For me, this year had its ups and downs.. but nothing that can't be fixed later. My main goal this year was to exercise more and to lose weight (very special right?). Well I definitely did exercise more and lost a lot of weight (some of which I gained back unfortunately) but more importantly I gained a wealth of knowledge, experienced new and exciting things, and met a lot of new people who have become my lifelong friends.
(Sunrise over the South slope of Mount Adams)
(Practice hike up to Scotchman's peak 3700ft elevation gain)
(Practice hike up to Hub lake 1500ft elevation gain)
(Making new friends)
The main reason for me to lose weight was my planned hiking/climbing trip to Mt. Adams volcano and to improve my cycling times and overall fitness.
Mount Adams is located in the South Cascades in Washington state. The South climb is 12 miles roundtrip which doesn't seem like much but the elevation gain is 6700ft (over the 6 miles going up) with the highest point being at 12276 ft above sea level. It is considered an active by dormant volcano with the last eruption dating back ~10000 years ago. It was a 3-day trip for us where the actual climb up and down took 2 days.
(Camping at the "Lunch counter" prior to the last part of the climb. Waking up to this view)
(Hiking up the mountain)
(Views from the top of Mount Adams)
In order to make this trip doable and fun I had to get in a better shape. Basically, the way I did it- was by hiking, jogging, and biking more than before; since I have failed being on diets before (boy I love food) I thought I'll just burned more calories without restricting my caloric intake. And it worked. In the beginning of the year I was at 210lbs and I weighed in at 187lbs the day of my climb on August 21st. I started commuting to work on my bike at least 2-5 times a week (it is a 15 mile trip one way) burning around a 1000 calories each way.
(Biking to and from work)
The hardest part in any routine exercise is staying motivated. And I learned a few tricks that helped me out immensely. The biggest motivator and helper was a Strava application on my phone. I am not associated with them in any way and I don't get any financial sponsorship from them (I wouldn't mind though! Any Strava representatives out there?). This app is amazing, and I know there are similar apps out there but what this one does it tracks your GPS signal through your phone or separate unit (my personal favorite is a Garmin watch) and it shows you a ton of information including your calories burned, progress on your rides and runs, stats on elevation gain, speed, wattage etc., etc. I will talk more about Strava in my future posts.
(Link to my Strava profile here: https://strava.app.link/a1UCotqb9I)
I digress. Another big motivator for me was having a group of people committed to the trip so we all prepared together, shared training tips and created a healthy competitive and supportive environment. Having a friend or two that have a similar goal helps out immensely. For example, when I'm hating myself for promising an early morning workout to a buddy of mine I still get up and go workout. If it wasn't for him I would snooze my alarm clock and go back to bed.
(Hiking up the hill at buttcrack of dawn)
So with the help of my friends and Strava, I was getting an average of 1 hour per day of intense cardio (hiking, jogging, biking) which resulted in me feeling a lot better overall. Not only was I able to climb the peak, I lost weight, reduced my LDL (bad cholesterol) by 50 points, increased HDL (good cholesterol) by 20 points, increased strength and endurance, became happier with myself and made a lot of new friends.
More pics from the trip:
