Dog Mountain

 




This weekend we went for a 3-day camping trip...just me, mike, and gracie. We started off at Battleground State Park. We got camp set up on Thursday and went for a hike on Friday. The destination? Dog Mountain. The draw? Great views of the Columbia River. It was only 3.8 miles round trip. No problem, we're seasoned hikers. Uh uh...humungo problem for me.

Yikes, it was like I hadn't been hiking in years! The elevation gain was way too much for me, Mike plugged along and of course Gracie trotted along no problem :) . Less than half way up the mountain and I was huffing and puffing like I smoked a pack a day plus a handful of cigars. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Apparently my weekly lifting class and frequent running was not preparation enough for the opening day of my hiking season. I was more than disappointed in myself.

I've frequently said that being skinny does not equal being in shape and this hike definetly reminded me of why I say that phrase at all. To add insult to injury, as we get deeper into the woods a group of hikers are coming down. A silver-haired old man with his walking stick says to me, "it's an ass kicker". Awesome, so he has noticed how hard I'm struggling and felt the need to uh...validate my experience? (Sigh). That was it. That sealed the deal, this was by far the most dismal perfomance I've had hiking in a long long long long time.

Then I saw some hope. We broke the tree line! yay! I had actually made it to the top. As we headed down, I realized a super steep incline meant a really steep decline--with the loose dirt and rock scrambles, that means you can't just plow down the mountain. Otherwise, you'll find yourself on your bum most of time. But nonetheless, I had survived and was definetly going to be feeling it in the morning. Thank goodness we were camping and there was no comfy bed to help me recover (Sigh, again).

This gave me new motivation. I am not going to be this outta shape. Who cares how much I one can lift if they get winded going up a flight of stairs. Dog Mountain made me realize that I was this person. Not okay. So, the first step? Dump my old workout gear. Can't get an efficient workout if I am schluping around the gym in what are essentially pajamas. If I am going to take my workouts more seriously, I have to dress the part. So I ventured out to Target and picked up some new gear. Check.

Second step. Add stairs to my cardio routine. Running is not an issue, but the steps...ah the steps...that's what got me on the hike. So the plan is to add running in the am and steps in the pm. Plus keeping my lifting class on Thursdays.

Added step. Include a quickie excercise in the am and pm: push ups and pull ups.

I have to admit, after looking at my modified plan...my workout routine has definetly gotten lazy. I make it out to my lifting class and throw in a 5k here and there. I think this is the end of my hibernation period and its time to get my butt moving again.