Success!

The trip was a success. My foot did not bother me until the climb out! I was more concerned about the 30-degree temps and 50mph winds during the last half-mile anyway :)

It was 5 days and about 40 miles. We went down the Grandview Trail to the Tonto Trail, and then west along the plateau. We camped in small side-canyons, and then went down to the Bright Angel Campground the second-to-last day. We hiked out on the Kaibab Trail; 7 miles and 5000 feet.

The hike out was tough, but we did it slow and steady. And we did it in 5.5 hours, which is pretty good, I think! We celebrated with a nice dinner in Laughlin, and we were very proud of ourselves!

Here's a picture. Thanks for following my journey.

L

Fieldwork-- Daily...

Well I haven't been getting organized exercise per se, however, I've been doing fieldwork/wildlflower walks almost daily since last week.

I think I'm not in great shape for my upcoming hike, but I think I'll at least survive, and the foot is feeling much better. Amazing considering just 2 weeks ago my foot hurt with any hike at all.

So I'm optimistic. See posts about the hike early next month on the leaftrace blog!

Light Fieldwork

I was on my feet all day today doing percent cover estimates and my foot feels fine now! Amazing. I must have just irritated it last week somehow. Good sign.

First bike ride in a while

Did a quick mountain bike ride with the dog. Probably only like 2 miles, maybe 3. Some small steady ups and downs. It didn't seem to hurt my foot at all. I wish I would have figured this out sooner! Oh well. It was really fun.

Botanical Garden Walk

1 hour, slow walking. Beautiful Chihuly exhibit in Phoenix!

Art Detour Walk

About 2 hours of slow walking/browsing art in downtown Phoenix.

Hike in the park!

I'm taking it easy but I've actually done two hikes lately- I hiked up a small mountain on Thursday (about 200 feet up, maybe 1.5 miles of walking) and today I went to the park with the dog and walked about 30 minutes.

I feel pretty good. I have a little sock-like thing that helps to keep my foot from flattening too much or something. It really really helps.

I was supposed to rest this week, as there are few weeks left and I must heal, but it hasn't seemed to happen, what with fieldwork and stuff.

I'm back? Hike in the park

Hiked/walked today in the park with the dog. 25 minutes.

Finally given the OK to walk around a normal amount by the doc. Heels are better now, but the problem of an odd muscle on the inner sole of my foot near my heel remains. Didn't have any pain during the walk though, which is good!

I can't wait to start training more, but I have to take it slow or I risk going back to square one.

Fieldwork

Did fieldwork today which basically involves walking around a field and taking measurements for 3 hours. Not too bad. I wore my hiking boots and felt pretty fine for the day. It was hot out though and I was a little sleepy this afternoon.
My heels really hurt once we got back. This happens sometimes anyway, after moving around for 3 hours and then sitting in the car for an hour, muscles get tight.
I'd like to do some more exercise for the rest of my body that feels fine, but I don't want to hurt myself!

Rest

I'll have to take a small break. Yesterday while speedwalking to my car in poor shoes (it was freezing out and I was wearing capris and a light sweater) my calves, ankles and feet started KILLING me. I seemed to be fine later and walked my dog as usual, but later my right Achilles tendon area was swollen, as well as the underside of my foot! At least it's not both tendons.

I'm really mad that I can't do anything, but I really don't want to jeopardize my GC hike! Darnit. Maybe in a few days I'll try the recumbent bike in the exercise room. Fieldwork will be interesting tomorrow!

Yoga

20 minutes of yoga, lower body.

Got my new sleeping bag from Marmot! Down, 15 degree, 2 lbs, very nice!

Canyon hike

Hiked today in a little canyon near Palm Springs. Didn't hurt that it was gorgeous!

5 miles, 450 feet elevation, including a little bit of scrambling and climbing on ladders. Lots of fun.

Hike with Dog

Did a quick hike (25 minutes) this morning in the park with the dog in addition to my normal 25 minute walk.

Yoga Upper and Lower

40 minutes of yoga. Did both upper and lower body routines. A little tired now!

Trying to avoid some pain in my heels perhaps from bad shoes tuesday or my elliptical workout. Hopefully it's not plantar fasciitis. I never thought my body would complain so much!

Elliptical/fieldwork

Took a good walk up to my field site and measured and planted today.
Also did 35 minutes on the elliptical. It was good. I got a little tired, but that's alright! Felt good otherwise in terms of muscles and joints.

Thinking about a good long walk one of these days to get me prepared for some long days. That way I can add a heavy backpack later on to get used to that too.

Icehouse Canyon Hike

1.5 hours; about 3 miles; 1100 ft. Did this hike today with a friend. We had to turn around due to time, but we both felt pretty good and could have gone on much longer. Thank goodness for the hiking poles- there was some ice here and there on the trail. We kept a slow and steady pace that was comfortable for us. Luckily the temperatures were in the 50's so it was a nice temp.

I think we will be ready in two months!

Park Hike

I took my dog to the park. 35 minutes at a steady pace, with some downhill and uphill.

Yoga

20 minutes- upper body. Getting easier!

Elliptical machine

Did the machine again today (30 minutes)-- took some determination as the electricity was out in the workout room! Never to be discouraged, I saw that the other room still had electricity, so I went home, got an extension cord, and plugged in the machine to an outlet in the other room! I would think that the management would put an out-of-order sign if they truly didn't want people to work out, so I think it's fair! Besides, less competition now for the machine. I don't think I'll report it! (evil laugh...)

I worked harder this time and had more "calories burned" for the same amount of time! Also I'm starting to feel that nice feeling you get after working out, so it makes me want to do it again. Before it was more of a feeling of just having done some drudgery...

Hiking/walking Campus

I walked uphill to the highest point on campus today. It was about a 30 minute walk, counting as "hiking" only because it was a dirt trail- I guess requiring some degree of stabilizing, as opposed to walking on pavement up a mountain.
It was fun but tough-- it's 400 feet in about 1 mile. Polly and Kai beat me uphill, but I think I did just fine. Hopefully it will get easier! Nice to have a place to go that is close and can be done while working.

Elliptical machine- at last!

I finally got on the elliptical machine for some cardio today. I'm also keeping a spreadsheet of this all as part of my training too, so I'm not sure how long I'll keep up this blog updating. My friends going on the hike are all doing it so that we can challenge eachother.

In any case, I did 30 minutes after my dog walk.

Hike in Joshua Tree

Hiked for 3 miles in Joshua Tree, plus some wandering around and climbing on rocks. Probably 4 miles total. Not much, but it was at (ever-so-slight) elevation :).

Hike in Park

Well it was a long walk, so I'll count it. About 40 minutes of walking in the park with Lolo. A little challenging after the yoga, but not too much. I was just worried I'd be sore, but none yet.

Yoga

40 minutes of yoga. Did the upper, then lower body. The lower is definitely more challenging after I've done the upper body. I did feel more limber this time. However, I feel more tired after doing both routines. My arms/shoulders feel a little like spaghetti, but I'm sure I'll recover.

Can't wait for my Joshua Tree hike tomorrow!

L

Greenhouse cleanup

Again, while not an excuse, I was exhausted and could only walk my dog after 2.5 hours of greenhouse work. I think I really need more cardio but I'll work on that.

Fieldwork

While I'm not counting fieldwork as training per se, I just want to note why I didn't do anything yesterday or today. Yesterday was 4 hours in the field and today just 1.5 with a good walk.

I'm also not counting my daily dog walks. I figure that this is routine fitness maintenance.

I feel pretty good so far.

Yoga

Yoga- 20 minutes, lower body.

Felt stiff as this is my first yoga in a while! Tough to do some things that used to be easy. I'm sure it will come easier later on.

Hike

Hiked today with Lolo in Sycamore Canyon. 45 minutes. Probably 2 miles, uphill, then back down.

Grand Canyon- T Minus 3.5 months

This is a blog dedicated to training for the Grand Canyon. Basically, a place I can record what I'm doing and guilt myself into doing more. Additionally, this is a jumping-off point to my overall goal of becoming more fit in the coming year.

My trip begins the 22 of March.


----- OOPS ------ UPDATE-- make that T Minus 2.5 months!!