Saturday, May 26, 2012

Super Saturday and 12,444 Steps


Early this morning I headed out for my practice hike in prep for next week's overnight hike. I wanted to make sure that I could hack it in the heat. Oh baby, it was hot! 90 degrees by 9 a.m. when I arrived. I had planned to hike the Lost Valley trail, but somehow I missed the marker and ended up doing the Katy Trail instead. It was mercifully shaded nearly the whole 6 miles. 


Since I had to improvise my route, I used the GPS on my phone to figure out how far to go. The first 1/2 mile pretty much sucked and I was really wondering if I had lost my damned mind. Then I remembered what someone said to me recently that it's all a mind game and I started doing my own version of I think I can and started focusing on the scenery and saying to myself that my mind is leading and the feet will follow. Suddenly, it got a little easier. Then I started picking markers in the distance to aim for. At 3 miles I stopped to take a water/snack break and holy crap the sweat unleashed itself. 
I know it's hard to tell, but I was actually feeling pretty happy in this photo albeit super sweaty and gross.
After about 20 minutes I got myself up and I headed back. Things went well until about the last .3 miles. For a brief minute I felt really overheated (it was up to 100 degrees by then) and I thought I might get sick. Remembering to pay attention to my body's cues I stopped and drank some more water. For the last bit of the hike I munched on an apple and took things really slowly. It was awesome to see the parking lot. VICTORY!!! I did it! 6 miles or 12,444 steps. Almost 1,000 calories burned! 
I would have done an Irish jig in celebration but my calves were burning. Maybe I'll jig tomorrow! 
Afterwards, I went to Andrea's to record episode 2 of our crafty podcast. I'll have more details on that soon. :) After a quick trip to the farmer's market I went to REI and did some window shopping and rented gear for next weekend. Betsy, the best REI clerk ever, fitted me for a backpack and a trekking poles. The whole thing took a couple hours but I think will be well worth it when I'm out next weekend. 

Sooo tired...more tomorrow



2 comments:

  1. Kudos to you for walking in that heat. I am such a weather baby. If it's over 80, I am such a whiny b*tch. hahaha! Make sure you stay hydrated :)

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  2. Marisol - Don't tell anyone, but I actually like to be hot. My internal thermometer is all messed up so I'm always cold, it's nice to be hot for a change! 100 degrees + activity is pushing it for even me though. I drank almost 60 ounces of water in 3 hours. :) Oh, and you can say bitch on my blog. I am the queen potty mouth.

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