A member of our church is trying to get a Men's Bible Study/Fellowship group started, and we decided we'd have an organizational meeting at Starbucks. The Starbucks is only about 2 miles from my house, so I decided that if the weather cooperated, I'd strap on the backpack and get some training in. So, I woke up and although it was a bit chilly, the hike to Starbucks was uneventful.
The looks I got, though, when I walked in were priceless. I should have ordered before I took off my backpack to see what they'd say. That could have been interesting.
By the end of the morning, I'd walked about 4.5 miles (with very little elevation change) without too hard of an effort. The exercise and training seems to be paying off, for I can see my stamina increasing, my weight is dropping and although my legs are sore at the end of the day, they're not so sore that I can't function.
I'm starting to believe that I can actually accomplish this. Now all I have to do is find a companion.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Fitness Review - 4/9
Spring Break was this week, which helped muddle up the schedule a bit. Started the week off with a good hike, and I kept up the Wii program, however, hiking with the backpack wasn't as consistent as I would have liked. Did finish the week with about 7 miles logged, though.
Ending Weight: 207.9 lbs, down another 1.1 lbs. This is as low as the Wii has ever measured me (i.e, in over 3 years.)
| Day | Exercise | Distance (Miles) | Time (Min) |
| Sun | Hike (with pack). | 2.5 | 120 min |
| Mon | Wii, Walk | 1.5 | 60 min |
| Tue | Wii, Walk | 1.5 | 60 min |
| Wed | Wii, Walk (with 28 lb. pack) | 1.5 | 60 min |
| Thu | Wii, Visit Tulip Farms | 0.0 | 30 min |
| Fri | Wii, Walk | 1.5 | 30 min |
| Sat | Walks | 4.5 w/ Pack 3.x without | 210 min |
Ending Weight: 207.9 lbs, down another 1.1 lbs. This is as low as the Wii has ever measured me (i.e, in over 3 years.)
Monday, April 4, 2011
My First Reference Book.
I've mentioned Bette Filley's Discovering the Wonders of the Wonderland Trail encircling Mount Rainer and Rick Curtis' Backpackers' Field Manual, but long before I got those books, I had another book that started it all. It's hard to remember, but I believe that it started out when Gail and I were browsing some National Park bookstore, and I saw this book I couldn't resist: Allen and Mike's Really Cook Backpackin' Book: Traveling and camping sklls for a wilderness environment! by Allen O'Bannon and illustrations by Mike Clelland. I've had it so long, I've just found it again. In the bookshelf, of all places!
The name kind of gives you an idea of the flavor of this book. Part tongue in cheek, part lessons learned, part redneck backpacking, this book is short and sweet and gives you a whole lot of info crammed into 155 pages. Along with a few laughs.
For instance, the section about packing your backpack basically says to eschew the fancy packing sacks and compression bags, they just add weight. Treat your backpack like a big bag and shove stuff into it. No one cares about wrinkles on the trail. So, my task is to compare all the different advice and figure out what I want to do for myself.
The name kind of gives you an idea of the flavor of this book. Part tongue in cheek, part lessons learned, part redneck backpacking, this book is short and sweet and gives you a whole lot of info crammed into 155 pages. Along with a few laughs.
For instance, the section about packing your backpack basically says to eschew the fancy packing sacks and compression bags, they just add weight. Treat your backpack like a big bag and shove stuff into it. No one cares about wrinkles on the trail. So, my task is to compare all the different advice and figure out what I want to do for myself.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Training along the Sound.
For today being the nice day of the weekend, it didn't seem like it. The sun never did come out, although you could see a lighter round spot. It was chilly, and it seems like I was cold all day. Enough whining!
Since it didn't rain, we took the dog on a little walk down to Meadowdale Park. In the Pacific Northwest, they tend to make parks out of anything that they cannot put a house on. Thus, most of Meadowdale Park is filled by Lund's Gulch. Not a gulch as you would think of in a western movie, but more of a gulch you would think of in a jungle (sorry, rainforest is the PC term). So the hike today was 1.25 miles down the hill and 1.25 miles back up the hill. It ends at the Sound in one of our typically gravelly beaches. We didn't tarry long on the beach, for the wind was blowing and it was a bit on the chilly side.
We did manage to find one Geocache today, however, the two other ones we looked for were either muggled (stolen) or misplaced. We did manage to figure out how to take pictures on the GPS. I'll include a couple so we can see how they look.
When the GPS takes a picture, it embeds the location where the picture was taken, and after doing so, it then shows it on the map. My screen shot here was taken after the pictures were taken off the camera, so the screen is less cluttered. (In one of those "Well, duh!" moments, I discovered that if you turn the screen sideways, your picture is wider than tall!)
Since it didn't rain, we took the dog on a little walk down to Meadowdale Park. In the Pacific Northwest, they tend to make parks out of anything that they cannot put a house on. Thus, most of Meadowdale Park is filled by Lund's Gulch. Not a gulch as you would think of in a western movie, but more of a gulch you would think of in a jungle (sorry, rainforest is the PC term). So the hike today was 1.25 miles down the hill and 1.25 miles back up the hill. It ends at the Sound in one of our typically gravelly beaches. We didn't tarry long on the beach, for the wind was blowing and it was a bit on the chilly side. We did manage to find one Geocache today, however, the two other ones we looked for were either muggled (stolen) or misplaced. We did manage to figure out how to take pictures on the GPS. I'll include a couple so we can see how they look.
When the GPS takes a picture, it embeds the location where the picture was taken, and after doing so, it then shows it on the map. My screen shot here was taken after the pictures were taken off the camera, so the screen is less cluttered. (In one of those "Well, duh!" moments, I discovered that if you turn the screen sideways, your picture is wider than tall!)
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Geocaching? Hiking? no, Shopping.
Garrison Keillor is coming to Saint Michelle Winery and Ticketmaster had a $12.50 surcharge per ticket to buy a $39 ticket, a 32% premium. Not wanting to get ripped off by monopolistic money grabbers, Gail and I decided to drive down to the Winery today (it's only about 15 miles away at the most). So, while we were down there, we figured we'd go geocaching. We found about half a dozen along the Sammamish River Trail so I thought I'd strap on my backpack and get some exercise in.
The tickets were bought, but we managed one geocache before the sky turned dark and it began to rain. Given that the forecast was supposed to be for rain, rain and more rain, we decided to head home. Unfortunately, we had to drive by Woodinville on the way back home, past Sir Plus, an Army surplus store. I love surplus stores, mostly because you never know what you'll find. We stopped in there, and I picked up an Ammo can (for hiding a geocache), a rain coat, and Gail got two pair of gloves. All for less than $40. We decided not to get any MREs (Tuna and Tortellini), a spork, Camo clothes or bullet shells. Then we went to Petsmart to get dog treats (since Zoe was with us).
By the time we got home, the sun was out again, so we took our standard walk around the neighborhood. It started sprinkling by the time we got home. It would have been nicer going along the trail, but I'm also not one that's going to get soaked when I don't have to. It's supposed to be nicer tomorrow, so I'm thinking on heading down to Meadowdale Beach Park. That's a 2.5 to 3 mile hike down Lunds Gulch to the Sound.
The tickets were bought, but we managed one geocache before the sky turned dark and it began to rain. Given that the forecast was supposed to be for rain, rain and more rain, we decided to head home. Unfortunately, we had to drive by Woodinville on the way back home, past Sir Plus, an Army surplus store. I love surplus stores, mostly because you never know what you'll find. We stopped in there, and I picked up an Ammo can (for hiding a geocache), a rain coat, and Gail got two pair of gloves. All for less than $40. We decided not to get any MREs (Tuna and Tortellini), a spork, Camo clothes or bullet shells. Then we went to Petsmart to get dog treats (since Zoe was with us).
By the time we got home, the sun was out again, so we took our standard walk around the neighborhood. It started sprinkling by the time we got home. It would have been nicer going along the trail, but I'm also not one that's going to get soaked when I don't have to. It's supposed to be nicer tomorrow, so I'm thinking on heading down to Meadowdale Beach Park. That's a 2.5 to 3 mile hike down Lunds Gulch to the Sound.
Fitness Review - 4/2
I started training this week with a backpack and my new hiking boots. The backpack weighs just short of 30 lbs stuffed with rags, paper and golf balls. Unfortunately, rain and work commitments helped derail the end of the week.
Ending Weight: 209.0 lbs, down .9 lbs. According to Wii Fit, I crossed the line from Obese to Overweight today. I'm happy about that.
| Day | Exercise | Distance (Miles) | Time (Min) |
| Sun | Just a bit of yard work | 0.0 | 60 min |
| Mon | Wii, Walk (with 28 lb. pack) | 1.5 | 60 min |
| Tue | Wii, Walk (with 28 lb. pack) | 1.5 | 60 min |
| Wed | Wii, Walk (with 28 lb. pack) | 1.5 | 60 min |
| Thu | Wii | 0.0 | 30 min |
| Fri | None | 0.0 | 0 min |
| Sat | Wii, Walk (with 28 lb. pack) | 1.8 | 75 min |
Ending Weight: 209.0 lbs, down .9 lbs. According to Wii Fit, I crossed the line from Obese to Overweight today. I'm happy about that.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Who's that Homeless Guy wandering around?
So, on Monday I started walking around the business park where I work with this 28 lb. backpack on. I also brought in my new hiking boots to start to bring them in. My typical noontime walk is a 1.5 mile route that I get done in 25-30 minutes. Usually, I carry a grip strengthener because a few years ago I had a bit of a run in with tendinitis and the physical therapist gave me some exercises to strengthen my grip and exercise my arms. I guess the people in the neighborhood have gotten used to this bearded dude wandering around doing Nazi salutes at lunchtime.
On Monday, though, some bearded dude was now wandering around with a big backpack on his back. This is a prestigious community, they generally don't let people like that just wander around at lunchtime. Most cars that drove by gave me a double take trying to figure out what was up with that. Before I got back to my desk, I had three people ask me what the blazes was going on. Did my wife throw me out? Did the bank take away the house?
So I sent out a notice to everyone at work on Monday telling them that, No, I wasn't losing my house or wife, just maybe my mind. I explained to them about my quest, what windmills were in my way, and how I was preparing for it. I also gave them the link to this blog, so we'll see if my stats go up.
On Monday, though, some bearded dude was now wandering around with a big backpack on his back. This is a prestigious community, they generally don't let people like that just wander around at lunchtime. Most cars that drove by gave me a double take trying to figure out what was up with that. Before I got back to my desk, I had three people ask me what the blazes was going on. Did my wife throw me out? Did the bank take away the house?
So I sent out a notice to everyone at work on Monday telling them that, No, I wasn't losing my house or wife, just maybe my mind. I explained to them about my quest, what windmills were in my way, and how I was preparing for it. I also gave them the link to this blog, so we'll see if my stats go up.
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