It’s been a GOOD week for me!
3 Strength training sessions
- 3 x 15 Dumbbell squat curl press (7.5 lb and on day 3 I graduated to 10 lb finally!!)
- 2 x 10 Dumbbell single calf raise
- 1 x 10 dumbbell single leg deadlift
- 1 x 10 dumbbell calf raises
- 2 x 30 sec planks
My big achievements –
- Graduating to 10 lb dumbbells
- Actually planking for 30 seconds without dying. On day 3 I actually made it to 40 seconds. One day I will be able to do full minute planks.
I also picked up Michael’s 50 lb kettlebell and was able to do some squats. I might end up adding that to the program at some point.
My cardio during the week is a 1 hour dance sweat session with The Fitness Marshall.
This weekend I went on a 10.7 mile hike from Hot Springs to Tanyard Gap and back on the AT.
It took me about 6 hours including some breaks for lunch.
I really enjoyed this hike. I started by going up Lover’s Leap which I have done a few times before.
The rest of it is over mountain ridges with some ups and downs, downed trees. It was a pretty scenic hike with views of the French Broad.
I stopped for lunch by this little pond that had some bass living in it. 2 x Spam singles because the forecast called for rain and I didn’t want to get my whole stove out.
The rain caught up to me for the last hour of the hike but my rain gear held out.
I thought I was a poncho person.
I am not a poncho person. At least not while hiking.
I brought a poncho and the Patagonia Houdini rain jacket and I had to rip the poncho off because it was just too fiddly. The jacket was much more comfortable and breathable.
At Lover’s Leap on my descent, I managed to save some day hikers from making some mistakes. They wanted to go down the AT but had no map and didn’t know where they were. I told them it was 5 miles of trail to the highway and pointed them to the loop to get them back down to the car since they had made it up to Lover’s Leap. (Do I get a Scout badge?)
My feet were getting sore by the last two miles. I think I will need to do more of these every weekend to get my feet used to this type of mileage.
I guess my weekday training helped the rest of my body get conditioned for a hike but my feet are still suffering a bit.
I also need a scale for my pack. I should be packing 80% of my JMT weight but I was just roughly guessing at it as I stuffed it with some of my gear. I think it needs to be more scientific.