I went to the park to do a run with the thought that it would be slow. Humidity was still in the tropical rain forest range and my motivation was ebbing. I’m approaching the end of my ‘season’, which for me is typically climbing in the Adirondacks in the fall, and I’m ready. There is some uncertainty as to how much I’ll be doing based on whether John can come and if he can, what he’ll be able to do. I don’t think we’ll set any hiking records though. He recovers quickly...lots of practice...but there is just so much you can do after the crash he’s been through.
I slogged off and almost stopped and returned to the car after a couple of minutes...I was that far out of it. I pressed on though and managed 35 minutes of sweaty running. I returned to the car and thought about stopping at the track to do some bleacher work. I was undecided right up to the point that I parked my car outside the stadium and began walking towards it. I could see the football team practicing on the field and a number of people on the track observing. As I walked towards the gate, an unidentified person who I assumed was part of the construction crew told me the track was still under construction. I’m guessing he saw my outfit from the run and figured I was there to use the track. Players, coaches and spectators could trample all over it, but my two feet somehow were not welcome. At that point, I knew I’d be going in.
I looked him in the eye and said nothing, walking for the bleachers. There was someone sitting in them and I figured if anyone wanted me out, they’d have to catch me. The construction worker with the gut was not the man for the job.
I managed to do 16 sets in 10 minutes, pushing my heart rate to 180. No one bothered me, which is as it should have been. The construction job was done as evidenced by the presence of the football squad on the field, so why hassle the voters whose tax dollars supported this project in the first place? Oh well...maybe I’m just a little sensitive.
I returned home completely whipped. I’d done a walk with Holly that morning and the combination of the bleachers and running had left my legs wobbly. I called Don and asked him to come over to eat spaghetti and watch ‘Inning Seven’ of the baseball documentary by Ken Burns. He agreed and we ate large quantities of pasta and garlic toast which we washed down with a fruit smoothie. It was a great segment, covering baseball’s golden era of the fifties when blacks had finally been allowed to play and New York teams, the Giants, Dodgers and Yankees dominated play. Outstanding footage of the greats...Willie, Mickey and the Duke, were mixed in with Abbott and Costello’s famous ‘Who’s on first’ routine and made it the best segment we’d seen yet. It surely had me aching for the old neighborhood, backyard baseball and the care-free times of a childhood growing up on Debra Lane, Bristol, Ct.
Run/Bleacher Duration: 45 minutes. Hike Duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140-180 running, 80 hiking.
Calories burned during workout: 850 running, 300 hiking.
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