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This Week 9 Training Log is a bonus extra week of sharing my daily adventures in sweat!
Why? Because I don’t feel like we’re done yet.
When we last left our training in Week 8, I was trying to work in more vertical-gain training through use of my new Maxi-Climber, treadmill hikes, and more actual uphill hiking.
The uphill hiking close to home is very limited, so I’ll be getting creative with daytrips to uphill trails for the next few weeks – as weather and time allows.
So naturally, on Monday I did some yoga and about 5 miles of TOTALLY FLAT urban hiking in my own neighborhood because my car was in the shop again.
Sigh.
But I got redemption Tuesday, when a few of us met at Hanging Rock State Park for nice long steep hike 🙂
Hanging Rock State Park is only a couple of hours drive away for me, so very do-able as a day-hike destination.
This was the first out of town State Park trip I took my daughter on, about 20 years ago – when she was just 8 years old – almost at this time of year.
We hiked the Hanging Rock Trail, slowly and with breaks, and her face just lit up when we reached the top.
She had such a sense of accomplishment and wonder – she was hooked!
From then until the dreaded Middle School years she was my little hiking buddy.
Maybe your kids would like Hanging Rock too 🙂
Besides good memories, Hanging Rock also has some very steep uphills, so it’s a great place to train for my bucket list hiking trip!
In fact, I devised this hike route specifically to take advantage of the FULL uphill experience all the way from the park’s Dan River Access up to the tippy-top at Hanging Rock.
So that was fun.
No, seriously, it was fun!
The hike starts from the river, then crosses the main park road, where it’s joined by the Mountains to Sea Trail (MST).
On the way up there are at least 9 creek crossings (we kept losing count) before eventually reaching Window Falls.
It’s just a hard slog uphill beyond that to the Visitor Center’s parking lot.
We took a quick break there, and then found the Hanging Rock trailhead across the lot, and started up again.
The Hanging Rock Trail is paved at the start, and then turns to natural trail heading uphill.
When the trail turns rocky, there are many stone steps to help you go up. It gets very wide, too, made so by the many many visitors that take this trail.
There was some significant erosion, too, so when you visit, try to take the steps so you don’t make it worse!
Up top was breathtaking as always, but populated by kids on a fieldtrip who were also enjoying the view.
Squirrely kids near ledges with steep drops made us all nervous, so we didn’t linger very long before starting back down the trail.
The Visitors Center was also very crowded, so we didn’t stop.
We crossed the parking lot to the Indian Creek trailhead and made our way back down to our starting point at the Dan River Access.
I have to say, going down the trail was a lot easier than going up.
I’m pretty sure I need more vertical training 😉
Wednesday, as you might expect, was a rest day.
Thursday I had scheduled a nice hike along the Eno that includes part of the MST and an old unmarked trail, the Sawmill Trail.
It turned to to be just Holly and I, and we had a great 8.5 mile hike.
The trail was pretty much deserted except for us – and no traffic noise either, so we could actually hear the river!
Friday was a cold rainy day, so I stuck to indoor training, starting with some longer yoga.
Then I did a quick 15 minutes on my vertical climber – and I do mean quick because I did 4000ft elevation gain!
I followed up with 45 minutes of kickboxing and called it good.
Saturday training started with some yoga, followed up with a 1 hour/3.75mile treadmill hike uphill.
I carried a pack weighted 10lbs and hiked 1800 vertical feet.
Later, I joined That Man and the Puppy at Falls Lake for more uphill hiking, this time outdoors but only 3 miles RT to “our” beach and back.
The wind was high, and the water must have been pretty cold because the puppy didn’t want to swim!
Sunday I had posted a 10 mile hike in Umstead State Park, and a lot of people wanted to join me, but I had to cancel due to forecasted really unpleasant weather.
It was also the day after setting clocks forward for Daylight Saving Time, so probably a good morning to take off anyway…
I rescheduled the hike for the next weekend, and got some exercise in my home gym with yoga, kickboxing, upper body weights.
So that winds up Week 9.
But, here’s the deal: training never really stops.
You can focus it more by training for a specific race or hike, or to get in shape for an epic hike or other event.
But that’s not the real goal.
More than tuning up for a single event, we train to be fit enough to enjoy our lives and activities every day.
TAKEAWAY LESSON: We’re really training for life. We all want to be able to do whatever we want to – both ordinary and extraordinary things – for as long as we can. And have fun doing it!
I’ll keep posting updates on my continued training for the next couple of months as I get ready for my bucket list hike in Greece.
And I really hope this year’s Awesome training has helped you reach your goals!
If you’re new around here, but you still want to do the training from the start – you can!
Take a look at my 8 Weeks to Awesome Training Plan post, if you want to see what this hike training is all about.
To Track Your “Awesome” Progress at Home Click Here!
You’ll get instructions and three printable trackers:
-
- Your Hike Plan Worksheet
- Daily & Weekly Workouts
- Weekly Meals tracker
Happy training! LJ
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 Best Food for Asthma post, if you want to see what I’m eating (or trying to eat) during the training.
Thanks for stopping by – see you next time! LJ
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LJ has spent much of her free time as a single Mom – and now as an empty-nester – hiking in the US and around the world. She shares lessons learned from adventures both local and in exotic locations, and tips on how to be active with asthma, plus travel, gear, and hike planning advice for parents hiking with kids and beginners of all ages. Read more on the About page.