John arrived at my place right on time at 9 a.m. We were going to Mayfield’s bleachers to do some repeats in preparation for our upcoming trip to the Adirondacks in mid-September. He’s slowly working his way back into shape on the bike, riding an hour a day when he can. We both know that as good as biking is, it’s not a substitute for weight-bearing exercise when getting ready to do some rugged climbs. A recent MRI showed three bulges in the spinal column of his lower back and thus the pain he’s been experiencing there for a number of years. All that meant to me is that he’d be whining more than usual when we were climbing and that he’d likely bring pictures of it to show people so they’d know why he was whining and how tough he was.
“Dude…I’m not going to let it stop me, but I’ll probably have trouble sleeping on the ground,” he said.
“Lance would still go…and he wouldn’t whine,” I said.
By the way, I’ll be addressing the ‘Lance’ thing later. Let me just say that John and I are still believers and that nothing has changed regarding his case. There is still no physical evidence that he ever used performance enhancing drugs and it is still a fact that he passed over 300 tests during his competitive career and that all were clean, which is the primary reason he has decided to quit fighting. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency doesn’t feel this is good enough, saying they have 10 witnesses that will testify they either saw him using something or heard that he had. Solid stuff, I’m sure. I wonder if anyone other than me thinks it’s odd that the tests that caught the cheaters testifying against Lance, identifying banned drugs in their systems that those cheaters say he was using in the same races, didn’t detect any in him when he was checked at the same time…and during the same races. Hmm. Well, USADA says witnesses caught cheating are more reliable than the tests Lance was given and I’m sure, like any government agency, it knows what it’s doing and will not be led astray or confused by the facts or such silly evidence. John is always quoting a mafia movie where the head gangster, when questioned about a fact he has stated says, “I know because I said I know.” I think it fits.
We reached the bleachers and were warned by a crew leader working on the track that we may be asked to leave by the Construction Foreman because the site was still in progress. Yes…they were out on the track putting down the surface and yes, they were putting grass seed down in different areas, but for all intents and purposes, the stadium was done. Apologetically, the crew lead said he was just passing it along. It was a hard hat area, he said, though he wasn’t wearing one.
“Geez…do you feel safe? Out there in the middle of the track there’s all kinds of construction stuff falling that might hit you in the head,” I said.
He laughed and continued applying the new track surface. I voiced concerns about whether the public would be barred from using the facility after its completion. Though I doubted it since our tax dollars and support of school levies make these venues possible, I’d surely head for a school board meeting to voice my opinion if it did.
We started up the first aisle of steps at a jogging clip. Forty-three steps later, we were on the top and beginning to perspire. At least I was. We descended, moved over an aisle and headed up again. We hit every aisle and then came back and by the time we’d done 15 sets, John’s heart rate was topping 180 and we’d been going 10 minutes. My plan was to do finish there and head for the Metroparks where we’d hike and add some tough hill climbs. I was thinking of John’s back and our trip to the Adirondacks when I’d laid it out, thinking the less pounding he did on his back, the better. He needed some weight-bearing exercise, but just enough to get his legs ready while staying healthy. He had other ideas…and they’re usually foolish.
“That was pretty tough…but not a complete workout. We need to do more,” he said
“You sure? I know you feel good now because you’re all warmed up, but tomorrow’s what I’m worried about,” I said. Besides, I had my knee to think about and didn’t want to overdo it, either.
“Yeah…let’s do some more,” he said.
So I led the charge. He commented after 5 more that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea, but I wasn’t letting him off the hook now. We went down and back again and were around 25 sets.
“Well…maybe we should do thirty since we’re almost there,” I said over my shoulder. He was lagging about 5 steps behind me now and not nearly so chipper.
I didn’t wait for an answer…just kept climbing. He followed. When I finished 30 sets and noticed I was still a couple of minutes from having 20 minutes in, I decided to keep climbing. We ended up doing 32 sets. I was drenched…he was perspiring mildly.
We drove to the park and I had him do some of my reverse plank push-ups. His form sucked since his upper body strength was gone. He grabbed the pull-up branch and squeezed out two, but failed on an attempt for his third.
“Man…you’re upper body is for shit,” I said. I’m always trying to encourage him.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” he said.
We headed down the trail and karaoked up the big hill. If he wasn’t already tired, that kicked his butt. It always does…for everyone. We climbed a second, steeper hill behind the pavilion and finished by just hiking easily back to the car. John had wanted to run during the workout, but I’d held him back. He in better shape than he thinks from the riding and so wants to do more, but if he won’t protect his back, I will. I need him with me in September to climb the peaks I want to climb, so I have to keep him healthy, in spite of himself.
I spent the afternoon watching and photographing rugby for Jason. It was in the mid-90’s and sunny and by the end of two hours of that, I was drained. I was still thinking I needed a day off, but since I didn’t have time or the inclination to ride out and pick up the Jeep, I figured I’d do it tomorrow…but slowly.
Bleacher workout: 20 minutes. Hike workout: 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 150 in the bleachers, 80-120 hiking.
Calories burned: 350 in the bleachers, 250 hiking.
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