Illness and Impatience

I've been fighting one of those lingering chest colds for what feels like months now. To be honest, it's probably been only three or four weeks. Maybe five. I might even have passed through several colds by this point, getting over one only to fall prey to another.

I'm not sure whether I'm pleased that this cold (these colds?) has not been severe. I've only missed one day of work because of this illness, and I've kept up with my pull up workouts. I only missed one run club. But if I could just be down and out sick for two, maybe three days, and then be completely over it, I just might take that bargain.

It's frustrating to have the sickness linger, impacting my ability to workout as hard as I want to. I am so close to getting that first strict pull up, but I keep backsliding because I can't quite catch my breath, or I'm dizzy.

And yet, despite those complaints, I have to be glad that I'm working out through whatever this crud is. I took two whole rest days on the 25th and 26th and felt downright sybaritic. Two days. When a few years ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to avoid the gym for a week or more due to a cold. And then, I'd take it easy instead of pushing myself to keep up with my regular schedule.

Change is possible.

Last Run Club of the Year

Since Run Club is on Thursdays, and the next two Thursdays are holiday eves, the last meeting of the year was last week. At the beginning of the week, there was a lot of interest in attending. People who hadn't gone before were chiming in about how they would be there, awesome, of course.

Then Thursday arrived. A gloomy day full of near-freezing drizzle. And Run Club is at 6:30pm, which means that it is dark out at this time of year. Heck, I considered not going, because I was worried about the sidewalk being icy.

But in the end, I went. I stepped carefully on the sidewalk where snow was seriously considering accumulating and made my way to the meeting place. There, I was not surprised to find that most of the people who had chimed in on Facebook were not going to show up.

But, there were five of us ready to brave the darkness, the cold, the rain/snow and the slick roads. All women, of course, all Run Club veterans by this point. I suggested that we stick to the streets instead of sidewalks and hit the Greenbelt towards the university, because they would likely have taken care of their walking areas.

And so we set out, into the darkness and the cold. And we ran for over 4 miles, the wind at our backs going out. On the way back, the wind whipped our cheeks into redness, or, in my case, more redness since I was already getting hot by the time we turned around.

When we got back I asked about taking a picture, but the other women didn't want to because of our disheveled states. I suppose that my idea of appropriate picture time is tempered by my backpacking experience, when being a messy, stinky, dirty wreck is an accomplishment, especially if there's a view behind you. But even without a picture, we could all leave knowing that we were total badasses. We braved the weather and the dark together and earned every drop of sweat left freezing on the street.

Until next year, Run Club!

Pull Up So Close!

I'm so close to doing a strict pull up, I can almost taste it. Last weekend, I managed to do an assisted pull up with only 10lbs of assistance. And, for the first time in my life, I can get my chin over the bar with control. I'm excited at the progress and I'm hungry for the culmination. Can I get it before the new year? Before I visit family at the end of January? 

Time will tell. But until I get it, I'm focused. I even dreamed about pull ups last night. 

My First Backpacking Trip

My husband and I were looking for some pictures of a specific backpacking trip the other day. We wanted to find pictures from a trip to Paradise Creek, where we camped on a rise and heard what sounded like puppies. Of course, it wasn't puppies, not out there. Presumably it was wolf pups, but we never saw them. Instead, a full grown wolf approached our campsite and stared us down while the rest of the pack loped over the ridge out of sight.

I honestly can't remember whether I had a camera on that trip. It wouldn't have been the camera we have now, but I might have brought a low quality phone camera. I do remember when the wolf approached us I was in the middle of answering a call of nature, caught with my pants down.

While we didn't find what we were looking for in the photos, we did find a conveniently labeled folder of "capming july 2010" (I'll blame Ambrose for the typo). I sometimes try to remember exactly when my first backpacking trip took place, and I end up doing complicate memory math to figure it out. But I recognized those pictures. That was the first trip.

The trail to the steaming hot springs.

They only get steamier. 

On July 23, 2010, Ambrose and I hiked out to the Skillern Hot Springs from the Big Smoky Campground in Camas county. I wore an old day pack of Ambrose's, because we weren't going to invest heavily in gear for me until I knew I liked it. My clothing was also over-sized clothing from him. I didn't have much outdoorsy clothing at the time.

Heading back, bulky camera case on my hip. 

I insisted on taking Ambrose's old, bulky camera so I could have a record of my very first trip. The case alone was a burden, and the battery consistently crapped out after only a few uses, but it was the best camera we had at the time.

I was enchanted by the rocky seats at the campsite.

I can't believe it's been more than five years since this backpacking adventure started. 

That hike would be easy now. Less than three miles out, with very little gain. The last time we did that trip, I made it in just over an hour. The first time, I think we took more than three. But somehow, I not only liked it, I loved it.

The more I backpack, the more I want to backpack.

A much different kit for the coast hike in August, 2015.

Closer to the Pull

Right now, most of my workout goals are centered around getting a strict pull up. And having that solid goal, and a routine to go along with it, have helped me keep going, even as the weather lingers in the sub-freezing range. I'm running for weight loss, and I'm doing strength work three times a week for pulling.

And, even though I'm lifting lighter than I was this summer, I'm making more progress. After taking a break in September, I reduced my weights for bicep curls and farmer carries. But I've also increased the reps for my bicep curls and added a segment of stairs to my farmer carries. I don't know why, but it seems like this routine is better at strengthening my back than pushing myself to higher weights at lower reps.

My body is also lighter than it was last summer. The illness in September resulted in some weight loss, and continued dietary changes combined with increased running added to that total. I didn't want to lose weight for pull ups, but I have lost weight.

And I'm getting closer.

Where before I could try for a kipping pull up and maybe, just maybe break the plane of the bar with the peach fuzz hairs on my chinny-chin-chin, last weekend, I swung up and held my body below the bar with bent arms. For the first time that I can recall, I was supporting my body weight from the bar in a position other than dead hang or reverse shrug.

That first strict pull up is so close I can taste it.

Of course, making the first one will only whet my appetite for more, so I think I'll be having a good routine for a long time to come.