Training for some hiking

Apparently I will be heading to do some hiking on the Appalachian Trail at the end of this week for an undetermined amount of time. I have a couple of friends that have made their way into Virginia and I am hoping not to slow them down too much so I have upped my game running and riding the bike here recently.

Sadly this means a little less of practicing my curls...

Hopefully a little sacrifice now pays off in the long run...

Trail with Padre - Bald Eagle

In my new pursuit of fitness I hit the trail with Padre to log a few miles on the bikes. Why join a gym during the summer around here?


Of course I took the faster/lighter bike because he logs a lot more miles a year than I do.


At mile marker 8 on the trail we looked across the river and spotted what we believe to be a bald eagle. There are a few that live near here though neither of us have spotted one here before. I managed a quick if blurry pic from where I was at before he flew off but he definitely looked the part. (On the rock in the center... click on the pic to blow it up).


Here are the stats from the ride. I logged 16 miles in total and dranke1.5 bottles of water (I am a little out of shape still).


I did manage to post the fastest speed of the day with 24.62 mph so that was a plus.


Sadly Hector couldn't make this trip but I might have him out again tomorrow...

Hittin the trail - again

In the pursuit of getting into shape I headed back down to the Greenbrier River Trail today with my training partner (Hector) and got in 4 weighted miles of hiking and a nice swim in the river.


I really should try and come down here more often.


Now I just need to make myself do a little more in a day so that I can be in better shape by the end of the month even if I know that my training partner is far ahead of me.

Training on the Trail

I am currently looking ahead to the end of this month when I plan on heading to the Appalachian Trail to meet up with Bob and Russell for some hiking. In the spirit of being bored and out of shape I have decided to train a bit here locally on the River Trail.


I took a training partner with me to keep me going. This is Hector.

We only put in 4 or 5 miles but I did load down my pack to 25 lbs and will build up the distance and weight over the course of the month to get myself a little bit more prepared.

It is easy to train where I live because this is the average scenery.


I am hoping to do most of the state of Virginia when I meet up with the duo of Tumbleweed and Fisherman's Friend (Trail Names) so every step I take preparing will have to buy me an extra day out on the trail.

River Trail Detox

After a night that involve such things as this (Yes mine is apple juice) I needed a little detox of the system and Bob actually talked me into going for a jog.



I think most parties had a good time

and BOB unveiled his Zoolander Blue Steel look.

The trail was much needed. Yes I actually ran (a little bit)

Hittin the trail

I finally got up the courage to bring the bike out of retirement.


I did manage to get in about 5 miles on the bum leg


Some clips from the trail

Now to do it again today.