Back to the Survival Workout

Friday, September 12, 2013

I headed to the Metropark early Thursday morning with Dakota in tow for my first Survival Workout in almost two months.  I’d shelved this ritual when I’d gone into serious ‘Tour Ohio’ training mode with every intention of returning to the workout when I returned.  Well…time to stop putting it off.

I began in the usual fashion with inverted push-ups.  My goal was to do three sets of my normal exercises (normally I’ll do four) and to go at it with a little less intensity hitting maybe 90% of my maximum.  I was beginning to struggle as I approached 60 and though I could have squeezed out another 10, decided to hold it there.  I continued with this pattern throughout the workout and by the time I returned to my final lift station and grabbed my fifty-pound rock for my overheads, found that hoisting it once was all I could muster.  My arms were shaking and I was exhausted.  I knew the pain I’d be feeling the next day, so I dropped it and called it a day.

I’d only done 14 sets, well below the 22-24 I like to do but a reasonable number for a sensible exercise-aholic.  I returned home sweaty but pleased that I’d begun my foundation work again.

Alaska Paul and I had made plans for a Friday morning kayak, so after cutting the grass, I dragged both kayaks from the shed out back to the front yard.  I’d told him to come early so we could see the morning mist rising off the water and catch wildlife before it disappeared from view for the day.  I didn’t like the forecast – temperatures in the fifties and heavy rain (could it have really been 102 degrees on Tuesday?), but Northeast Ohio weather is too unpredictable to plan anything on a 24-hour window.  I’d wait until morning and see what was happening.

I want to move into my standard routine quickly, but as always, I struggle without goals.  I need something to do…someplace to go…to motivate me in a particular direction.  Heidi wants to take a trip to the Adirondacks mid-October (we may be hiking in snow) so I suppose my next objective should be to get the hips healthy and begin hiking with a light pack over longer distances and slowly adding weight.  Since that is only four weeks away, I suppose that means right now. 

Survival Workout:  50 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  100-150 bpm.

Calories burned:  500.

Post Tour Ohio...

Thursday, September 12, 2013

It has been over three weeks since my last posting, and these are my sins…

I won’t try to go day by day into Tour Ohio in an effort to catch up with all that has happened since I began riding on Friday, August 23^rd.  I did keep a diary of each day’s events throughout Tour Ohio and I hope to write that all into a short story someday, but for now and over the next several days, I’ll do some summarizing.  By the way, if you’re a person using facebook and would like to see a pictorial story of the trip along with several postings I made, visit and like ‘Tour Ohio’.

I began the cycling leg with great trepidation.  I had concerns about riding so many miles in such a short time and how my health issues would impact the ability to complete that leg of the journey.  I fully expected it to take two weeks after which I was planning to move directly into the hike and then return for a weekend kayak of the Grand River some time in September.  Things didn’t quite go that way.

I rode two hundred miles over the first two days, but finished the second day struggling to find a suitable campsite and missing dinner and the hydration that should accompany it.  I began the third day in 90-degree heat and high humidity on the most difficult, hilly portion of the course and by noon was suffering from the early stages of heat exhaustion and severe muscle cramping.  I pushed through this in the early afternoon, but without success and found myself in a hotel bed shortly after trying to cool my core and re-hydrate my body.  After consulting with my brain and my Nilesh, I concluded that I needed lots more salt and made a concerted effort to replace what I’d been sweating out.  Remember, I was on the bike seven hours a day and losing about 3 pounds of fluid per hour.  This is s formula for disaster, and I had one.  Once I took fluid and salt replacements more seriously, I never again had such issues.

I completed the bike ride in a little over ten days and so found myself with time enough to do a two-day run of the Grand River with my nephew, Nathan Duer.  We completed the 44-mile distance in about 12 hours on the water and from that I returned home and began packing for the hike.  My pack came in around 35 pounds; less than I’ve carried into the Adirondacks on numerous occasions so, in my head, no big deal.  Wrong.

After walking about 8 miles, my hips began to ache and I could feel the blisters forming on the balls of my feet.  It went down hill from there.  I managed 18 painful miles that day, but left myself wondering where it was going.  I tried the next day, but completed only six miles before throwing in the towel and calling John to come and pick me up.

In retrospect, I did things very wrong with the biggest being ignoring the need to train specific to the activity.

Walking with a pack is working against gravity with my entire body weight plus 35 pounds.  To do so for an hour would not have been such a big deal, but to expect to be able to do it for six hours a day for five straight days was very poor planning.  I had done little hiking in the time leading up to Tour Ohio and then for two solid weeks had only done exercise that supported my body weight as I went – kayaking and cycling.  The muscles of the lower body designed to carry the load of locomotion had been detraining from their previously poorly prepared condition.  Things got worse quickly and I paid the price.

So…I’m recovering now.  The blisters on my feet cleared up quickly after lancing, but the pain in my hips remained severe over the next two days.  Finally, I hiked about 25 minutes and followed that with a 2-hour bike ride.  I did have some discomfort in my left hip over the final thirty minutes of the ride.

Future endeavors of this nature will begin with the hiking phase.  Weight bearing exercise is always the most difficult on the body and the conditioning necessary for its successful completion is nothing to take lightly.  I’ve known this from years of running and backpacking and the preparation I always put into it.  I ignored it this time fooling myself into believing that the conditioning I’d receive from over 1,000 miles of cycling would carry me through 100 miles of hiking.  I knew better.

Last ride...

Tuesday, August 20, 2013
John was coming over to do a final ride with me and leave me with ‘The Rocket’, his light-weight, carbon-fiber racing bike.  I was planning on bringing both Big Red and The Rocket in the van in the event I had issues with UB Express (bikes MUST be named).  My repair skills are limited, as are the opportunities to visit bike stores on the Tour, so the more I’m carrying as back up, the better.

We rode on the Waite Hill course, but John begged off having to climb the final hill from Squires Castle up to Chardon Road on River Road.

“That thing killed me Sunday.  Can we please skip it?” he asked.

“You need the conditioning.  If we skip it, you’ll only regret it later,” I said, trying to shame him into riding it.

In the end, I let him off easy and skipped the hill, shortening the ride by 4 miles.  We arrived back home in under two hours and took a cleansing dip in the neighbor’s pool before moving inside to make another amazing smoothie.  I wish I had an extra blender for the trip.  I’d pack it in the van, put smoothie ingredients in a cooler and whip one up at the end of each day.  Maybe next time.

After John left, I returned to my maps and computer and put the final touches on the cycling course.  Tomorrow – packing begins in earnest.

Bike duration:  One hour and 53 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1650.

Plan and prepare...

Monday, August 19, 2013
I knew I had a lot planned for the evening, but somewhere in the back of my mind I thought I’d get in a hike or a bike ride.  It was not to be.

Holly needs a new vehicle and so we returned to the Honda dealer, looking at used CRV’s, but again failing to pull the trigger.  We went from there to a birthday party at ‘The Local Tavern’ where I ordered a diet coke.  I’d eaten earlier, having had two more cheeseburgers, and decided against further dining.  Then Holly’s basket of fries, smothered in some kind of mushroom sauce, arrived.  She didn’t really offer me any, though I didn’t let that stop me from eating half the order.

We returned home where I could have done a walk in the neighborhood or spend time refining my cycling course and transferring it to the Ohio Atlas and Gazetteer I’d be carrying in the van for daily updates of where we were going.  I decided wisely that I needed to do more planning and spent two hours poring over choices I’d made and where I’d be camping.  It’s rather nerve racking since so much will remain in the air.  I don’t know how far I’ll get in a day and trying to determine that so we know where to dump the support van is an issue.  I may just leave it short of our destination and when we pass it, one of my partners can drive it to the nearest campsite.  We’ll see…

Taper week begins...

Sunday, August 18, 2013
Though I’m officially in ‘taper week’ and doing much less of everything, John and I decided to get in another bike ride.  I do want to be active with the bike leading into the Tour so I don’t experience the cramping that happened on my last ride.  The forecast for the end of the week is hot and humid…not a good combination for the world’s sweatiest individual.

We rode the Waite Hill course, taking our time and enjoying the ride.  I feel no need to push hard and in fact am trying to make myself ride easier.  If I don’t dial back during Tour Ohio, I will never be able to ride 8 hours in a day – my goal.  I must be the tortoise to be successful. 

I’ve been eating anything and everything lately and had two cheeseburgers for dinner.  I’ve been losing weight and want to make sure I don’t go into the Tour too thin since I suspect I will lose weight during the trip.  Though I will be eating regularly throughout the day, I could be burning as much as 6,000 calories in a day, and that’s not easy to replace.  I can eat a lot, but I have found that exercise sometimes kills my appetite.  Still, a mound of pancakes every morning smothered in butter and topped with maple syrup sounds pretty good right now. 

Bike duration:  Two hours and 12 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1700.

Lots of weeds...

Saturday, August 17, 2013
Since I was going to be on the road for the next three weeks, I scheduled time with Mimi to try and catch up with the yard. 

Weeds.  They were everywhere, just loving the rainy summer.  She had been suffering with gout in her right hand and pulling weeds was practically impossible.  I had some concerns about poison ivy; not wanting to start my ride with blisters everywhere and so covered up well and sprayed some poison ivy prevention stuff on any exposed skin.  I dove into the little arboretum we’d planted in her back yard and actually in the woods beyond the lawn.  The woods had decided to take it back and I spent two hours digging, pulling, and hacking to clear what had filled in.  There was loads of poison ivy and as I pulled the vines from the earth, knew that the dirt I was kicking up could land on me and transfer the oil it would take for another breakout.  I went in and scrubbed thoroughly on several occasions.

I worked until late afternoon and arrived back home with just enough time to prepare for Savannah’s farewell dinner.  She would be leaving for Columbus for her final year the following morning.  After dinner, I plugged in the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ for Holly’s dad and me.  It is such a wonderful film though I was surprised when both Jason and Holly joined us to watch.  I seem to forget that it’s not a baseball movie, but one of regrets, forgiveness, taking chances and the simple pleasures of life.  Everyone seems to love it and Holly’s dad was no exception.

So I had to settle for six hours of yard work for my workout.  There is still so much to do to be ready for the trip and I’m counting on my current condition as being good enough.  If not, I’ll ride my way into shape over the first 3-4 days of Tour Ohio.

Yard work duration:  Six hours.

Training Heart Rate:  80 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1500.

Another long hike...

Friday, August 16, 2013
I had Jack drop me off at the park on the way home from picking him up at work.  My intention was to hike around the park for a period of time and then finish it by hiking home.  I was looking for something longer to follow yesterday’s hike so I could break in the shoes…and my feet…a little better.  I also elected to stay off the bike since I was still smarting from yesterday’s ride.

It was warm and I did manage to break a good sweat, but I didn’t have the pack on, which made it easy.  All I was looking for was more time to toughen my feet in hopes of preventing blistering.  The foot doc told me duct tape would take care of it, but I’m thinking I’d like to hike without household repair items wrapped around my feet.  I could feel the hot spots again, but not until I was almost home and close to two hours into the hike.  On Tour Ohio, I will make regular stops to give my feet a break and I’m hoping this strategy will keep them healthy and happy.  If not…duct tape will have to do.

Hike duration:  Two hours and 10 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  80 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  750.