tomato…tomahto…whatever).

Tomorrow is going to be tricky. It’s Heidi’s birthday and we’re having a big gathering for dinner, so I have to figure out how to squeeze in a run before coming home. It’s the only way and I want to keep moving forward…or back to where I was eight weeks ago.

Run duration: 36 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.