Hiking 2.0

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

Well, the weather has been crazy here, warm all of January, and most of February, then snow, wind and rain all of March. April has been a mixture of both, but has been nice the past two days. I bought new hikers in November, and due to circumstances beyond my control, only managed to put about 20 miles on them until the end of January. Then, about another 20 in February. March, ZERO, a big fat goose egg. Well, now in April, I've gotten in 2 decent hikes, today, almost 9 1/2 miles. So, I now have almost 60 miles on my new hikers, and I think I have them broken in.

Merrell's Moab 2. They fit my feet so well. The goal is, to have as close to 1,000 miles as possible(I fell short a couple of years ago) hiking on these shoes by December. Forest fires the last couple seasons slowed me way down, and I am hoping for the best this year. I'll try to give semi-regular updates, but I am off to a very slow start. I should be well over 100 by now, but, it is what it is. It's very hazy/smokey outside right now, and it leads me to believe that there is a fire somewhere, as it was very clear earlier today. UGH! with the damn fires......

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

Rain has dampened my hiking(pun intended) plans for today. I am already off to a slow start this season, and this really hurts my feelings.... It really hurts the miles I can achieve before July hits, when I will be really restricted to to work and other obligations. Damn.

 

[Smoker]

You can gain your miles and hike to Lincoln for a football game this year

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

You can gain your miles and hike to Lincoln for a football game this year

LOL, I just saw this, wicked funny. That would be one helluva hike. It's roughly 22 hours by car from here to there, only stops were for gas, food and bathroom breaks....

So, I forgot to post this past weekend, however, I managed a two day total of just over 50 miles, plus 3 more on Sunday. Weather is suspect the rest of the week here, so, I may or may not get any miles in. I'm happy to be finally over 100 for the year, and can only hope that May through October is snow, heavy winds/rains and forest fire smoke free.

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

Update for the week. 2 miles yesterday, 9 today. I did the 9 miles today in 2 hours and 18 minutes, averaging around 3.8 mph and I feel it. Nice weather today, finally. We hit 54 degrees and it was perfect shorts and T-shirt weather, with nary a cloud in the sky and almost no breeze either. Great day outside, and now, it's Lagunita's time..... 112 and counting....(miles that is, not Lagunita's....)

 

[KleinTxHusker]

Update for the week. 2 miles yesterday, 9 today. I did the 9 miles today in 2 hours and 18 minutes, averaging around 3.8 mph and I feel it. Nice weather today, finally. We hit 54 degrees and it was perfect shorts and T-shirt weather, with nary a cloud in the sky and almost no breeze either. Great day outside, and now, it's Lagunita's time..... 112 and counting....(miles that is, not Lagunita's....)

I take this was no elevation change? The best we've ever done over distance in the Rockies is 2 mph; real tough trails, like in the Appalachians near sea level we did only 1 mph. I was shocked and humbled by that.

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

I take this was no elevation change? The best we've ever done over distance in the Rockies is 2 mph; real tough trails, like in the Appalachians near sea level we did only 1 mph. I was shocked and humbled by that.

According to my hiking app, my overall ascent, was 1670+ feet to just below 7 thousand feet. The first 3 1/2 miles, you gain about 1670 of those feet. LOL..... My goal, is to get my time on this loop trail, down under 2 hours.... I am going to have to break down and buy new trail running shoes, but I think I can get it to 2 hours or just under, at least by September. My knee didn't bother me almost at all last week, and I feel confident that it wont this next hike either.

 

[KleinTxHusker]

According to my hiking app, my overall ascent, was 1670+ feet to just below 7 thousand feet. The first 3 1/2 miles, you gain about 1670 of those feet. LOL..... My goal, is to get my time on this loop trail, down under 2 hours.... I am going to have to break down and buy new trail running shoes, but I think I can get it to 2 hours or just under, at least by September. My knee didn't bother me almost at all last week, and I feel confident that it wont this next hike either.

Pretty impressive! I thought trail running would be great, but my back problem ended my running career at any elevation... I have always found 1000' gain per two miles to be a challenging grade. A thousand per mile is extremely steep IMO.

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

Pretty impressive! I thought trail running would be great, but my back problem ended my running career at any elevation... I have always found 1000' gain per two miles to be a challenging grade. A thousand per mile is extremely steep IMO.

If I'm reading this right, especially the second sentence, and if my math is correct, those 3 1/2 miles averaged something like 479 feet, slightly more if the 1/2 is not counted for. So, if I read that right, per mile up was around 557 feet of gain per mile. I was obviously a lot slower going up, than I was coming down, 9 mile loop trail. The first 3 1/2 miles it's switch back after switch back, and climbing.... then after, a few more climbs, then back down hill..... It's challenging, and I'm not that young any more, but I gotta do it...

 

[KleinTxHusker]

If I'm reading this right, especially the second sentence, and if my math is correct, those 3 1/2 miles averaged something like 479 feet, slightly more if the 1/2 is not counted for. So, if I read that right, per mile up was around 557 feet of gain per mile. I was obviously a lot slower going up, than I was coming down, 9 mile loop trail. The first 3 1/2 miles it's switch back after switch back, and climbing.... then after, a few more climbs, then back down hill..... It's challenging, and I'm not that young any more, but I gotta do it...

Yep, you got it. 500 feet per mile is challenging. And while I came up with that at ~10,000 feet, I will tell you 1000 feet per mile from sea level (at Acadian National in Maine) was a real tough one.

Yes, the averages are round trip. You will be far slower going up, but going down is worse for one's knees. If you return to the same spot, you have no net gain.

I remember when I was half my current age thinking that running at 7,000 feet would be no worse than running in greater heat and humidity in Houston, I about collapsed after a quarter mile. Reminds me of TO's story about Bob Brown. They told him getting off the bus that the altitude at Boulder wouldn't make a difference, so he started sprinting and collapsed. They had to do damage control. We beat the sCUm the next day.

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

I remember when I was half my current age thinking that running at 7,000 feet would be no worse than running in greater heat and humidity in Houston, I about collapsed after a quarter mile. Reminds me of TO's story about Bob Brown. They told him getting off the bus that the altitude at Boulder wouldn't make a difference, so he started sprinting and collapsed. They had to do damage control. We beat the sCUm the next day.

Since I've lived here, I've always thought it would be a great idea, for our team to take a month and train in the mountains somewhere, or at least certain skilled position players like RB's and WR's on O and DE's and S on D. No back problems personally here, but sometimes my knees betray me. 2 hours....

 

[Smoker]

Last night I hiked from my kitchen to the couch, felt pretty good

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

A little update on this weeks hiking. I didn't meet my long term objective this past weekend. I simply have to break down and buy some trail running shoes, as it's really hard to jog a mountain trail in hiking shoes. The wind was kicking, and that didn't help either, but I still think I can pull this off by the end of September. 18 minutes, that's all, just 18 little minutes..... Added another 18 miles though, and that puts me up to 130, which is not anywhere near where I want to be at this time, but, at this point, I really want to get that loop under 2 hours time.

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

Got the new trail shoes Thursday and have managed to put just less than 15 miles on them already, including a difficult 5 mile jogging, huffing and puffing session just a little while ago. They fill broken in already and weigh slightly over 9 ounces. I wont get a shot at my loop until at least Tuesday, but a buddy wants to go deep into Desolation in hunt of some waterfalls, so I should still get some miles in. 145.

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

Just over 12 miles today, and a 7 1/2 hour hike, with about an 1/2 hour break for lunch. My feet and the back of my neck, feel it.... the back of my neck got a sunburn, but it's not that bad. Got some killer waterfall pics, but not sure how to post them on here, since the new format went into place.

Lots of snow, marsh, major overgrown brush, tons of rocks, and several raging streams. At one point, the boots and socks came off, and an icy cold stream had to be crossed, brrrr, my toes were frozen by the time we got across..... Talk about a great day at the office..... AWESOME!!!! 157