It’s been a full week on heavier weights and one hour cardio sessions and I’m ending the week feeling good – stronger and content.
The 7.5 lb is still making me burn on the last few reps so I won’t be increasing them to 10 for another week.
On the last strength training day, I did attempt a plank for a bit and that was tough. Am I supposed to shake?? That probably means I should do it more.
Next week’s strength sessions, I will add a 1 minute plank.
Cardios continue to be entertaining and rewarding with The Fitness Marshall. I could probably do one every day but I need to focus more on strength.
I followed my schedule except for moving the rest day from Sunday to Saturday to make room for Cub scouts pinewood Derby that Saturday.
So this is the Week 3 training summary:
Strength (3 days)
- 3 x 15 Dumbbell squat curl press (7.5 lb)
- 2 x 10 dumbbell single leg calf raises (7.5 lb)
- 1 x 10 three way calf raises (7.5 lb)
- On day 3, I added a one minute plank
Cardio (2 days)
- 1 x 60 minute sweat session with The Fitness Marshall
- 3 hour hike
I’m really happy we managed to get a hike in today (Sunday). It was forecasted to start snowing but it didn’t seem the snow would stick so we did it.
Tanyard Gap to Rich Mountain Fire Tower is about 5 miles and almost 1.5K ft elevation gain.
Unfortunately, I had a small equipment failure again forgetting to click start on my hike so missed recording a quarter of a mile at the beginning but my Garmin did pick up most of my activity.
I wore my pack that I would take with me. It’s an Osprey Eja Pro 55. I think I’m going to call her Biggie. I didn’t load it completely but it did have enough for maybe 60% of my final load. I really wanted to get familiar with the pack and here are some initial observations from this hike:
- The waist pockets sit on my ass basically and make it hard for me to reach them easily other than for snacks. (I have a big butt).
- I put on a Patagonia UL fanny pack which held my phone, headphones, gloves for easier access and I will be shopping for a belt pouch add on so it is part of the pack
- While not as padded as my Kyte, this was a very comfortable pack for being an UL pack.
- It was very water resistant during the constant snow for the 3 hours. I brought a rain cover but didn’t end up using it. The inner contents appeared to stay dry.
In other gear, I also got to give the Patagonia Micropuff hoodie a decent test during the snow.
- This is a water resistant not waterproof jacket. My inside sleeves did become damp. I would throw a poncho on top if we hit snow/rain on the JMT
- Excellent puffy that I could unzip when getting hot and zip up my face where really cold.
- Michael wore a beanie and I didn’t need one with my buff + the hood.
The trail is one we had done before. I noticed I did not need any breaks going uphill and was not fighting for my life this time as I did last time.
1.5k ft elevation gain was a decent amount and it was all uphill to Rich Mountain with no flat areas for rest.
I am very happy with how just 3 weeks of strength and cardio have already improved my hiking experience so far!!
I still couldn’t keep up with Michael on uphills but I was ready to barrel past him downhill.
The snow was falling down really hard especially towards the top and the trail was wet and muddy but I did not slide.
Poles and good shoes kept me upright the entire way!
(Tiktok here https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8t32kH7/)
Didn’t get to take many photos and videos and missed out on the fantastic view that’s usually up at Rich Mountain but it was still a very fun hike.
