Hike 56

Saturday, April 16, 2011

My phone was vibrating with a text from John by 9 a.m. He’d been telling me all week that Saturday was supposed to be horrible weather and that we should re-schedule the ride for Monday afternoon. I was determined to do the triathlon on Saturday – weather permitting. A year ago, he’d given me endless shit for not riding in the snow because he’d just bought some new gear that he’d wanted to try out. Funny how things change. I called him back instead of texting. “I’ve got blue skies and no rain here…what’s your problem?” He sputtered some before answering, “it’s supposed to rain this afternoon and the wind’s blowing so hard we might end up in Kansas.”

He had a point about the wind. It was gusting up to 50 mph and as every experienced rider knows…it’s always in your face. I told him I’d go for my ‘Hike 56’ and do the kayaking and then see what was going on with the weather regarding our 56-mile ride. He seemed placated and I got Dakota and headed for the Metropark.

Since I knew I wouldn’t be running, I’d decided to change that leg of the triathlon to a survival workout hike. We started into the woods, immediately descending into a gorge. The going was quite slippery from the overnight rains…and the drizzle that had begun to fall. I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, but had packed my rain jacket in my day pack and slung it over my back. A good deal more effort is expended trying to climb out of steep gorges when your feet are slipping on wet leaves and mud…and your dog thinks she should grab and shake the other end of any stick you’re holding to help you climb.

My plan was to do 56 push-ups, 56 crunches, step-ups in sets of 56 and to lift heavy rocks and dirty logs to totals of 56 as I traveled up and down through the gorges surrounding the marsh. There are so many good things to be done with a heavy jog…I was discovering ways to work the core, upper back, shoulders, quads, hips and the muscles of the arms that I hadn’t previously figured out. By the time I reached Snowman’s Ridge, my upper body was pretty exhausted, so I dropped to the ground under a pine tree to avoid some of the precipitation and did my crunches. After climbing to my feet and brushing some of the debris from my clothes, I hoisted a thirty pound rock to my chest and proceeded to push it overhead for my last set of shoulder presses. When I’d struggled to raise it the final time, I tossed it to the ground. To my shock, it hit something small and hard and launched it back at my face. In the split second before impact, I was lucky enough to close my eye, but it smashed nicely on the lid and brow causing me to see stars…and thank them…that it hadn’t come in about a quarter of an inch lower. I may have to start wearing safety goggles on future trips.

We returned to the car after about 90 minutes of hiking, stepping and working out. My upper body was so tired that I struggled to get my arms over my head to strip off my dirty shirt for a clean one. The rain was pelting hard at this point and I knew the rest of the day would be lost to the weather. Once again, I would have to hope for better weather and try to do the triathlon on Monday. I think John was right…I should have been born in June if I was going to expect good weather for a birthday triathlon in Northeast Ohio.

Survival Workout duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,000