8 week training plan Archives

Week 4: Are We Awesome Yet? Let’s Set Some Goals

Most recently updated February 18th, 2024

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

– – It’s Training Week 4! That means that at the end of the week we’ll have been doing this stuff on purpose for a whole month.

Since this is an 8-week plan, and we’re halfway through, should we be seeing some improvements?

Well, that depends. How fit were you when we started, and what goals did you set?

Are We There Yet Meme — If you don’t know where you’re going, you don’t know when you’re done.

If, like me, you weren’t really sure exactly what goal or hike you were training for – just had a general goal of getting more fit – you may not really be able to judge your progress.

The fact is, you can’t measure progress towards a goal if you have not yet defined it. You’ll also never know when you’re done 😉

I was delaying choosing a goal partly due to lingering illness – and the fear I wouldn’t be up to whatever epic thing I wanted to do.

I was also waiting to take advantage of a sale at my favorite sustainable travel company (read my page about it here.)

But I finally did it!

Aaaaand (drumroll please) my “goal” is… a week of hiking in Eastern Iceland!

Loðmundarfjörður- Seyðisfjörður hike in Eastern Iceland

The trip includes hiking every day – along with a lot of other amazing things – so I picked the longest hike and the hardest hike (for elevation gain) to set my training goals.

On this trip, the longest hike is 11.5 miles and the most elevation gain is 2100ft. They aren’t on the same hike, but for sure if I train to those goals I’ll be able to do every hike on the trip – and enjoy it 🙂

Week 4 weather was a mix of rain and cold.

Week 4 weather was deceptively warm – in the afternoons. But there were a lot of cold mornings, and a lot of forecasted rain.

This week’s training began with a rainy day, and a planned “rain hike” – 7.5 miles on the Company Mill trail and Multi-Use trail in Umstead State Park.

This route takes advantage of the higher elevation on the Company Mill trail and the harder , more flat surface of the dirt/gravel Multi-Use trail to keep us out of the mud – and also keep us hikers from destroying the natural trails while they’re wet!

The weather did as forecasted, so we did the first half of the hike under clouds and were able to test our gear in a steady rain for the second half.

My Mountain Climber machine in my home gym.

Monday continued with a cold morning and I had meetings in the afternoon, so I contented myself with yoga/Pilates followed by a 3.5 mile uphill hike on my treadmill with a 10lb pack.

Tuesday was an even colder morning and a busy day.

So, I had another home gym workout with yoga/Pilates and 30 minutes on my Mountain Climber machine for vertical gain training.

Later, I walked a couple of miles in the neighborhood to stretch my legs and get some fresh air.

Last year, my goal hike for the Awesome Training was a lot harder: I was planning an epic hiking trip to Greece – which included a 2-day hike up the slopes of Mount Olympus!

We hiked up from Prionia up 6890ft to a mountain refuge on the FIRST DAY, then spent the night.

The next day, we hiked from there to 2 summits -Skala (9455ft) and Skolio (9550ft) – and then ALL THE WAY back down the E4 from there to Prionia. (See AllTrails description of the summits route.)

I didn’t have any trouble with any the hikes on my trip to Greece after using the Mount Olympus hike as the goal hike for my training.

This year my goal hikes in Eastern Iceland require a lot less vertical training, although hikes are mostly 8-11 miles in length every day.

The trip also includes a lot more just walking and taking in the beautiful scenery in addition to planned hikes than last year’s trip, but I’ve set goals based on hike specs included in the trip itinerary.

Borgarfjörður - Breiðuvík — Borgarfjörður – Breiðuvík

Specific hikes included in my Eastern Iceland trip:

Day 1: Borgarfjörður Valley Hike, Bakkagerdi 4h 10km (6.2mi)

This hike goes through Borgarfjörður valley following sheep trails up to Dimmidalur (the Dark Valley) at the base of the Door Mountains.

Day 2: Stórurð (Boulder Hollow) Day Hike, Stórurð, 5h, 14km (8.6mi), 2100ft

This strenuous trek goes up and over gravel, scree and boulders. Start from Vatnskarð pass (431 m/1414ft) hiking up and crossing Geldingafjall mountain (640 m/2100ft), before heading inland. (This is my goal hike for vertical gain.)

The trek continues down into Stórurð, with its enormous rocks and small river.

Day 3: Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields Hike, Mývatn, 1h30m, 4km (2.5mi)

Last active in 1984, this hike goes along the smoking Leirhnjúkur lava fields which lie within the Krafla caldera. The landscape is striking and many compare it to a Martian–scape.

Breiðavík - Húsavík - Loðmundarfjörður — Breiðavík – Húsavík – Loðmundarfjörður

Day 4: Moors and Breiðavík area Hike, Afrétt, 7h, 16-18km (9.9-11.2mi), 1572ft

Starting in Afrétt. begin the hike across the moors through Urðarhólavatn, Gæsavötn and Víknaheiði. Continue to beautiful Breiðavík inlet with its golden sand beaches and high cliffs, perfect for bird watching and a lunch stop. After, hike to 479 m/1572ft at Gagnheiði ridge which offers a stunning panoramic view of the mountains. (This is my goal hike for length.)

Day 5: Brúnavík area Hike, Brúnavík, 6h, 13km (8.08mi), 1181ft

Hike up from the coast across green mountain screes to Brúnavík pass at 360 m/1181ft then down to Brúnavík inlet. Walk across the black sand beach and continue the hike over Hofstrandarskarð pass at 321 m/1053ft, and alongside the colourful Helgárgil canyon.

Day 6: Seyðisfjörður Village Walk, 3h-4h

Visit historic Seyðisfjörður fishing Village nestled under Mt. Strandartindur and Mt. Bjolfur and along the deep fjord.

Known for its preservation of old 19th century buildings and stunning location, it’s considered one of the most picturesque towns in Iceland.

I took a short scouting hike on local trails at Umstead State Park.

Wednesday was another cold day, but I couldn’t take it any more!

I did my yoga/Pilates routine, then took myself out to Umstead State Park to investigate a new route that involved linking some of the shorter trails together.

I only hiked about 3.5 miles, but I had extra weight in my pack to make it harder.

Thursday was another gym workout, but this time I did my yoga/Pilates workout followed by 4 miles on the treadmill, flat, for speed.

Later, when it was warmer, I joined That Man and the puppy for 3 miles walking to and around the new Cary Downtown Park.

The renovated Cary DTP is a fairly new addition to the area, and is a pleasant, (and certainly not physically challenging) walk.

The large bird play structures in DT Cary Park.

It’s a nice place to sit in the sun, grab a coffee, and see all the other folks out with their little kids and their dogs.

Friday I was back in the woods at Falls Lake, leading a 9 mile group hike on the MST.

We started from the trailhead near Rollingview Marina, going all the way out to the boardwalk beyond Little Lick Creek bridge and back.

This is one of my favorite MST sections, because of the varied terrain, the Lake views – and not lest of all the chance to feed some apple slices to friendly horses in pastures along the way 🙂

Saturday was yoga/Pilates and a rest day.

So, there we’ve done it! Week 4 is finished, with just another 4 weeks to go.

Well, I really thought I’d be further along. And I know what I have to do now.

On the other hand, I know that as long as I keep moving forward – no matter how slowly – I’ll just keep getting better 🙂

NEW: Track Your “Awesome” Progress at Home!

Track your progress towards your fitness goals!

You’ll get instructions and three printable trackers:

- Your Hike Plan Worksheet
- Daily & Weekly Workouts
- Weekly Meals tracker

Click Here to Order!

A download link in your confirmation email let’s you get started right away. Happy training! LJ

Week 5 is next – with longer hikes, heavier weights, more uphill and more training!! Yay?

I hope you’ve found my Training Log ramblings to be helpful- or at least amusing! 🙂 To see more of them go to my Training Log.

You could also take a look at my 8 Weeks to Awesome Training Plan post, if you want to see what kind of training I’m doing.

Thanks for stopping by – see you next time! LJ

The Awesome Hike Training, Season 4

Most recently updated January 6th, 2024

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

This is the 4th year in a row that I’ll spend 8 weeks training at the beginning of the year to get in shape for an awesome epic hike later on.

My last year’s training was for an epic 2 weeks of hiking in Greece, specifically hiking Mt Olympus, the Vikos Gorge and all over the island of Corfu.

We took hike breaks in the sea while on Corfu.

The training did it’s job, and I didn’t have any issues with any of the hikes.

At this point, I don’t know yet what hike that will be for me this year. But it’s still a good idea to be ready to hit the trails by Spring time.

Last year, the NC General Assembly) designated 2023 to be “The Year of the Trail” in North Carolina, and if their goal was to promote more use of NC outdoor recreation resources – it was a success!

Last year both local and regional NC trails saw more traffic, especially from beginning hikers.

Now a year later, the trails will likely be even more popular – and populated! – especially in peak times.

Last year's bucket list hike was Mt Olympus in Greece — Last year’s bucket list hike was Mt Olympus in Greece

It’s safe to say the shorter, easier, and easier-to-get-to beginner-level trails will likely be the most crowded.

All the more reason to train up early, so you can tackle the more ambitious trails when the easy ones are crowded!

The “8 Weeks to Awesome” hike training plan will help you do that, and you’ll be in great shape by Spring Break for any hike you want to do 🙂

The Holidays are just now winding down... — The Holidays are just now winding down…

The Holiday season is just now winding down, so this past week I started to focus on getting back to my usual pretty disciplined training routine.

That routine includes several hikes per week, and starting next week I’ll post the training hikes on my hiking Meetup, so you can hike with me!

And of course, there’s weight training and cardio each week, with stretching every day.

Over the next couple of weeks, along with more focused and increased physical training, I’ll also try to clean up my diet.

Over the holidays – which for me was a series of gatherings for the whole month of December and into January – I went kind of overboard with the cheese intake.

Holiday eating caused me to abandon my usual healthy eating habits, so now I’ve got to get strict with myself again.

Because of my asthma, I’ve adopted a “clean” diet ( you can read about my Anti-Asthma Diet here ) that focuses more on protein and veggies, and less on dairy, breads and grains.

Combined with intermittent fasting, this diet works pretty well for just about anyone, whether you’ve got asthma or not!

Luckily, I live within walking distance of a couple of different grocery stores, so for extra exercise I could walk to the store for smaller trips and carry groceries home in my back pack.

I’ve been very sick with chest/sinus congestion during this past Holiday season, and have been pretty much grounded from hiking.

No specific injury, just hard to breathe with all the buckets-o-snot, and very tired….

So this year, I’ll be training back up from the ground along with everybody else! (Please don’t hurt me…)

I made a checklist/tracker to help everyone measure their hike progress, available now on the IRW Merch Shop!

NEW: Track Your “Awesome” Progress at Home!

You’ll get instructions and three printable trackers:

- Your Hike Plan Worksheet
- Daily & Weekly Workouts
- Weekly Meals tracker

Click Here to Order!

A download link in your confirmation email let’s you get started right away. Happy training! LJ

(Or, you could subscribe and download the pdf for FREE here.)

For your amusement and (I hope) to help with motivation, you can follow along with my journey in my weekly Training Logs. I’ll be adding them as I complete each week.

To see logs from this year and years past go to my Training Log.

You could also take a look at my 8 Weeks to Awesome Training Plan post, if you want to see what kind of training I’m doing.

Anyway, gotta go hork up a lung. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time! – LJ

To get New Idratherwalk Posts
sent directly to your inbox (how convenient!) Click this Button!

Week 4: Don’t Get Stuck in the Middle (So Much Mud!)

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

– – It’s Training Week 4!

That means that at the end of the week we’ll have been doing this stuff on purpose for a whole month. Woot! 🙂

I started on Monday with some yoga, and then joined Lenore and some other hikers in a moderate-paced 6.5 mile hike on Umstead State Park’s Company Mill Trail in the afternoon.

Trail crossing sign at the Company Mill Trail.

I carried 10 lbs extra in my pack to make it a bit more strength building for me.

It was a beautiful warm sunny afternoon, and we took full advantage of it before the rainy colder weather set in for the week.

Tuesday, I did an 8 mile hike, again in Umstead State Park, on a route designed to not be too muddy in the rain – this time on my own.

Kiosk and maps at a trail head in Umstead State Park.

I took advantage of being solo to hike at my own fastest pace and try a little bit of a different route than usual.

Wednesday was another cold rainy – and muddy! – day, so it was kickboxing and upper body weights day in my home gym.

Thursday was raining again, ALL DAY, so I went with the “rainy day” vibe and did a long yoga flow and uphill fast training hike on the treadmill in my home gym.

I missed the outdoors…but…so much mud!

Does the Surface You Hike on Matter?

Paved greenways are a great alternative for hikers, walkers and trail runners when natural trails aren’t available.

But be aware that paved surfaces have a different effect on your body than softer dirt trails.

“Concrete is the worst surface you can run on,” according to Joseph Herrera, DO, assistant professor of rehabilitation at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

“In general, the softer the surface, the more joint-friendly it is,” says Dr. Herrera.

Uneven dirt or gravel trails also give you more balance exercise and work more of your core muscles naturally during your walk or run, so it’s a better workout.

Harder walking surfaces can be very hard on your knees, hips, and ankles. Be sure to choose the right footwear and stretch when you get home!

Blooming tree beside the House Creek Trail in Raleigh

Friday, I had posted a greenway hike at the North Carolina Museum of Art Park, and a bunch of great hikers joined me!

I prefer hiking natural trails, but I was in “mud avoidance” mode.

It was nice to go see what was happening at the NCMA Park, anyway.

They’ve always got something new going on.

We hiked the Park trails, crossed the I-440 pedestrian bridge, and then took a left on the House Creek Trail (also a paved greenway) for something a little bit different.

I’m not a fan of hiking more than a couple of miles on pavement, but when you get so much rain, it’s better for you (AND for the natural forest trails!) to stay away until they’ve had a little time to dry out.

Total distance was about 7.5-8 miles, and I had an extra 10 lbs in my pack.

Construction continues across the road from Schenk Forest.

I stopped by nearby Schenk Forest afterwards to see how the construction was progressing.

Good news! They’ve closed off the pasture again near the main forest road, so the horses are back 🙂

Saturday was another kickboxing and upper weights day for me.

And after that there was a short cold walk in the woods followed by some jamming with musical friends, homemade guac and chips, and beer!

What? I earned it 🙂 Read about how I Hike for Beer. You could do it too!

Coming off of the Company Mill trail onto the MUT. — Coming off of the Company Mill trail onto the MUT on Sunday.

Sunday morning, it was back to the woods!

Though half of the route was on the MUT trails inside the park to avoid most of the muddiness, it was still nice to get back to my favorite forest at Umstead State Park.

I spent a lot of time in Umstead this week – partly due to muddy conditions.

I’ll try to mix it up more next week.

A 6.5 mile hike Sunday morning with 10 extra lbs in my pack and a great groups of hiker friends was not a bad start to the day…

NEW: Track Your “Awesome” Progress at Home!

You’ll get instructions and three printable trackers:

- Your Hike Plan Worksheet
- Daily & Weekly Workouts
- Weekly Meals tracker

Click Here to Order!

A download link in your confirmation email let’s you get started right away. Happy training! LJ

Mossy shelter at the Company Mill trailhead.

So, there we’ve done it! Week 4 is finished, with just another 4 weeks to go.

Harumph. I thought I’d be further along. This is getting kind of tedious…

The trick is to keep your goal (your ‘why”) in mind and keep on going! And also allow yourself to have some fun now and then.

Week 5 is next – with longer hikes, heavier weights, more uphill and more rain!! It should be lots of fun!

That Man and I a few years ago.... — Be Smoochy McSmoocherson when you get your sweetie a nice gift!

And I don’t mean that sarcastically.

Pretty sure…

Oh, and it’s also going to be Valentine’s Day pretty soon!

Look for snarky and fun gifts in the IRW MERCH SHOP Valentine’s Collection!

TAKEAWAY LESSON: Halfway there is also only halfway done – so don’t get stuck – keep going! But also take the time to reward yourself for hard work and celebrate your personal wins at any point in your fitness journey 🙂

I hope you’ve found my Training Log ramblings to be helpful- or at least amusing! 🙂 To see more of them go to my Training Log.

You could also take a look at my 8 Weeks to Awesome Training Plan post, if you want to see what kind of training I’m doing.

Thanks for stopping by – see you next time! LJ

The Awesome Year of the Trail

Most recently updated February 3rd, 2023

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Starting next week, as I have for the past 3 years, I’ll be spending 8 weeks training for an awesome epic hike.

I don’t know yet what hike that will be, but in any case it’s a good idea to be ready to hit the trails before Spring break and definitely before Summer vacations begin.

In fact, now that they (“they” are the NC General Assembly) have designated 2023 to be “The Year of the Trail” in North Carolina, the trails will likely be more popular than ever.

I hiked the Flat Top Tower Trail in Moses H Cone Memorial park on the Blue Ridge Parkway this past summer. I found it by accident while hiking nearby Grandfather mountain, and I'm so glad I did! Read about the Blue Ridge Parkway, Cone Memorial Park, this hike and other local attractions, and how you can visit too. #Idratherwalk #Hiking — Hikers on the Flat Top Tower Trail in Moses H Cone Memorial park on the Blue Ridge Parkway this past summer.

The big challenge from NC State Parks and Rec is for people to walk 100 miles within the coming year.

One hundred miles in a year is not really a problem for regular hikers (I usually hike ~30+ miles per week) so while all of the trails will be busier, it’s safe to say the shorter, easier, and easier to get to beginner-level trails will likely be the most crowded.

All the more reason to train up to tackle more ambitious trails, both locally and in your Bucket List locations!

The holiday season is just now winding down, so this past week I started to focus on getting back to my normally pretty disciplined training routine.

That routine includes several hikes per week – and starting next week I’ll post the training hikes on my hiking Meetup, so you can hike with me!

And of course, there’s weight training and cardio each week, with stretching every day.

Hiking down - and up! - 820 steps at the Kaymoor Miners Trail in New River Gorge NP. — Hiking down – and up! – 820 steps at the Kaymoor Miners Trail in New River Gorge NP.

Over the next couple of weeks, along with more focused and increased physical training, I’ll also try to clean up my diet.

Because of my asthma, I’ve adopted a “clean” diet ( you can read about my Anti-Asthma Diet here ) that focuses more on protein and veggies, and less on dairy, breads and grains.

And no more Holiday cheese platters!

Combined with intermittent fasting, this diet works pretty well for just about anyone, whether you’ve got asthma or not!

Luckily, I live within walking distance of a couple of different grocery stores, so I’ve also decided to walk to the store for smaller trips (that don’t include cat litter), and carry groceries home in my back pack.

Carrying your groceries on your back gives a whole new meaning to “eating light” 🙂

I just finished making a checklist/tracker to help everyone measure their hike progress, available now on the IRW Merch Shop! See below:

NEW: Track Your “Awesome” Progress at Home!

You’ll get instructions and three printable trackers:

- Your Hike Plan Worksheet
- Daily & Weekly Workouts
- Weekly Meals tracker

Click Here to Order!

A download link in your confirmation email let’s you get started right away. Happy training! LJ

(Or, you could subscribe and download the pdf for FREE here.)

Anyway, gotta go sweat. See you next time!

Hiking on the Brumley Mountain trail in Virginia.

TAKEAWAY LESSON: Any diet (and possibly strength training) begins in the grocery store!!

I hope you’ll find my Training Log ramblings to be helpful- or at least amusing! 🙂 To see more of them go to my Training Log.

You could also take a look at my 8 Weeks to Awesome Training Plan post, if you want to see what kind of training I’m doing.

Thanks for stopping by – see you next time! LJ

To get New Idratherwalk Posts
sent directly to your inbox (how convenient!) Click this Button!