I had promised someone I’d be available to get together for dinner, but they weren’t sure they could make it and by the time I determined it wasn’t going to happen, it was too late to do a decent bike ride. I was thinking I’d must make some dinner and spend some time writing, blowing off a workout, when my conscience jumped in and pushed me towards the car.
“Want to go to the park, Dakota?” Like there was ever a moment in her life that she didn’t want to. She bounded into the car with agility that belied her ten years.
It was 7:30 when I arrived and with the shortening of summer days, that meant about an hour of daylight. Not enough, but walking in the dark didn’t really bother me. I strapped on the pack and began my first set of step-ups on the boulder next to my car. It’s a 16-inch step, which, after 30 step-ups per leg, leaves me gasping and with trembling quads. I counted off the last step and began moving down, or up, the trail.
The first quarter mile is uphill and after a set of step-ups, it hurts. Often times I imagine how through hikers must suffer on days they’re going 15-20 miles with full packs over multiple peaks. My step-ups pale in comparison.
I stopped multiple times throughout the 4-mile hike and totaled 400 step-ups. It took 90 minutes and left me parched, drenched in sweat, and shaking. All a good thing. Dakota was tired, too, and struggled back into the car for the ride home.
I blended up another delicious fruit smoothie for dinner and collapsed onto my sofa. I watched a documentary on the climbing of K2, the world’s second highest mountain and possibly the most difficult to climb. Watching the tribulations associated with that type of climbing again confirmed my total disinterest in that sport. Give me the Adirondacks any day.
Hike Duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 90-150 bpm.
Calories burned: 900.
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