Sunday the fun day. It sure started rough. I was pretty sore from sleeping in. I don’t know what it is but when I now sleep for more than 6 or so hours I wake up feeling sore. I did weight lift light weights yesterday and I did move a heavy piece of furniture into the basement but this is crazy! Last Sunday I was sore too. It screwed up my workout at the gym and I was determined not to have that happen again. I did not feel like jogging so I got on the elliptical amchine for 30 minutes. My wife and I were planning a hike for later today si I decided to pedal on an exercise bike for 20 minutes and save some energy for the hike. Not a bad plan.
I got home from the gym, ate some breakfast and we were almost ready to go. We packed some sandwiches, fruit and chopped veggies to take with us. We decided on Fountain Head regional park in Occoquan VA. The park follows the river so I was expecting an easy flat trail. NOT! This was a hilly place similay to Prince Willian Forrest, Which is not too far from here, so I should have been able to think that through, the terrain might be similar.
The ridgeline back behind my wife is an example of the elevation changes up and down as you follow the blue trail. The total length of the trail is 18 miles. We completed 2 miles out, and then back. My wife could have gone longer but 2 miles out was enough for me. The frogs were doing their best to attract mates and it was cool to hear them chirping away. For all the land there we never saw any wildlife outside of birds. There were more people than we expected out and about on the trail, and many had dogs with them so maybe nature steers clear when it can.
My enthusiasm faded after the 2nd or 3rd ridge up and down. We did find a nice spot along the water to have a picknick and that made things better. We were out for 2 hours so the pace was slow. I was breathing hard on the hills but recovered quickly once things leveled out. I have envy for folks that actually take time and hike the Appilacian trail. I don’t mean the day hikers, I mean folks that go for weeks or months. I did 4 miles today and was done. I could not imagine needing to average 8-10 miles a day or more on the trail. Plus when you need supplies you need to hike into town another so many miles just to stock up. That is hardcore. i don’t think I have it in me (now or in the future) to be able to go like that day after day.
My eating for the day was interesting. I was low on calories from the night before. This had me more hungy when I was done with the gym and ready to eat breatfast. I found myself binge eating after my bowl of cerial and milk (a first time in the last 9 weeks) and apple and peanut butter. I then finished the middle eastern food that was left. I had some white rice and chick peas, plus about 4 ounces of chicken breast. It was a weird combination, and more than I should have had for breakfast, but knowing I was not going to be eating big on the hike I wanted a little more before going out to the woods.
My total calories were not low like yesterday. I made a point of having an evening snack to get the total to 2,171 calories. I did not feel really hungry but know I do not want to feel the extra hunger in the morning.
Life is good when you get to share things you like with on
