We began our hike with a short detour to Tanaya Lake to load up on water. The air was still cool, as the sun hadn’t been out for too long, and the lake was lovely. With a total of 9 liters for the three of us, on top of the liter we each had drank on the drive to the trailhead, we figured we’d be good-to-go for a long while.
You could say that I have had my “head in the clouds” for some time now. I mean, I’ve been seeking out the opportunity to hike up Clouds Rest, either as a day hike or as a part of a bigger backpacking trip, for several years now. You would have thought that I would have researched it enough to know about the top most section of the climb. I didn’t however. It wasn’t until I pleaded ignorance after theMAN mentioned to the difficulty of “the spine” that I was finally educated when he shared a YouTube video to me and YaYa. It was the night before we were to meet it face to face.
Had I known about this “spine” section of the clouds rest hike in Yosemite, I don’t know if I would have been so eager to do the climb. I would have at least gone into it with a lot more respect for what was ahead of us.
After all, we’ve been trying to make this trek happen for several years and finally decided to make a separate trip to take it on as an out and back hike (instead of the sought after backpacking trip). Even without the heavy weight of a backpacking load, this hike completely and utterly kicked my arse.
Today, on the morning after, my back is aching and my legs feel a heaviness that is hard to describe. I wonder how YaYa’s ankle is doing after, not one, but two good ankle rolls along the way.
Not only did this 14+ mile hike humble me, it also served as an eye opener to the level of fitness that I should, but DON’T, have in order to successfully conquer the planned Spartan Beast that is scheduled a month from now. On our recent drive to Southern California and back, I spotted the race location at the base of the hilliest part of the drive known as the “grapevine.” The hills here are so step, I hate to drive this section. I most certainly won’t enjoy trying to run them.
I have been training and have been getting stronger. But it’s clearly not enough. I’d be kidding myself if I thought I could just ramp up my training and be race-ready in only seven weeks. And although YaYa, at the young age of 20 years old, could totally bang it out, he also feels that he wouldn’t have a “good race” if he were to go for his Beast in October.
You could say that we have now pulled our heads out of the clouds so-to-speak for, as we make our way down from the peak of Clouds Rest, YaYa and I both realize that pushing off the planned race can be to our benefit — IF we continue our efforts.
We must not lose momentum in the training we’ve done so far. We will need to continue to ramp up our training and, like the Clouds Rest hike, become educated in what lies ahead of us. Personally, I need to get those running miles logged, master those burpees, and find places where I can learn to clear walls, swing on rings and ropes and other things. I need to do all this and so much more.
Once we’ve done the work, then we can stand proudly as we take on the “Beast.”
I don’t have any new years resolutions. I just want to continue my efforts in getting spartan fit. Since I’ve been off from work since before Christmas, I’ve had a lot of flexibility to fit in a run, hike, or strength training session (however primitive). That all ends tomorrow — when I return to my nine-to-five. And even though my body needed a rest day, I made a conscious effort to get to the gym today just to start the year off right.
I expected the gym to be crowded — with the influx of resolution warriors. Much to my surprise, the parking lot was pretty empty and I found an empty locker with ease. Although I like to see people making positive changes in their health during this time of year, I often get frustrated with the disruption in the normal gym-rat buzz. Today, I was relieved that the crowds haven’t quite made the change as of yet.
I lifted a few dumbbells this way and that, played around on the turf for a bit, then went back inside to stretch and foam roll. Then I watched as YaYa finished up his workout while the gym emptied out for the early new years day closure.
As I noted in my post to K-B, my training hit its first obstacle when Monday arrived. I do not intend to give up my well established morning yoga practice and therefore I need to fit in my training during lunch or after work. I never was good at going out for a run after dark. I’m a bit of a klutz and there are a lot of uneven sidewalks and pokie-balls to bring me down. Of course, there is the treadmill option but I am still scarred (literally and mentally) from the concussion incident of 2009. Although I have run on it, I am so tense that my back pain really flares up – especially if I let go of the side rails.
With my chronic back issues, I know that I must minimize the impact of running. It is also essential that I learn to lift, throw, and pull my body and heavy objects with the utmost care and body mechanics. I’ve picked up a few books so that I can educate myself on the types of activities that I will need to master and also learn how to do these movements properly. The burpee has been the first of these drills. Although similar to the movements I do regularly in my morning sun salutations, the jumping component and rapid succession makes them brutally HARD.
My body was not feeling so great this week with the additional activity I had taken on during the weekend. Perhaps I took on too much too soon. My athlete’s mindset kicked in and I really went for it. After the pain set in, I backed off a bit. I have been sneaking in the strength and cardiovascular activities here and there throughout the work week.
I’ve also been trying to find creative ways to get me going such as inserting some hanging from the pull up bar (hanging as long as I can hold on x 3) a few times during the day. Squat-JUMPs, lunges, and bear crawls are easily inserted here and there. I’ve found that these exercises are a lot more tolerable if they are inserted during the gaps or waiting periods that happen throughout the day (i.e. while the dogs eat or food cooks). Not only is it time-efficient but it’s just easier to day.
Last night, during my Friends (by Netflix) time, I decided that I would do five burpees in the gap between episodes and five more when the theme song plays. Five seems to be my limit as that is when my low back really dips due to fatigue and lack of strength. It’s not much, I know, but I have found that if you do them throughout the day, they start to add up. Last night, I kept them up until I could no longer lift myself back up from the ground. Yes, “the ground”; I’ve learned that correct way to perform a burpee is for your chest to touch the ground before pushing back up. Once permanently grounded, it was time to turn the TV off.
Tomorrow, I am going hiking with my friend, Cindy. She doesn’t know it yet but I am thinking of introducing a different version of the Burpees-with-Friends game.
YaYa, who is the reason I’m taking on the race, is taking a different approach. He never stopped working on gaining muscle strength when football ended so he feels very comfortable in the gym. And even though our approaches are vastly different (at least at this point), he is my biggest cheerleader. It’s kind of like when I was chasing my BQ — only different. It’s interesting to be joining *his* race instead of the reverse. When he initially suggested that I join his team, I thought “yeah, right! I couldn’t possibly do that.” The more I thought about it, the more I just wanted to be able to do it. Not many parents get the opportunity to join their kids on such an event. This is an opportunity that I don’t want to let pass.
Although I have tried to separate my yoga blog posts from the rest of my blog posts, the division is a façade. Because of this, there is often a tug-o-war between my two blogs over many of the posts. For example, I recently published a piece about learning to play guitar on my yoga blog. If you read it, you will know why I chose to post it on the yoga blog. However, if I’d written a little differently, it could very easily have landed here. Similarly, I am noticing some parallels on my yoga mat which translate to some of the struggles now surfacing as I try to pick up running again. There are lessons on the mat that mimic the work that must be done in developing the physical and mental strength required to build up my “obstacle immunity” for the Spartan Race. For this reason, over the next 6 months, I urge you to take a peek at the writing on Keeping Balance once in a while for there may be posts of interest to you there (even if you aren’t a yoga practitioner).