Thursday, May 2, 2013

Picture perfect weather in an amazing park...

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

It was an absolutely gorgeous spring evening with the temperature hovering around 70 and sunny, clear blue skies overhead.  I needed a good Survival Workout, but thought I’d have the time to back it up with a decent bike ride.  Then I got an email from Holly suggesting we do a hike.  I bagged the ride idea, but told her to meet me at the park allowing enough time to put myself through a hard workout.

Which I did.  I managed 22 upper body stations, including two swing set climbs.  It’s been nine months since I injured my elbow on the very swing set I was now spitting on my hands and poised to climb.  I’m tired of not doing things because of it and since it never seems to heal, what the hell?  I climbed easily to the top and dropped to the ground.  After 30 seconds, I spit on my hands again and returned to the top.  I thought about a third climb, but figured no point in pushing my luck.  The remainder of the workout was tiring and I suffered from a parched throat as I gasped for air from my efforts.  I really should carry a bottle of water for these things…it makes it so much more palatable.

Holly arrived with Dakota who was returning for her first trip to the park since getting sick.  She was bouncing around like a puppy and thrilled to be there.  Holly…not as much.  We walked up a steep trail and she was quickly looking for a place to perch her butt.  The log I selected had too much green mold, so she sat on her hands as she tried to catch her breath.  We rested a couple of minutes before again proceeding uphill.  Near the top, she spotted a more appropriate fallen tree and actually laid down on it.  It was a beast and as she rested, I stepped it off at more than 100 feet long.  It had fallen recently and must have made quite a noise throughout the park.

We managed only 30 minutes of walking, but it was peaceful with all the sounds of the song birds and the buds forming on all the trees.  I didn’t ride, but I did take a great deal of value from time in the woods with my wife and my serenity.

Survival Workout:  60 minutes.  Hike duration:  30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate:  100-150 bpm for SW and 80 bpm on the hike.
Calories burned during workout:  600 for SW and 175 on the hike.

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