1400 Feet and Burning Lungs
Yesterday Sean and I ventured out to Marin County to the Point Reyes National Seashore for a day of hiking. We picked a beautiful day - temps were warm but not stifling and the sun was out all day, giving us wonderful views when we made it to vista points. More photos here.
We decided to start our day with a hike to the top of Mt. Wittenberg, about 1400 feet of elevation gain. There were two options - one a more slow and gradual climb, the other gaining all 1400 feet in 1.8 miles. We opted for the latter and I got to test my fitness. Conclusion: I still have a ways to go to be able to hike at that level of steepness without stopping. But though progress was slow, I did make it and felt great that we’d decided to take that route. Still, six months ago I probably couldn’t have handled the hike at all, and my recovery from the high heart rate/heavy breathing of the steeper sections was pretty quick.
The trip down was more up and down - a good steady workout but no extended stretches of “straight up” climbing. The only trick was my left knee finally started having enough towards the end of the hike. For the last two miles of our 7.4 mile journey, it was acting up a bit and buckling on occasion. I probably should wear my knee brace (an expensive piece of custom orthotic equipment I got a few years back) for longer walks/hikes, particularly for the downhill component.
The good news is that I recovered quickly. I expected soreness today and felt none - bounced back as if it was any other day. I mentioned this to Noah and he said that when you’re working out regularly, you’ll recover much more quickly from a more intense/different workout than if you weren’t working out regularly. So despite being a bit frustrated that I couldn’t bound up the mountain as efficiently as I’d like, there are still great signs of forward progress in the hike and its aftermath.
June 24th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Trekking poles. Get thee to REI and purchase a pair. They help to reduce stress on the knees on downhills and give you an extra boost on the uphills. I don’t hike without ‘em.