Most recently updated February 3rd, 2023
Estimated Reading Time: 2.3 minutes
– – I started the Awesome hike training again this past Monday, with some yoga followed by a Dam hike (that’s a moderate-paced 7-miler to the Dam and back).
This hike was on the MST at Falls Lake in the warm sunshine with friends, led by my hiker friend Heidi.
The day before I’d led a brisk 9-mile fitness hike in the morning cold, so a warmer “moderate” hike sounded like a great idea!
Well, Heidi was extra-energetic, so the pace was a bit MORE than moderate! (Maybe it was the sunshine.) But it was still fun 🙂
Tuesday was another 7.5 miles hike, this time on part of the MST trail on the Eno river. I also added 5 lbs extra weight to my pack.
It was a cold morning, so my hike group had dwindled to just myself and one other stalwart hiker by hike time.
That’s fine – in fact, it was so pretty we took advantage of it being “just us” to hike an extra 1.5 miles along the river.
Wednesday I took as a very light, almost rest day, because at that point I realized I’d already hiked ~25 miles in the previous 4 days, and had committed to another 20 before the end of the week.
Last year I found out the hard way that over-doing can screw up your whole season!
So just some yoga and upper body weights.
Besides, it was That Man’s birthday, so we took the afternoon off and went to check out Zinc House, a new brewery/winery in the Falls Lake area.
It was a good day to visit, because we had the place mostly to ourselves, and got a chance to meet Muskie, the owner’s golden retriever, who was making his rounds and getting pets 🙂
Most Common New Year’s Resolutions
Even if you aren’t doing the Awesome training because of a New Year’s resolution, there’s something about the start of a new year that causes people to commit (or re-commit) to some goals for improvement.
So, what do people want to change about themselves and their lives?
A Forbes Health/OnePoll survey found the most popular resolutions for 2023 to be (in order of most to least common):
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- Improved mental health (45%)
- Improved fitness (39%)
- Lose weight (37%)
- Improved diet (33%)
- Improved finances (30%)
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Some less popular resolutions include stop smoking (14%), learn a new skill (12%) and make time for hobbies (11%).
Fitness, weight and diet were all on my radar this year – and every year! What about you?
Thursday I led a (small but feisty) group on the Lake Trail and greenways in Bond Park and all the way to Davis Drive park and back.
I chose this route for strength training, because it’s pretty flat and can be a good choice after a recent rain.
Friday I joined a fun exploratory hike led by another hiker friend, Michael, in search of a lost quarry in Eno State Park.
I still had 5lbs extra weight in my pack for mild strength training.
The hike was about 8 miles altogether, with around half (I think) off trail, and some hills.
Off-trail is harder hiking, carefully choosing your steps to avoid rocks and potholes hidden under fallen leaves, and lifting your knees high over the grasses and other obstacles.
And of course, finding your way back.
But we did find the quarry (and our way back) and had a lot of fun doing it!
Saturday was cold and rainy, so I did my kickboxing and weightlifting indoors and called it good.
What Percentage of New Year’s Resolutions Fail?
The second Friday in January has been nicknamed “Quitter’s Day”, which might give us a clue 😉
And the joke with fitness friends is that machine lines at the gym will for sure be back to normal by March.
Sadly, it’s not really a joke.
One survey (of those who responded) found that:
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- 11% lasted less than a month.
- 19% made it at least one month,
- 14% made it at least three months,
- 11% made it at least six months, and only
- 55% kept their resolution from 6 months-year.
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Ugh! That’s kind of discouraging – on the other hand, it’s more than I expected.
So, if you just keep doing something for at least 6 months – even if you start from scratch every day – you’re still doing better than half of the people!
That means if you just have persistence, and hope to do better in the future, you’ve already won 🙂
Sunday, I had a great group of hikers join me on the 6.5 mile Company Mill Trail in Umstead State Park – despite temps in the 20’s to start!
This trail has some noticeable hills, especially right toward the end (ugh!) so it’s a great training hike. (I still had an extra 5lbs in my pack.)
We also ran into a huge number of blackbirds flocked to a single tree in the middle of the forest. We only saw them because of how loud they were!
I’d never seen that in the forest before, and it was probably due to the very cold temps.
This week, I also did long-form yoga or at least stretches every day. And as for my diet… I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll do better next week 😉
And now at the end of the week… drum roll, please…
I’m pretty much the same.
Well, crap.
Logically, I know it will take longer than a week to see or feel any difference.
It’s okay, though. As my kickboxing instructor says, “If you’re moving, you’re doing it!” And tomorrow is another day!
But here’s the thing:
You DO have to do the work – or at least some of it – every day.
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- Even if it’s boring, painful, inconvenient or all of those.
- Even if you start over every single day.
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It’s just going to take a while.
So, on to the next hike – which is tomorrow morning 🙂
TAKEAWAY LESSON: Patience and hope for the future is required for training, and instant gratification is never fast enough!!
NEW: Track Your “Awesome” Progress at Home!
You’ll get instructions and three printable trackers:
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- Your Hike Plan Worksheet
- Daily & Weekly Workouts
- Weekly Meals tracker
A download link in your confirmation email let’s you get started right away. Happy training! LJ
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
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