TOPS Year 2 Week 8

This week I really focused hard on training for the upcoming hiking season. I've extended my time on the treadmill and upped the amount of "hills" I'm doing. I've tried to do 90 minutes at level 3 on the glute buster or hill interval selection and 45 minutes on level 4 of the same. I alternate every other day with these two settings. The level 4 puts my walking speed at 3.6, which doesn't sound like much, but the incline will range anywhere from 5 to 7, depending on which program I am doing. Walking 3.6 on an incline is a good workout for me right now. I generally don't hike at that pace and the incline does a decent job of simulating a hill/mountain. 

I continue to check off boxes in my pursuit of "50" this year. I went hiking with a friend on Saturday and the area was much hillier than I expected. 


The day before I had done my most intense workout so far and by the time the hike was done, I was wiped.  Curt and I chose that day to clean out the garage and scrape ice off our patio. I ended the day with over 26,000 steps and a sore back. I generally don't have back issues, so this has been challenging. I ended up getting a massage hoping it would help. 

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I was pretty depleted from the weekend. I skipped gym workouts and instead cleaned the house. 3 out of 4 of us ended up with a stomach bug Monday to Tuesday and the only man left standing was me. Ugh. 

I give all of this information to preface my state of mind before weighing in today. I had decided to wear the exact same clothes that I wore last week, but keeping my socks and outer shirt on. I figured if I gained, then I gained. I stepped on the scale here at home before leaving and it showed a one and a half pound weight gain. I stepped off with a sigh and went to face the music. Imagine my surprise when The official scale showed a 2 lb weight loss. To say that I was dumbfounded is an understatement.

I'm beginning to adjust well to the smaller portion sizes and more frequent eating. Next week we are heading down to Illinois to see Curt's dad. This will be a real test because I am not taking any food with me. It makes me nervous on all sorts of levels.

I am still heavier than I was at Thanksgiving. I feel as if I am on the right track right now at least. I am enjoying all of the training for my upcoming hikes. I am hoping around Mother's Day I will be able to hike the Kekekabic Trail. The last couple of years Curt and I have hiked Angleworm. I decided to do more of a challenging hike and give Curt the year off. The only question is, will the weather cooperate and finally begin melting the ice on the lakes? 

Stay tuned! 😊

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