Looks like a good plan, Renee. I should add strength training to my regimen as well. Maybe I will this winter. I'm jealous of those hiking outings. Getting outdoors like that is my new favorite pastime. Have fun staying fit!

Manitou Incline Training
https://www.visitcos.com/things-to-...rings-colorado/

Stair climber: Goal - 2744 steps
Week 1
Day 1 - Monday - This was an end of workout baseline. I often do this sequence at the end of a workout. 1 min at level 5 or 6, 1 min at 3 or 4 with kickback butt squeezes, then next 3 at the same level 1 min each: double stairs, side stairs right, side stairs left. Then straight 5 minutes at level 5. Total time: 10 mins. Total steps: 500

Day 2 -Thursday- 5 minute warm up on treadmill. Level 5 straight 20 minutes. Level 4 in 5 minute increments until 35. One bad thing is that all the equipment at my gym has forced cool downs at the 30 min mark. So after I fought with the machine for awhile, I gave up. I had 2-3 2 minute rest breaks. Total climb time:33 mins. Total steps: 1800. This is the bail out point, meets up with a trail that can take you down.

Week 2
Day 1 Tues - 5 min treadmill warm up. I wore my light backpack with one water bottle. I wanted to see if I could best my time without stopping. I did 25 mins at level 5. Then took breaks every 5 mins and continued at level 4 except the last 5 done at level 3. About 2 minute rest periods. Forced break at 30 mins. Total climb time: 40 mins. Total steps: 2064. This is about 70%. I was reading something about training for marathons that said that if you train to the 70% than you will be able to complete it. I don’t know if that is true or not but made me feel good that I did about 70% of the stairs.

Day 2 Friday- I didn’t have any personal training sessions this week. I focused my Thursday training on functional skating exercises. I decided to see if I could get to the false summit - 300 steps from the top or approx 2444. I started slow no treadmill warm up. No backpack.

2 mins level 3, 2 mins level 4 etc building up to level 7, then 2 mins back down to level 5. I stayed at level 5 until the 30 min mark where I took the forced break. I continued at 5 min increments- 1 more at level 5. The rest at level 4. I had to take 2-3 minute breaks after the 30 minute mark every 5 minutes. Total climb time: 50 mins. Total steps: 2450

Level 4: 45 steps per minute
Level 5: 48 steps per minute, increase to 49/50 after about 10 mins.

Feeling good about my progress. I feel that I can get there by the end of October or about 10 weeks from now. I will have to scale back during competition week. I think I can get the whole 2744 in a week or two, but there is thewhole altitude issue. This is in Colorado and I am in Minnesota. Plus it’s always different on a machine verses the actual trail.

I am drenched in sweat doing these climbs so hydrating is going to be important as well as moisture wicking clothes. I ordered some lighter weight waterproof hiking shoes from REI as I read that wearing my normal hiking boots would be rough. I am going to start wearing those once I receive them. I am also considering checking into buying a camelback or some other sort of hydration backpack. I do have a large water bladder that we got in Utah for the Narrows Hike, but it goes in my big backpack. Not sure I want to use that.

Update to my Manitou training:

Week 3
Day 1 - Tuesday- I wore my small back pack. One water bottle with 24 oz of water and my sweatshirt inside. No treadmill warm up. I just started at Level 4 (43 steps per minute until 7 mins in then it goes to 44/45). I did 30 mins until the forced stop. Rest 3 mins and then alternated 5 mins climbing/3 mins rest for another 30+ mins. I was 102 steps short at this point. Bumped up the speed to Level 5 so I could bump out that last 102 to get 2744. Whoot! Whoot!

Total climbing time: 62:20 With rest break Approx 89 mins. They say the climb takes about an hour and a half so I am not too far off. Of course it would be slower with the 2000’ elevation change. So will try to increase speed at some point. I drank all my water pretty quickly after 40 mins. so will need to plan for more.

I am so very pleased. Now I know I can climb 2744 steps in one shot. Next it will be conditioning myself for the elevation.

Holy shit, Go girl!

catching up on some of your workout/exercise posts.

Hey Ken & Thud! Thanks for stopping by.

Week 3
Normally I would do another stair session but I had a pretty intense skating session, had my PT session on Friday and a weekend of hiking planned. So I took Thursday as a rest day.

Saturday hikes: Hiking in Upper Michigan with my mom. We hiked about 3 miles to see a couple waterfalls. Pretty leisurely as I didn’t want to wear my mom out, but she does great for 68. She wanted to continue hiking to the top of a large bluff overlooking Lake Superior. We hiked the backside because there is less rock scrambling for her. It has 200+ elevation change in about 0.75 mi (total hike was about 2+miles). I booked it up there (she took her time & I met her at the top). Felt like a great workout.

We’ve got another waterfall hike scheduled for this afternoon and I am going to get a hike in the Porcupine Mountains on the way home.

Wednesday I did a lot of run throughs of my skating competition programs. 4 runs throughs of my compulsory. Two run throughs of my free skate without music & 1 with music. Then we did our ensemble program twice with music.

I got some hikes in the past few days that would qualify for Manitou training.


Sunday:
Hike 1- Hungarian Falls, which is really a series of 5 waterfalls coming down a gorge. Approx 1 mile each way. I got a good climb in.

Hike 2- Was through the forest to a beach on Lake Superior and back. 4.2 mile total. It had a lot of up and downs to it...including some along steep embankments.

Monday: Porcupine Mountains State Wilderness
Hike1- Lake of the Clouds Overlook to the beach. 0.5 miles each way. Straight down and then straight up. Some stairs but mostly rock and root scrambling. I took it pretty briskly & felt it great prep for the incline.

Hike 2- Presque Isle River Waterfalls 2 miles total. I counted 343 stairs going up. I didn’t count those going down (probably close to a similar number). I can see why they suggested lighter hiking shoes rather than boots. My ankles really felt it at the end...even more than my legs. As a bonus, I somehow ended up following the North Central Trail (runs through ND, MN, WI, Upper & lower MI, & OH) for awhile and there some steep rooty scrambles. As a bonus, they had a swinging bridge ❤️

Today I did my Dan’s workout for the second time. I did a 10 minute treadmill hill walk, & 15-20 mins of stretching. I got 278 MEPS in.

I am going to have to switch my schedule up a bit. I ended up with 3 skate sessions- group lessons on Weds am, team practice on Weds pm, and group lesson on Sat am.

Gym 4 days per week, strength training 2 days, functional 2 days. Skate 2 days. I’d like to get some hiking in on the weekend because fall is the best time of year for it.

I am also part of a national MEPS challenge for my gym’s franchise. Got talked into it. It started Sept 7 and runs until Nov 7. I have to be in the top 20% to be eligible to win a 6 month free membership or $1000. I am racking up the MEPS anyway. Might get a prize 😀
I started at #565 and by the end of the morning was up to #28. There are about 700 people in the challenge.

Trainer Dan was out of town on Friday so I worked with a young Trainer who was pretty awesome. Enjoyed her workout and she was able to adjust on the fly to accommodate my goals which I always appreciate.

Her workout:

Circuit #1 x 3
Arms: Lateral & front raises 10 reps, 8lbs
Superman pull backs 15 reps
Plank toe reaches 10 reps each side

Circuit #2 x 3
Squat with twist punches 8lbs 10 reps each side
Russian twists 18lb KB, 10 reps each side
Plank pulses 30 reps

Circuit #3 x 3
Bench step ups with 13lb KBs, 10 reps each side
Bicep curl/hammer curl/overhead press 12lbs, 10 reps
Single leg step overs 10 each side....these are thigh burners

I skated on Saturday but I was the only adult in the adult FS group so I am moving to Tuesday pm with the kids at my FS 4 level which actually works out good. Wednesdays I can focus on competition stuff (old stuff) and Tuesdays work on stuff for my next test. I got some feedback on my free skate program - that it looks good. There are still a few things I would like to clean up though.


Monday am: gym
Tuesday am: gym
Tuesday pm: Skate - FS group with kids
Wednesday am: Skate - Adult group
Wednesday pm: Skate - Team practice plus open practice time
Thursday am: gym
Friday am: gym (personal training session)
Saturday: Hike!
Sunday: rest day

I picked up a book at Half Priced books - 60 hikes within 60 miles of MSP. I am hoping to do one every Saturday morning until the snow flies.

A bunch of changes to the workout routine. First off I have a new Trainer. I’d sent the owners of the gym a praise email about my experience with Trainer A ( her name is pretty unusual so I’ll just abbreviate for now) and they suggested I start working with her. Which I was totally fine with, I’ve kind of felt like Dan had been phoning it in for awhile now. He’s really popular so people would always want to talk to him during my scheduled workouts. It was kind of annoying especially this one woman who is kind of an attention whore.

My Colorado Springs trip is on hold so doing the stairs is being put on the back burner for now. But don’t despair as I got sucked into doing a race.

I have a dear friend that I have known since 7th grade and in the last 5 years we have bonded in shared interests and shared tragedy. We got together a couple weekends ago. We both love the movie Shawshank Redemption. It’s one of my favorite movies. My friend is an avid runner and mentioned that she wanted to do this race: Shawshank Hustle : where you start and end in the prison they filmed the movie https://shawshanktrail.com/events/shawshank-hustle/

I am all for cool experiences so I told her I was in. I thought it was a 5K - no problem I could do a little training & walk the rest if I needed to. No. This puppy is a 7K. Better than 10K, but yikes! I really don’t like running. I am going to need to train for this. Last time I did any running was the Halloween 5K in 2006. I finished in 42 mins.

I ran last week just to see how far/fast I could go. I ended up doing 1.5 miles in 20:08. My mile was 13:38. I then had 3 skate sessions and was dying. I had to take Thursday as a rest day. Not a good idea, but at least I know my baseline. I thought about going back to a couch to 5K program and then finding a 5K to 10K program. Found this none to run program which slows down the process and has some strength exercises for running with it. I’m going to start tomorrow.

Last weeks training review:
Strength days - Monday & Friday
Skate Days: Tuesday night, Wednesday morning & evening
Functional training: Tuesday & Thursday
Run Days: Tuesday & Thursday
Hike Days: Saturday & Sunday

Run1: walk 5 mins ~ 3.5. Then alternate 30 secs at 4.5 with 60 secs ~ 3.5 for 20 mins. Then 5 mins walking at 3.5 for a total of 30 mins cardio. 1.88 miles or 3.02 KM total.

Run2: walk 5 mins ~3.5 Then alternate 30 secs at 4.6 with 60 secs at 3.5 for 20 mins. Then run 90 secs ~ 5.0 for 2 mins. Walk 3 mins at 3.5 for a total of 30 mins, 2 miles, or 3.21 KM.

I actually read the training instructions wrong in the none to run program. The first week was supposed to be 30 secs running alternating 2 mins walking. Oh, well. This week I will do the alternating 1 min run/2 min walk but see if I can’t do 5.0 for the run speed. I am just doing twice a week runs for now until after my October skating competition. Then try to do 3x/week after.

I substituted taught learn to skate on Saturday and since I was already half way there went over to a beautiful state park on the border of MN & WI. Did a 4.5 mile hike. It was a beautiful day and there were a lot of people on the trail so it was slower going than I would have like but it was still fun.

Sunday was rainy but we went over to a large regional park with the pupster for 2.5 miles of trail.

Only 2 more weeks until the big skate competition in Texas.

It’s competition week. I should be slowing down, taking it easy, but the weather is too nice and the trees are too pretty and the pup is getting so much better on our slow hikes. I want to be outside enjoying everything before the snow flies.

Sunday night we took the pup for a walk around the lake in a county park nearby(2.2 miles). Monday Megs & I did the same walk with him. Today we took him out to a county park that straddles the Mississippi River. There is a bridge across the river that we took (1.5 miles).

I ran this morning. Week 3 repeating the 5 min warm up/cool downs and 20 mins of alternating running/walking 1 min/2 mins. It’s doable. I feel okay afterward. I didn’t do any extra weight work but did do some extra stretching. I skated with the kids tonight. Tomorrow will be my last run through of my programs before competition. I think I will just do my free skate once in the morning. We are doing a full dress/props rehearsal of our ensemble in the morning and I am sure will do one to two run through in the evening. Not really nervous for the competition. I feel what I’m bringing is pretty strong. If I do my best, I will be happy.

Competition Recap

It was a very strangely run competition. The rink was in a mall and the mall music interfered with the sound system. The rink monitors were not in control of the door. Too many spectators in the area around the entry door. A very strange set up for the ensemble props to get them on & off the ice. This whole competition stressed me out.

I did get 2 first places in my individual events and we took 4th of 4 in the ensemble. We skated well. It just wasn’t our day.

Back to the gym - WK4 of None to Run. 5 mins walking Then alternate 90 secs running with 2 minutes of walking for 25 mins. Still not quite half way running/walking. Trying not to be impatient and just progress gradually. I’ve got 10 months to get there. Race Day is August 15, 2020. Signed up today so now I am committed (LOL)

October Recap
5973 MEPs
3157 minutes
17976 calories burned
119 BPM Average Heart Rate

This does not include my dog walks. My heart rate doesn’t get up high enough to justify putting on the belt for a measly 20-30 MEPs. I do, however, track all the dog walks & hikes in the Map My Walk app. Not only is it nice to keep track of my stats but the map feature has come in handy several times when out hiking on the trail.

I took 2nd place this month. I am a bit salty about it as there was a glitch and it was doubling some workouts. I also finished up the larger corporate gym challenge. I came in #59 out 884. If you get rid of the people who scored 0 MEPs, it was 500 people. I finished just outside the top 10%. Not too shabby considering I had a competition week in there. The top 20% get put in a drawing for free memberships.

I am up to week 7 or 8 on None to Run. The transition from 90 seconds running & 60 seconds walking was a bit too much. I have scaled it back to 90 run/90 Walk. That is more manageable for now. I will repeat this strategy next week, to before moving on the 90 run/60 Walk. I have had some issues with calf tightness so I am looking at making sure my form is good. I had to defer one run a few days due to fatigue and a sore knee from stepping on the ice with guards on ( falling & getting a ginormous bruise).

I was hiking every weekend Saturday & Sunday (except Texas weekend). I really wanted to get out there while the fall color was good. The highlight was climbing the Elba Fire Tower. http://www.startribune.com/midwest-...view/302174661/ There are 637 wood steps up to the base of the tower. Then another 135 up the tower. Stair climbing at the gym paid off. I was able to get up those stairs in about 13 minutes with a brief rest at stair 490. I had to wait about 5 mins at the base for a group of college kids to come down (only 6 people in the tower at a time). Then I had it & the stunning views all to myself. I wanted to do another fire tower the next weekend but it was a bit further north & unsafe due to a snowy forecast. Fire tower climbing will have to wait until spring.

Looking into getting some snowshoes for the winter & doing some candlight walks in various state parks.

Hey Renee! Thanks for the stopping by my Journal - swinging by yours and catching up... and WOW!

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache...elba-fire-tower

Enjoy training for the SSR run - one of my favorite movies as well - my heart kind of bursts near the end... Zihuatenejo

Greetz and Propz

I've been seeing all of your fall hiking photos on FB. I'm so jealous! I've made plans to get out this fall only to be dashed by weather or life's circumstances. This Saturday my DD3 (Kel) and I are planning to hike Old Rag mountain in the Blue Ridge. This is my 4th attempt planning to do that one. Something always goes wrong. Maybe the 4th time is the charm.

Good job in October. I'll be keeping an eye on your jogging progress. Hopefully it will become just another workout long before you do that race.