Wednesday,
August 19, 2015
LuAnn arrived around 5 p.m. for our scheduled
Survival Workout/hike. I’d been
encouraging her to come by the park and do the workout as it was designed to be
done…in the woods. I’d set up a
course for her and her daughter Kristen to do around their house and at the
local track, but that’s just not the same in my opinion…the one that matters
most. Grabbing rocks covered in
poison ivy and logs with worms and boring bugs on and under them while getting
smeared and covered in dirt is special.
Climbing hills and managing fallen trees and other obstructions is also
special. Using a tree branch for
pull-ups and picnic tables for hops is a dimension you can’t always find in
your yard. And best of all, you’ll
often see deer, the occasional fox or coyote, or a Pileated Woodpecker banging
its beak against a rotting tree.
Oh…and mosquito’s enough to carry off small children.
We completed our push-ups, dips, and abdominal work
by the car before starting down the trail. “We can do some high knees here,” I suggested.
She looked at me and began to whine, “those hurt my
hip.”
I stopped in place on the trail and looked her in the
eye and said, “do you really think I care whether it hurts or not?”
With some fear in her voice she replied meekly,
“umm…no?”
We discussed the pain and of course I’d been
kidding and told her so. “Never do
anything that hurts like an injury.
Muscle soreness we work through.
Real injuries you take it easy…I keep going…you heal and I need to go to
the doctor,” I said.
We lifted rocks and logs, and arrived at a very
steep hill behind what used to be the sledding hill. Half way up is a large cement emplacement about chest high
and four foot wide. I placed both
hands on top of it, jumped and pushed myself up while swinging a leg over it so
as to climb on top. LuAnn watched
me and blubbered, “I can’t do that!”
“Oh, but you can…and you’re going to,” I replied.
She started to back away to go around it when she
suddenly found me behind her and shoving her towards it.
“Put your hands on top and imagine yourself on it
looking down at your feet,” I said as I placed my hands lightly on her waist
for a boost if she needed it, but more for the confidence to be able to do
it. “Now go!” I barked.
She jumped, and pushed with her arms and suddenly
found her leg on top with the rest of her body not far behind. I climbed up beside her and said, “I
hardly lifted at all.” And I
hadn’t.
She looked thrilled to have done it and we
continued to climb by grabbing protruding roots and looking for footholds. Once on top and breathing heavily, she
asked, “so where do we go back down?”
I looked at her and said, “the way we came up.”
Now, I do tend to joke at times and by the look in
her eyes, she was sure this was one of them. It wasn’t. And
then she knew it.
“I’ll die if I go back down the way we came,” she
said.
“Well…there is that possibility,” I said as I
started down. “Follow me,” I
called.
She did and with a little help, managed to get back
without major injury. We continued
on to the swing set where after watching me do a climb to the top on one of the
supporting poles, I again heard ‘I can’t do that.’
“When will you learn that that is an unacceptable
statement?” I asked.
She grabbed a pole and using her legs, began to
climb. She didn’t reach the top,
but pulled and tried and made it half way. It was a start and the effort was there. It was all you could ask.
It was a hot day and the hike alone would have had
me sweating. We completed the workout
on the return to the car and, I believe, created another convert to working out
in the woods. I hadn’t been doing
the Survival Workout myself, having put it aside as I prepared for the
Adirondack hikes, so I’m guessing I’ll feel some soreness tomorrow. I’d missed it though. It has served me well in maintaining
good body tone and muscular endurance into my sixties and that is a very good
thing.
Survival
Workout: 60 minutes
Training
Heart Rate: 100-150 bpm.
Calories
burned: 600
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