How does everyone keep in shape?

[rlown]

Probably not helping the ol' heart rate when you're stopping every 100 yards to take a picture, Mark.

Repetitively lifting the camera to his eye every 100 yds is how Mark builds upper body strength.

[lnl]

I road/mountain bike ride weekly. I try to do 100 miles a week.

[rlown]

I road/mountain bike ride weekly. I try to do 100 miles a week.

Inl, In your experience, how does a mountain bike regimen work for you when you hit the trail? Cardio or what?

[lnl]

I road/mountain bike ride weekly. I try to do 100 miles a week.

Inl, In your experience, how does a mountain bike regimen work for you when you hit the trail? Cardio or what?

Cardio for sure. I live at the base of mt. Diablo. I ride it both road and mtb, but the mtb is more of a challenge with steeper climbs. Here, I'll try to keep my cadence and heart rate up on longer climbs.

[oldranger]

With my first Sierra backpack of the season just over 2 weeks away I have been increasing my regime.
This past week, in addition to two gym sessions I did 3 significant day hikes in the Boise foothills during breaks from Grandpa Duty.

Hike one: Mostly Hulls Gulch: 10 miles, 2000 ft vertical w/ 26 lbs starting weight in pack. This was a lolipop route with first mile+ repeated

Last Bridge at Head of Hulls Gulch

Hike two: 5 Mile Gulch, Watchman, 3 Bears (loop trip): 5 miles, 1000 ft. vertical w/ 27 lbs starting weight in pack.

3/4 mile up 5 mile gulch trail

Watchman Trail, 5 mile gulch Trail on right

Hike Three: 5 mile Gulch to top of ridge (up and back) 7 miles, 2100 ft. vertical w/32.5 lbs starting weight. Did this yesterday. Perfect day for hike, mostly cloudy 43 degrees at start, 39 degrees at top, 50 degrees at finish.

About 1/2 way up

Looking down on Boise from lunch spot on way back, short break when snow started dumping off Trees!

Will probably repeat Hulls Gulch and the loop trip next week with the 32+ load before returning to Bend.

I can almost taste the creek water from the Sierra!

Mike

[Hobbes]

My personal goal this season is to average 15+ mile (trail/easy xc) days. Now, this is for trips lasting only for 3-4 days, and with a near SUL rig to boot (13 lbs start, 8.5 finish), so it's not really a marathon, but I've gotten progressively more serious about training.

I really enjoy walking, but the distance/time required to develop this level of conditioning was taking too long, so I bit the bullet and started running (again.) Now, I've always been a big critic of running, but the recent trend in barefoot/flat heel running perked up my interest.

(I don't like running because in my mind, our paleo ancestors weren't jogging around tracks or on hard streets/sidewalks. Rather, they were either walking to get from place A to place B, or they were jogging/trotting while pursuing injured game.)

Not to belabor a well debated topic, but I think it makes sense to walk @ a really fast pace and/or jog/trot @ a really slow pace **over non-man made surface areas**. And because running has a 4x caloric burn over walking, I can compress the time by 75%. (Running for 1 hr burns 800 calories, while walking burns 200. If you move to trails and/or packing, the differential remains.)

I bought a pair of NB MT 110s back in January, and after walking in them for a few months, started jogging in them along some of our trails. Right now, I'm up to 5-6 miles/day, split into two sessions (2-3 miles per session). My next goal is to combine them - basically, a 10k each day.

I figure if I can reliably run 6+ miles/day, then I can reach 15 miles/day without killing myself. Even if the net energy/endurance requirement is increased on the order of 50%, I think I'll have enough reserves to motor the distance I need before heading out.

[Wandering Daisy]

A bit off topic, but do any of you wear a heart rate monitor? I need to get one for my husband and he said to get a "good one". I have no idea what is a "good one". His cardiologist wants him to keep his heart rate under a certain number and we are doing a backpack trip this weekend.

I have a 6-mile hiking loop from my house down to Sailor Bar on the American River. It has a few hills - I figure about 500 feet total. I just did the upper loop around Lake Netoma this morning. If I want a hill to ride I have to go up to Folsom Lake. My method of getting more exercise on my bike is to not upgrade my bike. I have a really crappy bike - it really makes me work hard!

[oldranger]

WD

As a matter of fact, I do. Had one for a couple of years but never used it until a stent was inserted in a coronary artery in March. It seems that my heart rhythm gets funky around 138. So I just got back from another 10 miler here in Boise with 32 lb pack and just hiking like I normally do it did not get above 132. Last Saturday for about an hour and a half and my HR fluctuated between 134 and 140 as I did a much steeper trail in much cooler weather and it was hard to hold back.

I have a Timex, think I bought it at Costco! I have compared it with cardio machines at the gym and with the monitors they hook me up to in Cardio rehab and it seems to be right on. It also has some programable features like actually keeping a record of your max heart rate on an outing. But just looking at the monitor has been good enough for me. The transmitter for the monitor straps around the chest and I had forgotten I still had it on until I read your post.

Mike

[Wandering Daisy]

I passed the information along to my husband, who at this point, is not too keen on wearing a strap around his chest. We may have to just go for the watches that you put your finger on, even though they are less accurate.

[oldranger]

Daisy

I thought the same thing. But I really forget about the strap and it is so easy to just glance at the watch to see what my heart rate is. Did another 2,000 foot day with pack and hr never exceeded 132. I can pretty much tell by my breathing when I get over 130.

Mike