Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Summer Plans

I've already got my big trips planned for next summer. Ambrose and I will be going back to the Olympic National Forest for one more go at the Wild Coast. We just love that trip so much, and now that Ambrose has lost so much weight, it will be like an entirely different trip. I'm looking forward to another nine days trekking along the ocean. 

The other really big trip will be another section of the Idaho Centennial Trail. I'll be doing a day hike to finish the section that will take me through Lynx Meadows, and then I'll be backpacking from Warm Springs Bar up to the Moose Meadows Guard Station. From there, I'll meet up with Ambrose and Bill, and we'll all hike out together along the Selway River. That should be 5 to 6 days, depending on how fast I go through the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. I've heard mixed things about the state of the trails I'll be taking, so I'm planning on no more than 10 miles per day. I hope I can do the 30 miles in 3 days, but I'll carry food as if it will take 4 days. Ambrose will be carrying more food for me for the hike out. 

And there's one more trip now in the planning stages. I have invited one of my nieces (the eldest) to come out from Illinois to go on a backpacking and camping trip. It will be a long weekend. I'll pick her up from the airport and start driving out to the campsite. Most likely, the first night will be somewhere between Featherville and the Big Smokey Campground. The second night will be an overnight backpack out to Skillern Hot Springs. And then one more night at the Big Smokey before heading back to my apartment so she can shower before flying home. 

I hope that the Skillern trip is an adventure for her. I know that I loved it as my first backpacking trip, and I've brought one other person out for a good first trip. But with teenagers, who knows, right? Still, I'm looking forward to spending some time with her one on one, in a place that I know well and where I feel comfortable. 

Of course, Ambrose and I will go out over Memorial Day weekend for our annual trip. I hope we have better luck with morels this year. And there will doubtless be some training hikes and/or overnighters out to 6125. Can you tell I can't wait for it to be backpacking season again? 

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Staying on Track

Last week, I managed to get to CrossFit every weekday, got 3 runs in totally 10 miles and commuted by bike to work all 3 days that I go into the office. I've started out this week on track to keep up the same activity level, though with it getting colder the bike commutes might be stopping. 

It's really all about getting into a routine, especially for the 5 am CrossFit classes. If I just don't give myself any spare time to think about what I'm doing, it's pretty easy to get dressed and drive out. If I'm feeling like I'll have a hard time in the morning, I'll put my clothes out the night before. When the alarm goes off and I don't want to get up, I just put my mind into the track: ankle alphabet, then restroom, then get dressed, drink a yogurt drink and then it's pretty much time to go. I suppose I could get up earlier, but that just gives me more time to procrastinate and change my mind about leaving the house. 

This morning, since it was in the 20's, I spoiled myself by using the remote start option for my car. It was magical! It won't automatically turn seat heat on, but I leave it on if I know my husband will not be driving before I will. It wasn't really warm, because I didn't start it early enough, but just being warmer than the ambient temperature was nice. I didn't sit down and start shivering, so I'll call that a win. 

This weekend I'll have a bit of disruption to my schedule; I'm not likely to make 5 CrossFit classes next week because of the holiday. The bigger issue was that I can't do a long run on Sunday, but then I remembered I have all day Thursday to get a long run in. Totally doable. 

Overall, I'm liking this level of activity. I'm getting pretty good sleep, and the soreness is there, but not overwhelming. I'm trying to push hard enough to improve at CrossFit without overdoing things; it's a fine balance. I want to keep up a high level of activity like this throughout the off season so that I'm ready for a great backpacking season once the weather turns to summer. I'm hoping to get my long runs to 10 miles by April. 

And for now, I'm on track for that. 

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Jumpstart!

How do you start (or restart) an exercise program? I've not been doing as much as I could since the end of backpacking season, or even a bit before that. My running was sporadic and short, and over the last few weeks, I'd been battling a cold that kept me from CrossFit. I prefer not to expose my fellow athletes to any illness so I've been playing it safe. 

I was starting to feel better last weekend, though not quite better enough to dive back into CrossFit. So I decided to do a long run on Saturday and just see how that felt. I've been re-reading Chi Running for the first time since I'd first read it years ago, and I'm finding that I'm better able to apply the principles than I used to be. It makes sense. When I first read it, I was a newbie runner. I never ran as a youth, so I had no base to build on. 

Now, after years of running, backpacking and CrossFit, I have a much more stable and strong core, which allows me to actually use the Chi Running principles instead of just using it to adjust my gait away from injury-inducing styles. And I've found myself more attracted to the meditative aspects of Chi Running as well, in part, I believe, because I've learned about aphantasia. 

Aphantasia is the inability to mentally visualize. Visualization has been one thing that has always been in conflict with me meditating. Most of my exposure had been to the kind of meditation that requires visualizing something, and I just couldn't do it. Without knowing why I couldn't do it, I just had to say I couldn't meditate. But now, I know that I can. I just need to do it without visualizations. Like my dad suggested, I can close my eyes and "visualize" blackness. Or, with Chi Running, I can meditate through the motion of my body. 

I ran 4 miles on Saturday, at a nice, slow pace. I usually try to run faster towards the end of my runs, but for this one I deliberately kept it slow. The goal was not to work on speed, but to work on form, technique and comfort. To focus on my body and what it was doing. Later that evening, I massaged my calves. 

The next day, I had thought about going to CrossFit, but there are only morning classes on Sunday and I just didn't make the effort to make it. But my legs were feeling so good that I decided to do another long run and set myself up to have 10 miles for the week. Again, I kept the pace slow and steady. I ran 5.6 miles. 

After that, my legs were pretty sore, so I massaged them again, in addition to foam rolling. Nearly 10 miles over two days, and I didn't feel too bad. So, naturally, I went to CrossFit on Monday, at my typical 5 am time. 

Now, CrossFit usually posts the next day's workout on their website after 6 pm, but sometimes the post doesn't go up. That was the case Sunday night. Would I have made a different choice about going to CrossFit if I knew that my leg weekend was about to be followed by leg day (back squats, box step-ups, thrusters, and burpees)? I'd like to think not, but I can't prove it. 

I'm diving right back in to my routine. Restarting. And I think what's making it work is my attitude. I know that I'm going to feel good, so I push through the reluctance to get out of bed and the soreness and, surprise surprise, I feel darn good afterwards. I did CrossFit Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with plans for Thursday and Friday this week. I got another 2.2 miles of running on Tuesday, despite the fact that it was raining, with another 2.2 planned for Thursday (I really hope it isn't raining Thursday). 

I'm taking a page from Nike and just doing it. 

So far, it's working. 

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

November

November is not off to a great start for me, fitness wise. I've got a head cold that just wants to linger instead of going away, and so I've been mostly avoiding CrossFit so as not to spread those germs. I didn't run at all last week, and I just barely ran yesterday. 

The run yesterday felt alright once I got going, but I did not at all want to start. I actually had to scheme myself into running. Yesterday was voting day, so I got dressed to run, then my husband drove us to vote. From the polling place, I ran home while he drove. 

I only went about a mile and a quarter, but it still felt good to get out and move. My pace wasn't too bad, under 13 minute mile pace for the first mile. My right leg ITB area did start to complain, but that was expected after a running hiatus. 

I'm feeling very impatient with this head cold. I want it to be over NOW so I can work my fitness. But I'll settle for it going away before I go visit family later this month. I definitely don't want to bring illness into my brother's home. I know it's going to pass, but it can't be soon enough for me. I want to go hike in the foothills and run up Table Rock, gosh darn it!