04/20/2011

My hike this week was closer to home, which meant that the elevation changes would be far lower than in the Shenandoah Valley.  I had to be back home by noon so the HVAC people could finally get my A/C back in line.  Everything in my place smells like sweaty ball sweat, and wet dog.  It’s quite a combination of odors, like a buffet of freshness and vitality.  Why is that I own the world’s only basement level condo that’s hotter than the outside?  I thought anything that’s a subfloor is supposed to be colder in the summer, and warmer in the winter.  I think perhaps having a back patio, which faces west might be part of the problem, but really it’s 81 degrees in my place, when the air temperature outside is only in the 70s. 

If I was a stoner hot boxing my place would be a cinch. 

In any case I headed Fountainhead Regional Park in Fairfax Station.  Fountainhead is a man made reservoir, which was turned into a regional park, with hiking trails, horse packing trails, mountain biking trails, and ample places to go fishing.  The trail I picked is part of a longer trail which connects 4 or 5 regional parks, and is about 18 miles long.  In terms of difficulty it’s not very tough, it’s a well traveled trail so it’s well manicured, and has bridges for its creek crossings.  For a trail runner this route would be phenomenal because it has just the right level of undulations for a runner, and enough packed soil that you wouldn’t roll or twist your ankles.  As just a hiking trail it’s not strenuous, not enough for what I want to get out of my hikes.  A breakthrough moment it’s not.

I went out for just over 3 miles, and ended doing just over 6 miles total.  As easy as the hike was the temperature got up into the mid 80’s so it was “HOT! TOO HOT FOR THE HOT TUB HOT!”  I finished most of my camelback yet I still felt wiped out.  I’ve been going pretty hard this week, and this Wednesday my plan to use the hike as a starting point for a breakthrough was working.  I don’t think I realized how sore I was until after the hike, and I was sitting on my couch at home. 

My meals today.

I did some work from home, and then used the time to clean up a bit, and get hydrated for my afternoon PT.  Zap was able to move the session from 6:30 PM to 5:00 PM so I got to the gym around 4:45 PM.  There wasn’t enough time to do a normal warm up, but I did manage to get on the incline treadmill and go for 15 minutes raising the incline 1 level each minute.  I managed to get through most of it at 3.2 mph, but had to lower it to 3.0 mph on the final four minutes. 

Today we worked on back exercises.  Started with 40lb dumbbells and did bent over rows 15 reps per side for four sets.  In between each set I did one handed kettle bell swings 10 per arm per set.  We then moved into the cable lat pull down machine, with the weight set to 90 lbs I did 25 reps.  The lat pull downs were part of a circuit with an alternating bent over dumbbell row, and the ropes.  You will see in the video I used the same 40lb weight I had used previously, and the motion is similar to a bent over row, except this time I rowed one side then move to the other side of the bench and row the other side.  The final leg of the circuit I did timed rope exercises.  The circuit was done 4 times, with the final set of rope exercise a burnout where I did each of the three motions for a minute each. 

The end of the workout was like a Sam workout.  It was a three part circuit first I put my lower body on a resistance ball, and then using the bosu I lowered my upper body into a plank type position, and then pushed up to a push up position, 20 times.  Part two I had to brace my body on the bench, and then throw my legs over as if I was a gymnast on a horse.   Finally he had me do a crab walk up and down a handicap ramp in the gym.  I went up and back for 3 laps.  All three exercises were repeated three times.

At the end of my PT session I felt exhausted, there were numerous points in this workout were if Zap had said let’s go get a beer, I would have said okay.  So when we finished I decided the only way to really step it up another notch and prove my finishing the session wasn’t a fluke but a conditioned response I decided I needed to do a closing cardio exercise.  I didn’t have much energy left so I picked the Precor Elliptical and did a miracle mile, the incline set on 4, and the resistance set on 10.  I finished in 8:27. 

I am tired, I am fatigued.  My body is starting to revolt.  Starting the hike this morning was a chore, it took me 20 minutes to get to a pace faster than 3.0 mph.  From a level of difficulty the hike was easy, yet just getting to the site today was a victory.  Again I woke up late, and thought about bagging it, and just doing an hour of cardio on a recumbent bike.  I am so glad I didn’t. 

Following the hike I again wanted to just call it a day.  I was tired.  I was frustrated about exerting the energy that I have to, and everyone around me is bothering me, I guess this is how a smoker feels when he quits and everyone around him still smokes.   It must be true there’s nothing worse than a reformed whore.  Being the biggest whore of them all I am turning into an uncompromising zealot, so all the nonbelievers better back the fuck up, that includes family.  The lack of a/c is not making my agitated state any easier. 

Trying to pump myself up I drank a Venti iced Americano before the workout, I think the only way I would have been excited about the workout was to snort an eightball of coke, take a shot of adrenaline, and then drink 10 shots of espresso while popping Viagra for good measure.  During my warm-up I wanted to quit, in fact the first 20 minutes of my session felt half-assed because I felt so pooped, when I asked Zap for reassurance on my belief that days like today are the days where you make the most progress, he gave me the right mojo I needed. 

The moments when you no longer want to go on, and your body is tired, and the time that you want to give up, are the game changing moments.  It’s in these moments we find ourselves, and realize the strength that we hold within our spirit.

It’s with this his reassurance that I got my shit together and put my mind right.  It is so incredible how differently you approach a task, and how quickly your body finds a way to create fuel when your mindset changes.  Today’s activities were more a test of my determination, and drive then a physical assessment.  

We all experience days like today.  In a moment we make the choice that determines whether or not something becomes a reality, or forever a dream.  Each one of these moments of perseverance is piece of literal sweat equity in our desires to attain something which is presently beyond our grasp.   I am developing an indomitable spirit, something I haven’t felt since I was a teenager. 

I have to thank all the support that has been conveyed to me, as it has provided emotional sparks when I didn’t think I had one left.