Eating - bad...exercising - good.

Monday, April 30, 2012


Red Maple Inn provides a nice spread for their continental breakfast.  I grabbed a container of yogurt, scrambled eggs, sausage, and a large bagel which I washed down with a couple of cups of coffee I had polluted with Sweet and Low and some flavored creamer stuff.  It’s hard to judge just how many eggs you have when you’re scooping from a chafing dish, and I always seem to approach these types of meals like I may not see food for a week-loading my plate to overflowing.  What is my issue?  I mean…if I was still hungry, I could go back and get more.  Well…I never seem to figure that out.

Following my breakfast gorging, we drove to Headwaters Park…the East Branch Reservoir and headwaters of the Cuyahoga River and a place I frequent with my kayak.  It’s a pretty setting with beautiful trails along the west bank of the reservoir and a place where you will often spot Bald Eagles, since they have a nest at the northern end of the reservoir.  It is also one of the few places where you can pitch a tent and camp and they even have a lean-to with a fireplace…which is almost like the Marriott.
Holly and I hiked from one end to the other and back, taking about 85 minutes. 

We returned to the hotel with the intention that she would have a spa experience…doing her nails, using the Jacuzzi, and generally pampering herself…while I returned to the Park and ran.  I was sure I had the better deal…until I started running.  The hiking had taken the zip from my legs…and I don’t have that much zip in the first place.  Still…I managed to reach our hiking turn-around in less than half the time it had taken to hike there…so I must have picked it up along the way.  I ended up adding an extra loop and making it a 50-minute run…all the while thinking I could eat damn near anything I wanted for dinner and not gain an ounce.

I returned to the hotel, showered and we headed to The Welshfield Inn for dinner.  If you got there before 6 p.m. they served a discounted menu…targeting seniors and their lighter appetites, I suppose.  That wasn’t me.  I had a huge burger for $5…which was a good deal except that I needed more food and so ordered a salad…which was also $5.  I should have ordered two burgers and been done with it. 
We returned to the hotel and did a walk around picturesque Burton Square…something I consider essential if I’m to stay awake after a big meal.  In all, I’d say calories in and calories out were close to break even.

Hike duration:  Two hours.  Run duration: 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate:  75 hiking and 140 for the run.
Calories burned during workout:  600 for the hiking and 850 for the run.