Anthony mixes it up

For the most part my routine stayed the same this past week, with a few minor tweaks to keep things interesting. “Two-a-days” are pretty much standard for me now, with weightlifting in the morning and cardio in the afternoon.

I sat in on my first cycling class the other day. It’s a great workout. It really fired up the quads and the lungs. I’ve been back four times since and feel myself getting stronger each time. Each class is 45 minutes to an hour in duration and the intensity is up to the individual. I know it’s not the “best” cardio for climbing, but I’ve found that there are a few advantages (for me at least): 1) it helps me to mix it up. By utilizing different training modalities, I stay interested, challenged, and out of the rut of monotony. 2) It is very motivating. There is something about being in a room full of people that brings out my competitive side; I refuse to let anyone work harder than me, so I really push myself (c’mon, admit it…you guys are just as competitive as I am…or, am I a freak?). 3) It fits my schedule. As much as I want to, there is no way to fit in a 4+ hour hike each day. There is one disadvantage to cycling though, (at least so far). How do I say this? Um, the bike seat is very hard. Consequently, my seat is very sore. I’ll be taking a few days and hitting the stair-master and treadmill instead.

My wife and I got in a pretty good hike on Saturday. I had picked up a backpack earlier in the week, so I loaded it with 53lbs (I used the bathroom scales) of stuff and we hit the trail. We hiked to a place called Mcafee’s knob. It’s a popular piece of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. Total distance is about 8 miles roundtrip. It’s a pretty easy hike with only about 1200 feet of elevation gain, most of which is in the last mile of the trip up. Not counting the time spent enjoying the view, we spent a total of just under 3.5 hours hiking. It rained hard the whole way up and my wife was a real trooper about it. She really isn’t “into it”, the way I am, and I know she just goes to keep me company, which I appreciate. We are planning an over-nighter this weekend which should be fun.