Day after soreness...

Sunday, September 16, 2012
When I took my first steps of the morning, I knew I wouldn’t be riding that day.  Yesterday’s ride had been a little too much time in the saddle after two months of sporadic riding.  I also knew I couldn’t run since the achilles continues to ache and I don’t want to inflame it just before heading back to the Adirondacks, but I had to do something.  I headed for the Mayfield track with a plan bubbling.

I began with push-ups, dips and crunches before moving into the bleachers for a set of 10 repeats.  I tried alternating my jog pace up the steps with climbing two steps at a time, but at a walk pace.  I found this to be slightly faster, which meant slightly harder and also seemed to be easier on the achilles.  After the tenth repeat, I returned to the track with the intention of jogging a half mile, but after one lap the achilles soreness had me abandoning that plan.  I did my second set of push-ups and dips and then did another 10 sets in the bleachers.  One more set of calesthenics followed by a final set in the bleachers had me sweating heavily and satisfied that I’d done a decent workout the day after a four-hour ride.

Holly and I went to the park later in the afternoon and did a one-hour hike and when we returned, I sat down with my trail map and guide book and began laying out what I hoped to climb if I ended up going alone.  John and I were planning an aggressive day bagging a couple of the toughest peaks in the Adirondacks and I saw no reason to alter that objective.  I tentatively planned a route that, with luck, could have me climbing four of the 46 peaks over 4,000 feet.  When I’ve planned this kind of aggressive day in the past, I tend to bite off more than I can chew.  I know I have the conditioning to do it, but don’t know if I have the time.  The trail would be about 12 miles with over 5,000 feet of elevation change and probably take ten hours to complete.  The weather will have to be perfect and the trail conditions optimal if I’m to get it done.  At the very least, I hope to climb two this Friday before Donnie joins me.  If I get it done, I’ll have no trouble sleeping that night.

Bleacher/Survival Workout: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120-150.
Calories burned:  675.