I met Savannah in the park for a Survival Workout. Both of us were interested in getting in some work that would prepare us for climbing in the Adirondacks, so I warned her that we’d be doing some extra hill work. We started with the normal routine before heading down the trail and broke for an Indian Run into the woods before getting to our second workout station where I introduced her to my new and improved squat thrust move.
“You drop into the normal squat-thrust position, but then do a push-up before bear crawling between your hands in the ‘up’ position. I do five steps, then another push-up before standing. Five repeats in 60 seconds is the goal,” I explained.
She watched me do a couple and then joined in. Her repeats were slower, but she did them all. From there, we were heading up the hill karaoke style.
“If I karaoke up the hill, I think I’m going to puke. Those squats were really tough,” she said.
I didn’t want her puking on me, so I agreed. We walked it rapidly though and our hearts were pounding by the top. I warned her that we should be coming up with packs and doing more of the same though I was going to go to a part of the Adirondacks where we’d only have to hike in about a mile to camp. Still, I needed to know I could carry fifty pounds that far and would be trying out the knee in the coming weeks to be sure. We made our way to the swing set where I watched her climb before deciding maybe it was time for me to test the cortisone-laced elbow. It had been three weeks since the injection and I wanted to know where I stood. I found out quickly once I began to climb.
“It’s not quite right,” I said as I hit the ground.
“I think you’re pretty stupid for trying,” she said.
“Stoopid is as stoopid does,” I replied in my best Forrest Gump. And that’s all I had to say about that.
From there, I had her hopping up a series of four steps behind the pavilion for sixty seconds and then we headed for the steepest climb in the park. Ninety seconds later we were on top and gasping for air.
“Three trips up that hill will have you ready for about anything,” I said but knew one trip was all we’d be doing today.
We finished the workout with standard lifts, but I incorporated two more sets of squat thrusts. They were becoming my new favorite because they worked my lactate system while incorporating muscular endurance…tough, but what a conditioner.
I received a call from my cousin Donnie later that evening to let me know our Uncle Jack had died. He’d been a lifetime smoker and lung cancer had been his demise. He was only 75. I knew there was a trip to the North Country in my immediate future for his funeral.
Survival Workout: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150.
Calories burned: 600.
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