Middle-Aged-Man
Cycling, Fitness and Other Things
Hike – Strawberry Potrero
01365 days
I work for an large aerospace company in the Antelope Valley. They have recreation clubs for us the employees, and one club that I am a member of is the Hiking Club. Kevin is the commissioner and he set up this hike. There were about dozen folks, (only two women, my wife Teri and Tracy) came out for this hike.
I was very excited to see my wife join me hiking. We planned a hike with Tracy and her husband Sean, next month to climb Half Dome in Yosemite. That will require some fitness training, so this hike will help prepare us for Half Dome.
We arrived at the parking lot at 8:00, met up with the others and was on the trail at 8:30. The trail was maintained well and it was a good hike.
The weather was cool at the bottom, due to some thin fog. It warmed up, but did not seem too warm.
This hike climbs 1500 ft in four miles on the forested north slope of Strawberry Peak. Beginning at the trailhead parking lot at Big Tujunga Creek, the trail switchbacks up, sometimes steeply, through mostly shady slopes to reach a scenic lookout over Wickiup Creek before following the ridgeline into the potrero.
Strawberry Potrero is a sandy, forested basin in the shadow of Strawberry Peak, and will serve as our destination for the hike. It is a good location to admire the high granite wall above that forms the north face of Strawberry Peak.
After a long break at the top we came down. Tracy with camera in hand, took some great photos, she uploaded them to flickr, Tracy’s Pictures. The bad news is that Tracy rolled her right angle. I did not realize how badly she was hurt. It has swollen and she most likely need stay off it for a few day.
Softball, Another Lost
01367 days
by douglaspaulwade
in Fitness
The game for us never really got going. We were out-gunned. The team came to win, while we were way too casual. We lost 14 to 2, or was it 3? Who remembers. The other team, scored nine runs in the first inning.
I managed to do well, at least for an old guy. I hit well 2 of 3 for singles. I was thrown out at first at third time at bat, but I made them work for it. I ran faster than normal. It felt good. (I am hurting this morning).
I got hit in the shoulder by a foul tip, did not hurt, but sounds impressive. I managed to catch two pop-ups and even saved a few over throws from covering first and third, during the game. Oh, I play catcher, so I run all over the place backing up folks, to minimize the errors or to make up for my errors.
Running
01370 days
Today, Teri, Tracy and myself went running at Joe Walker Middle School. The run is two laps of running and one lap walking to rest. We all try to run faster and harder. Overall the run/walk was just under three miles. The fastest time was 11.2 MPH on the last running lap. My heart monitor was letting me know I was near max. Tracy and I seem to keep going at the same pace.
Run
01371 days
Today, Tracy my friend and personal trainer and me got out and ran at work. The goal was to run 3.0 miles non-stop, which we did once before. This was a very hard run on me and Tracy. It was a fast pace for the both of us. She was sore from her Saturday’s run, and well, I am always sore. The motionbased numbers look good. While, I felt it was killing me, I like everything after we stop. Check out the vitals. Overall we ran at 10:09 pace for 30 minute and 40 seconds, which include a slight stop in shoe tying time (say that 10 times). Overall 3.02 miles.
Softball (we win)!
01374 days
by douglaspaulwade
in Fitness
Thursday night we played after two weeks off because of the Poppy Festival. We played at 7:45pm and did pretty well. We as a team batted well . We fielded well, but not that great.
It was a full length game, we won 27-13. I did bat well. Five singles! I ran well, but after I was sore. It was a hard week on the ol’ hip. Three days of running in a row, followed up with softball. I am not in my twenties and that stuff adds up.
Walking
01374 days
I have been walking for a goal of virtually walking across America in one year. I started in Mid January and set a goal of 16,000 steps a day.
As of first of May, I have walked 1,593,289 steps or an average of 15,933 a day (a little shy of my goal). The distance so far is 779.5 miles. On the map that is about walking from Santa Monica Pier in California to Albuquerque New Mexico.
Tale of Two Runners (Tracy Whittaker)
01378 days
This is an article that Tracy wrote about our running at work. I liked it so much, I want to cross post it to my blog.
A Tale of Two Runners: Doug and Tracy Tackle the Streets and the Stairs
Today was muggy, overcast, and quite warm for a “spring” day. Just the perfect day for a run! So lace up those shoes and come along for the ride. It was 11am, stretching had been done and satellites had been located for the GPS tracking device, as we began our training. Synchronizing watches we began with gusto and right away we had our first 1/4 mile done in merely 2min 16 seconds. A decent pace. As we settled in, it was soon apparent that with the weather conditions, maybe our gust-o was a bit “much-o”. So the next mile was a relatively good pace at about 2 min 29 sec per 1/4 mile. From there we caught our breath, stretched our aches, and headed back to our initial position with a slower pace ranging from 2min 34 sec – 2 min 41sec per 1/4 mile. Exhausted, sweaty, but proud we finished 3 miles in 33 min 02 sec including our walking time [per mile pace of 10:52].
As if it were not enough to do this to ourselves, it was time for the real butt-kicker! The Stairwell. 16 flights of torture, lung screaming, thigh burning, torture! Admittedly, I lack luster in this area. As we started out, my mind was saying “you can do this, its only 16 flights, only 8 floors, only 168 stairs, only 16 landings, 16 turns…power up them, don’t be a wus”…and much more negotiating continued as I stared up the seemingly endless Well; the hot, muggy, feels-like-theres-not-a-breath-of-wind, I-just-might-pass-out-my-heart-is-beating-so-fast stairwell. You get the picture.
And trust me it was brutal. I took a beating. Beaten into submission were my lungs, my legs, my willpower, and worst of all my ego. How out of shape I felt as my workout buddy, Doug, kicked my butt up those stairs. Not just the “I beat you by a few steps win”, no, the “multiple flights, I’ll see you when you get up here win”, which will serve as a good reminder of where I stand in the world. I am sure it will take a while to forget my legs were screaming for a break as I failed to make it ‘running’ up the stairs, but at the top at least I was out of breath, heart pounding. As I walked back down to the ground floor, my legs feeling as though they were standing on paint shakers, I thought ‘let’s do that again’. Okay so maybe that was sarcastic, but am I glad I did a second round? Sure, yeah, at the time NO, however, looking back I am glad because that which does not kill you makes you stronger. As we cool down, I am sopping wet from head to toe, and I think to myself ‘Another successful workout, another day down, another step closer, I can’t wait to do it all again tomorrow’.
Until next time…stay strong, train hard, and expect results. You can acheive anything you set your mind to.
Tonights Run
01384 days
Tonight, I run with my personal trainer, and family friend, Tracy. She and I headed to the Aqueduct. We started at 60th West and ran into the wind for 1.5 miles, after a 1/4 warm up walk. At the half way point, we walked another 1/4 mile and then ran back to the start. Overall, running was 3.0 miles (1/4 mile longer then last time). We walked a 1/2 mile to cool down. It was great!
Running up Mount Rosamond
01388 days
by douglaspaulwade
in Fitness
A couple of weeks ago, I walked up Mt. Rosamond with folks from work, Jeff, Tracy and her husband Sean. The walk was nice, I stopped to take pictures along the way and had to run to catch up. I noticed or believed that I could run up the hill. I do not believe that I am able to run up it non-stop, but I want to make that a small goal.
Run – Aqueduct
01388 days
Last night, I got out to run. I talked Tracy, one of my fitness partners to join me. We set out at 6:00pm at the aqueduct, and there was no wind, that is rare. We started running west from 60th Street West, until we reached the pump station, that is about 1.5 miles. We walked for the first half mile (to warm up, after stretching), then ran one mile. I was experiencing some discomfort with my shins. At the mid point, we walked a 1/4 mile, then ran for 1.5 miles back to the gate. At the end we did a 1/2 mile walk for cool down.
