"Is that really you?"

Saturday, August 20, 2011

It’s been 43 years since I’ve had to deal with poison ivy. I suppose I should consider that a remarkable accomplishment when considering how much time I spend in places it thrives. I’d contracted it as a young teen and had it so badly on my face that one of my eyes was swollen shut. This time I figured it would blister in a couple of spots, dry up and go away. Wrong. It’s been 8 days since I first touched it and everyday since I’ve had it pop out someplace new. Well…something else to whine about.

Holly and I went to the park first thing in the morning…her to walk and me for the Survival Workout. We headed off the trail in opposite directions…which completely confused Dakota. I called her to come with me, but she waited and watched as Holly disappeared from sight. I was feeling a little discomfort in my right elbow…a result of the strain from the pull-ups. Wisely, I laid off after 7, but it nagged me throughout the workout. I returned to the car in an hour to find that Holly had not finished so I headed up the trail she had taken, walking a steep hill before returning to the car without her. She’s so time challenged that telling her I’d be done in a hour was meaningless. She’d be back when she’d be back.

We returned home to chores. I elected to build the mailbox Holly had been asking me to make, figuring if I did this good deed, I’d be clear to ride my bike later. It worked to perfection and I was riding by late afternoon. I’d decided to take the same course I’d done the day before, but easier. I worked on spinning at a higher rate…riding in an easier gear and turning the pedals faster to make up the speed I lost to the gear shift. It’s supposed to save some wear and tear on the legs and is particularly beneficial to the triathlete who needs to run after a hard ride. I rode this way as I approached the 1-hour mark on the course only to realize I was getting there about 3 minutes faster than I had the day before…and I was supposed to be tired. I finished the ride strongly, riding it two minutes faster than I ever had before and feeling pretty good about the day. I did my quick clean-up in the neighbor’s pool again so that Holly, Heidi, and I could return to the Palace for a showing of ‘The Big Chill’. Heidi elected to skip the movie and went to the Starbucks across the street where we met her after the movie. She had her laptop out and I asked her to show me some of the pictures she’d shot of the Survival Workout from the week before. With Holly watching over my shoulder, she pulled they up. “Who’s that guy with all the muscles in that picture,” Holly asked. It was me…and not that muscular…but more than she was used to seeing since I was in the middle of straining to complete a lift. “It’s me. Did you think she’d photo shopped my head onto someone’s body?” She looked at the picture again and pulled back the sleeve on my t-shirt. “Make a muscle,” she said. So I did. “Hmmm…guess it is you,” she concluded.

Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Bike workout: 1 hour and 43 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm for workout, 130 biking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 for survival workout. 1,500 biking.