Week 13 - A Heavy Week

I was very pleased with the week 13 workouts. I didn’t end up doing as much as I had planned in the beginning of the week, but the week still came off great. In the original plan for the week, I had intended to hike home on Wednesday with the 60 lbs. pack, turn around for the double hike on Thursday, and repeat it on Friday. As it turns out I probably would not have been able to do the second double on Friday and would have had to modify, because Friday morning I had some significant aches and pains from the double on Thursday. Had I done the Wednesday afternoon hike as well, that would have been that much worse.

Week 13: current weight 165, +5 lbs. from Week 1

Monday: Chest and shoulders weights
Tuesday: Back and arms weights
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Double: hike to/from work with 60 lbs. pack (12 miles total)
Friday: Off
Saturday: Chest, shoulders and arms weights
Sunday: 18 mile hike w/ 40 lbs. pack

What’s getting me is the time investment. I have very little room for alterations in work/home schedules and still be able to get a hike in. The six miles with 60 lbs. takes me between an hour and a half and 2 hours to complete, depending on energy and pain levels, so it varies. On Wednesday, I ended up working a bit late and had to scrap the hike.

Mentally, I’m extremely pleased with progress. Simply being capable of hiking the 60 lbs. pack is a solid indicator of my progression, and having that evidence makes me want to use it to greatest effect.

On to the weekend hike: I completed, for the first time, the entire Perkiomen Trail. Of all of the signs on the Perk Trail, “Welcome to Green Lane Park” is the best. After 18 miles, that sign looked like it was gilded in pure gold.

My wife kindly agreed that she would come pick me up at Green Lane, so Sunday morning I packed my stuff and drove down to mile zero on the trail, left my car (idly wondering if it would still be there six or so hours later) and started heading north. I immediately noticed that the work with the 60 lbs. pack was already paying off, as 40 lbs. felt just plain light and stayed that way for the next 12 miles.

Unfortunately Jeff is still down with a knee injury, so he didn’t get to hear the angels singing and the trumpets blasting as I strolled into Green Lane. He has an appointment with a specialist this week to check out his knee. We’re hoping for good news on that front, but Jeff doesn’t have reason to believe that it’s anything serious.

Overall the 18 miles was fairly hard, and I got good work out of it. On the last 6 miles, the 40 lbs. didn’t feel light anymore. But I have to admit that it just wasn’t as hard as most of the earlier hikes were, and certainly nowhere near as hard as last week’s 12 miles with 60 lbs. was. The weather was terrible, at 39 degrees and rain, but I signed up for enduring that a while ago and I was ready for it. I looked like the little brother from “Christmas Story”, with winter weight pants, an undershirt, an overshirt, a waterproof lightweight jacket, gloves, winter cap…the whole works. I was still cold, it still sucked, but none of my fingers, toes, ears or my nose fell off so I have to count it as a “win”.

Take a peek back on Friday this week, as I may have a mid-week update.  Our Boston area team member, Rich, is planning on being down in the Baltimore area this week, and we all hope to get together on Thursday for a hike.  If we get to do it, I'll throw some pictures up of the group.