The Problem with Being Adventurous

Today, we are on workout #9. A "workout" is counted when you actually make it to the gym and move your body in strange and painful ways for at least an hour so that you emerge with your clothes fully soaked from sweat and you're breathing like someone with chronic emphysema. All eight so far have been successful. Today's workout also coincides with our session with Brandi. Brandi has a last name, but only using her first name makes her sound like she's a bubbly, little thing that entertains you as you move from machine to machine. This is only an illusion that allows you to go back to the next session. A hand-written note on her white board sums it up nicely, "Brandi, we love you, but you are brutal". Our last 45 minute session left Pam almost in tears and both of us feeling the effects four days later. And, that was a session using a couple of small hand weights and an exercise ball.

Our preparations also include walking--a lot. We walk to the grocery story or to a highway down the road a ways. We walk anywhere we can. The other day I had the bright idea to get a couple of cases of water at the grocery store, which is a convenient two miles away. Even though I had brought our pocket scale with me, I wasn't smart enough to weight the cases before I purchased them. I mean, really, how heavy could they be? Well, after I coaxed one full case into my pack along with the remaining heavy food, I squirreled away as many bottles from the second case into empty corners of the pack. The rest I put into Pam's pack once she was finished with her teeth cleaning at the dentist. Yet another hint to martial bliss--don't put things in your wife's pack. That was a long two miles and the 60 pounds in my pack was the easiest part.

Our bodies are going through the frustrating part of rearranging right now. Frustrating, because you feel stronger--and are stronger--but the scale says that you might as well have that cup of ice cream. We are not dropping a pound no matter how many times we reset the scale. We realize that the trail will deliver the weight loss in due time, but we are hoping for a little relief to help avoid injuries where we can. Stress fractures from over-exertion are common in this endeavor and force many folks off the trail early into their trip. Having too much weight on your back, being unprepared for that weight, and trying to move too fast are a sure ticket to getting stress fractures.

We are committed to putting our best foot forward on this walk, every day we walk down the small hill to the Brandi's Hard Body Studio and try and emulate the intensity she or her assistant Cory put us through in the previous session. We fail at the intensity part, because, I think, your body has a natural ability it to protect itself from things that are painful. Yet, we are there making some progress. The end of April is going to come a lot sooner than we think, but I'm glad that we are doing this now and not trying to do it on the trail.