Time to do the Appalachian Trail?

Saturday, January 14, 2012
Though I have been cutting back somewhat on my Survival Workout to try and ease the pain in my right arm below the biceps, I’ve been unsuccessful.  I do less and the arm gets more sore.  Still…I started the workout in four inches of new powder with a new push-up pr of 94.  I tried to do my log lift, but it hurt and I dropped it.  I did manage my dips without pain, though.

I found my rocks frozen to the earth again and they were much heavier when I broke them loose because the turf came along for the ride.  I was able to do overhead lifts, but the biceps and rowing motions were out.  I knocked out 87 push-ups on my second set and 80 for the final to crush my 3-set pr, pushing it from 249 to 261.

I knew I needed to burn more calories once home and hopped on the trainer for a longer ride.  I began searching through Netflix and locked in on a National Geographic special about the Appalachian Trail (AT).  I know many people who have walked portions of the trail, a 2,184 mile ribbon running from Springer Mt. in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.  It passes through 14 states along the way. 

Much of the AT is through trees and has been referred to as ‘the Green Corridor’.  Though it does go through and over the Great Smokey Mountains and climbs the Whites of New Hampshire and Mt. Washington’s 6,288 foot elevation where the strongest winds on the planet have been recorded, I have never been attracted to it because so many of its miles are without views.  Watching the program though made the ride easy and had me thinking that someday maybe I should challenge myself to be a thru-hiker…someone who attempts the entire trail in a single season.  I like these kinds of goals…something that would keep me focused and training for a long time and had so much to offer along the way.  It would take upwards of 5 months to complete which kind of means I’d have to be retired, so I don’t see it happening anytime soon…and I’d need a partner because that’s a little too much time with only me for company. 

I suppose I’d really like to walk the Pacific Coast Trail first, but the National Geographic didn’t do a story on that.

Survival Workout: 45 minutes.  Bike duration: 75 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150 for SW and 120 for the bike.
Calories burned:  450 for SW, 1050 for the bike.