These new workouts are taxing me much more than the others. Please tell me that means they're working!

Warmup, 3 sets of 5 w/45lb bar
* Overhead squat
* Squat
* Good morning
* Lunge
* Romanian deadlift
* Bent-over row

Workout, supersets
* Wide-stance Squat, 135lbs, 4 sets of 12
* Dumbbell Bench Press, 25lb dumbbells, 4 sets of 12
* Wide-grip Chin-up, 2 sets of 2, 2 sets of 1
* Push Press, 65lbs, 2 sets of 12, 1 set of 9, 1 set of 12

I took Gregory up to Chico last night to see my mom at the hospital. She's doing much better, her mouth isn't drooping near as much, and she's speaking less slurred. For a while she had been complaining that her ankle was swollen, and now the swelling is gone. Was it from the thing in her head? Who knows. I'm just glad she's doing better.

Cardio Day(TM)... more running and sprints. With the new phase of the exercise plan, it's longer sprints, but longer in between. Once again I ran to the park, did the sprints, then finished the loop.

* 15 minute jog to park
* 10 30-second sprints, 90-second rest between each
* 15 minute jog back to work

Oh man did this workout kick my butt today! It was a cumulative effect on my arms, the pushups to pseudo-pullups, to shoulder press, to curls. I'm having trouble typing right now. But that's supposed to be good, right?

Warmup, 30 seconds of each in a circuit, 3 sets
* Jumping jack
* Split jack
* Prisoner squat
* Alternating lunge
* Mountain climber

Workout, supersets
* Dumbbell Squat, 30lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 20
* Swiss-ball Reverse Hyperextension, 2 sets of 20
* Pushup, 2 sets of 20
* Underhand-grip Inverted Row, 1 set of 15, 1 set of 7
* Neutral-grip Shoulder Press, 35lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 15
* Inline Reverse Crunch, 2 sets of 20
* Dumbbell Curl, 20lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 20
* Triceps Kickback, 20lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 20

This week starts a new phase in the workout schedule, what the book I'm going through calls "Full Scale Fat Loss". We'll see exactly how much over time, but the workouts have changed, yet again. Now there are more exercises per session with less reps, and more cardio days. Today was supposed to be cardio but because of being at the hospital with my mom, everything's shifted. So here come the workouts.

Warmup, 3 sets of 5 w/45lb bar
* Overhead squat
* Squat
* Good morning
* Lunge
* Romanian deadlift
* Bent-over row

Workout, supersets (two exercises performed immediately following one another)
* Dumbbell Alternating Lunge, 30lb dumbbells, 3 sets of 6
* Squat, 125lb barbell, 3 sets of 6
* Incline Dumbbell Fly, 2 sets of 6 @ 30lbs, 1 set of 6 @ 25lbs
* Incline Dumbbell Press, 35lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 6, 1 set of 2
* Rear Lateral Raise, 1 set of 5 @ 25lbs, 3 sets of 6 @ 20lbs
* Bent Over Row, 60lbs on curl bar, 3 sets of 6

Wow, what a long weekend it's been.

On Thursday afternoon my mom came into MSN Messenger and told me she had been changing the thermostat when she passed out. She hit her head on the floor, and when she came to, she had a big knot on the back of her head. She was wondering whether she should call the ambulance.

In my mom's case, she has MS, so she has trouble getting around at times. This was one of her difficult walking days, so she was worried about trying to walk to the car. Not to mention, she passed out for some reason. So I told her to call the ambulance, and call a cab if she was ok. I would reimburse her cab fare if need be.

On the way home from work I got a call from the doctor, who was having her airlifted to Enloe Hospital in Chico. Come to find out, she had a blood clot in her brain and they needed to have a specialist look ASAP.

Come to find out, all she had from the fall was a bump on the head. It's a good thing she went in, though, because the blood cot was a result of an earlier fall that just kept growing and growing. They set her up for surgery on Friday to drain the excess.

I took Friday off and spent a good amount of the day in Chico. When I got there though, she was having tests run. The MD (not the surgeon) had wanted a barrage of tests done to make sure she was fit for surgery. She got to her room late, and after the hospital we went looking for dinner. We ended up getting home that night around 1am.

On Monday, they finally did her surgery at 5:30pm. We stayed at the hospital until she was out of recovery, and got to see her around 10. She was asleep, but doing fine. The surgeon said it went just fine, and she should recovery shortly. Until then, we just have to be there for her.

She's still in the hospital, and as far as I know, still in ICU. I'll find out more later, since I'm heading up to Chico after work.

Alright, here we go. Today's workout:

Warmup, 3 sets of 5 w/45lb bar
* Overhead squat
* Squat
* Good morning
* Lunge
* Romanian deadlift
* Bent-over row

Workout, alternating sets
* Neutral-grip incline press, 1 set of 6 @ 40lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 8 @ 35lbs, 1 set of 7
* Chin-Up, 2 sets of 2, 1 set of 1
* Bent-arm lateral raise & rotation, 20lb dumbbells, 1 set of 8, 1 set of 5
* Swiss ball side flexion, 3 sets of 8

Well, I was finally able to edit together some video from the Half Dome hike. My biggest regret is that I wasn't able to shoot more video, but what can you do when you're doing both still & video and are under time constraints. Not being able to switch off the video camera also meant that I have no video of myself.

For about a year now, I've joked around with my pastor about how we should do something for the church that parodies 24. One idea I had was a t-shirt with the 24 logo on the front, and a scripture reference on the back that's something with verse 24. I still haven't found a decent enough verse for that. Anyway, on the way up I told him that I finally figured out what we'd do, and this hike was it.

So here it is, 24: Half Dome. Enjoy.

Cardio Day(TM)! Running & sprints:

14 min run to park
12 15-second sprints, 60 seconds rest between each
17 min run to complete loop to work

It's a bit warm.

Today's workout was tough getting started for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that this is the first time I did squats with weights on since Half Dome. Oh, speaking of Half Dome, there's an article in the Modesto Bee that's about someone falling to his death off the Half Dome cables on Saturday. That's three days after I left, apparently the cables were as busy or busier than they've ever been. The guy lost his footing, meaning he wasn't standing on a 2x4, and just went tumbling.

Alright. The workout:

Warmup, 30 seconds of each in a circuit, 3 sets
* Jumping jack
* Split jack
* Prisoner squat
* Alternating lunge
* Mountain climber

Workout, alternating sets
* Elevated Heels High-Bar Squat, 125lbs, 4 sets of 8
* Swiss Ball Weighted Back Extension, 25lbs, 4 sets of 8
* Wide-Grip Barbell Curl, 60lbs on bar, 3 sets of 8
* Incline Dumbbell Triceps Extension, 30lb dumbbells, 1 set of 8, 1 set of 3

Today's workout:

Warmup, 3 sets of 5 w/45lb bar
* Overhead squat
* Squat
* Good morning
* Lunge
* Romanian deadlift
* Bent-over row

Workout, alternating sets
* Bench Press, 1 set of 3 @ 125lbs, 2 sets of 3 & 1 set of 2 @ 115lbs
* Single Arm Dumbbell Row, 55lbs dumbbell, 4 sets of 4
* External Rotation, 20lbs dummbell, 2 sets of 3, 1 set of 2
* Swiss Ball Crunch, 25lbs behind head, 3 sets of 4

Back in 2005 or so, I had lost close to 30 pounds but was looking for a serious motivator. Something that would kick my butt in gear, something to give me a reason to work like I've never worked before. I mean, sure, having a goal weight was good and all, but when you're looking at 60 more pounds to lose after already losing 30 it's just a number.

Then one day, a person named Diana on the Tivo Community Forum posted this thread:

Thread

She said, "I am home safe and sound after climbing Half Dome in Yosemite yesterday. It took 3 months of planning everything from the lodging to the practice hikes to the variety of trail mix, but it was well worth it to experience the trip with my friends."

I had never even heard of Half Dome before. So I did a little research. There were Diana's pictures, of course, but I found other things as well. I put it in the back of my mind and as I ate right, as I exercised, that was my goal.

Six months ago, I made the reservations for camping at Upper Pines, only a half-mile from the trailhead. To make sure the number of people would be less, I made sure to go mid-week. I planned to do the hike on a Tuesday, with the idea that I'd have an additional day to recover before having to drive home. My pastor agreed to come along; so did another friend from church.

The Good
June 11 was our first date of camping. Because my pastor didn't arrive until 9pm on Monday evening, we postponed the hike until Wednesday so he would have plenty of time to acclimate. We left the wives at the campsite, and at 6am on the dot, we headed out.


Words can hardly express how it felt after two years to finally be on my way. A mile in, we hit the Mist Trail. Steps. More steps. Even more steps. Did I mention there were steps? The guy in the white cap is Bob, the guy he's talking to is Rob, my pastor.


That Mist Trail was aptly named, there's no way you can get past Vernal Falls without getting soaked. Believe me, even though it's only a mile in, the mist is extremely helpful. Just past Vernal Falls is Nevada falls, a good opportunity for a photo. At this point, I was still able to muster a smile. Nah, smiles were all around, all the time.


The trail at this point was rock. On the way up, Rob mentioned to me that the trail designers had to have been in love with steps. They just kept going and going and...


The restroom was a good opportunity to rest. We stopped, reapplied sunscreen and bug spray, and we could see that the sun was now reaching the trail. I put on my hat and away we went. Little Yosemite Falls was next, and gave us a good stretch of flat trail, a wonderful, wonderful site. There was also water access, which we noted for later hydration purposes.

Past Little Yosemite Valley, the trail climbed even more. I ran into a guy named Daryl who was pretty heavy, and Daryl said the trail was much more difficult than he had expected. To me, it was perhaps easier than I expected. Thanks, Diana!

All along the trail, the conservation corps were doing trail maintenance, scooping dirt over the trail divider rocks to ensure water runoff wouldn't erode the trail. I love it: hike this far only to do yard work!

Then we saw it: Half Dome, along with the cables, along with what are called "switchbacks". As Diana described them, they're really giant rock steps that are perhaps as high as two regular steps. They kept going up, I had to stop looking at it because if I hadn't, I might not have even tried ascending the switchbacks. I could post a smaller image, but to truly appreciate it, you need a full 6 megapixel image. If you have the bandwidth, check it out.

Full Res Switchbacks

If you notice, when the switchbacks end, you're still not quite up to the shoulder. No, you have to climb steep granite anyway. No supports, nothing to hold, nothign to rest on. Keep moving! There was a 10-year-old boy at this point, climbing with his father. The kid was a monster, he was unstoppable!

The cables were just as tricky. Again, you have to see the full resolution image to fully appreciate it. This is also where my workouts really, really, really helped. It was still difficult, but not nearly as much as I expected.

The cables are always there, but the poles are removed every year for the winter. When they put the poles up, they also mount 2x4's across each one. They're mounted 15 to 20 feet apart, and barely bolted together with little metal braces. The poles aren't secured as much as just inserted into 2-inch-deep holes. In fact one of the poles got pulled out as we were on the way up, and some enterprising young man in front of me actually managed to pull it back up the cable and back into its hole. At one point, one of the boards came off and went sliding dowwwwwwwwn the rock. This brought home the seriousness of the ascent. Follow the next link to see the 6mp image of the cables.

Full Res Cables

Then it finally happened: I made it to the top!


Again, words can hardly describe my elation. Almost 2 years since Diana's visit (mine was in June, hers in August). 69 pounds lost. I changed my lifestyle from 98% sedentary to daily fitness. I developed my upper body strength to handle it, and after all the effort, the reward was here. I made it to the top.


The Bad: But wait! There's more...

What's interesting is because of the focus of my workouts, some portions were easier than others. I found that climbing the steps was much easier for me than just ascending the dirt trail. I also found the cables to be easier than I expected. On the way down, things were a bit different.

I really wasn't afraid on the way down, but a girl ahead of us was. She held up the line for probably 30 minutes; she was pretty far down but we could all hear her screaming. I took the opportunity to shoot Bob, just before we got to the steep part. Heh. It's all steep, but this wasn't nearly as bad as the later portion.


They describe the cables as a 45-degree angle, but we all agreed that the 45 degrees is probably an average. There have to be some spots that are 50, maybe 55 degrees. I found out REAL quick that the face first descent isn't about using your legs & feet or even arms. It's about hand strength. My hands were my brakes as I kept my feet sideways, inching my way down. Wherever there was a pole, I had to kneel about halfway, brace myself with one hand, and reach over the pole. Then I could continue on. Every so often, the rock would drop down so not only would I have to crouch, but I would have to step down as well. Parts of the cables were loose, due to being replaced and continued on. These parts we had to descend holding onto one rope.

At the bottom, my gloves were pretty ratty. I can't find them at the moment or I'd post a picture, but each one is worn almost completely through in a straight-line pattern of the ropes. At the bottom of the cables, of course, was a pile of gloves with a big sign that read, "Gloves are trash!"


Descending the ropes was probably twice as fast as going up. The same went for the switchbacks.

As anyone who's been hiking long knows, while hiking downhill is a relief for a short time after going uphill for a period of time, but you quickly realize that it takes a toll on another part of your body: the knees. That's when hiking poles come in handy; you can probably take 20 pounds of pressure off your knees by shifting the weight to the poles through your arms.

I've had the same hiking shoes for the past year, and haven't really had a problem with them until now. I wear size 6 1/2, they're size 7. Where you really tell the difference is in the toes, that portion is pretty loose. With this hike, that caused a problem. I had also completely forgotten to trim my toenails, so for 8 miles downhill they slammed against the inside of the shoes.

I was doing pretty well until the Mist Trail. All those extra steps made me fear for my knees, and fatigued me like nothing I've experienced. The last mile after Vernal Falls, I can only describe as a death march. I had to occupy myself by counting steps: 400 from the bottom of the Mist Trail to the first set of restrooms.

Back at camp, we all greeted the wives with huges & kisses. My kids ran up to me and were actually very understanding as I removed my gear. I got a chance to take off my shoes & socks, and found out exactly why my toes were hurting as much as they were.


So that's the sordid tale. Was it worth it? Abso-frakkin-lutely. Would I do it again? Yes, although I'll wait a while. A long while. Perhaps a few years.

When we were almost done, Bob asked me what we should do for next year's "extreme" hike, so jokingly I said, "Mt. Whitney". Bob took me seriously. I told him to ask me again in 6 months.

Thanks for your patience and reading to the end! If interested, here's the full gallery, including family pictures at Yosemite:

Gallery

It's almost time. It's a little after 4am on Wednesday, the guys are getting up at 5am for breakfast. We plan on a hearty one, to make sure we're fuelled up for the big event: Half Dome! The plan is to start hiking at 6. Happy Isles is only a half mile from our campsite.

OK, so what now? The nice thing for me will be prayer before leaving. I almost had a small disaster when I couldn't find my camera battery. All this time & planning with no photos to show for it? The battery & charger were in the car's center console all along.

So we should get some nice photos up there. See you at the top!

I've been having trouble sleeping tonight. I always get this way right before leaving for a vacation, wondering what I've forgotten. I did get a reprieve, though, because my cell phone rang and someone from work needed help. Normally I'd shove it onto someone else, but this was a guy who's in the Phillipines on a family emergency. His problem, come to find out, was that he had changed the time on his computer but not the timezone. Yay! Greg saves the day!

Pastor Rob put a little bug in my ear about wanting a shakedown hike on Tuesday and hiking to Half Dome on Wednesday. I still want to go on Tuesday, but if Bob agrees with Rob, we'll go ahead and wait until Wednesday. Not that it would be the end of the world, but this has been a long time coming. I'm itching to go up!

Either way, I'm excited. Excited and nervous; I know I can make it to the top and back, but I'm still nervous about how my poor body will feel before it's over. I suppose that's normal.

So those are my thoughts at 11:30 the night before heading to Yosemite. When I get back, I should have a picture like this of myself... see that little cave below where the person's standing? People actually hang out there. I won't be that daring. Cheers.

Last workout before our trip. Sunday's the Men's Breakfast so Rob and I get to whine to everyone, while sounding excited all the same. Here we go:

Warmup, 30 seconds of each in a circuit, 3 sets
* Jumping jack
* Split jack
* Prisoner squat
* Alternating lunge
* Mountain climber

Workout, alternating sets
* Deadlift, 125lbs, 3 sets of 5
* Single leg swiss ball hip extension, 3 sets of 6
* Close grip bench press, 1 set of 3 @ 115lbs, 3 sets of 5 @ 105lbs
* Hammer curl, 1 set of 5 @ 30lbs, 2 sets of 5 @ 35lbs

4 days and counting, Half Dome here we come. Check out the cables.



Here's another picture looking up towards them, for scope.



Keep in mind that the picture you're looking at was shot from the shoulder, which is 8 miles in. It's gonna be a blast!

I'm still sore from yesterday's sprints! Hopefully that particular soreness will be reduced before next week...

Warmup, 3 sets of 5 w/45lb bar
* Overhead squat
* Squat
* Good morning
* Lunge
* Romanian deadlift
* Bent-over row

Workout, alternating sets
* Neutral-grip incline press, 35lb dumbbells, 1 set of 10, 1 set of 9, 1 set of 4
* Chin-Up, 2 sets of 2, 1 set of 1
* Bent-arm lateral raise & rotation, 10lb dumbbells, 5 sets of 10
* Swiss ball side flexion, 5 sets of 10

5 days 'til Half Dome. Here's an interesting bit of info: 100 Classic Hikes in Northern California calls the Half Dome hike "The Burn".

I went to REI last night and picked up some National Geographic topos for Yosemite SW (which includes HD) and the Tahoe Basin (for the Tahoe Rim Trail). They're pretty nice maps, but cost $10 apiece. They're pretty sturdy and should hold up to repeated abuses on the trail.

It's Cardio Day(TM)!

This afternoon I jogged my normal route (2.5 miles), stopping mid-way at the park for sprints. 10 15-second sprints, each separated with a 60-second rest. This was also my first jog wearing the heart rate monitor, I was about 156 during the jog. I peaked at 174 on the 9th or 10th sprint, and went back to 156 when jogging again.

My legs are feeling it this afternoon.

The countdown has begun... Rob Christian (my pastor), Bob Copp, and myself are climbing Half Dome in Yosemite in 6 days. What is Half Dome? Here, look at one of the most famous pictures in the world, taken by Ansel Adams.





A bit of background: back when I started my weight loss and becoming healthy, I was trying to find a goal to achieve. Sure, a certain amount of weight by a certain date was a good goal, but I wanted something concrete.

Then on the Tivo Community Forum, a woman posted about this same hike. It was at just the right time, so that became my goal.

Half Dome isn't for the faint at heart. It's 8 miles one way (16 miles round trip). It's uphill the whole way up, and if you know anything about hiking, you know that means your knees will be feeling it the whole way down. The last portion of the hike is up a 45% grade that you literally pull yourself up cables to reach the top of. You spend a good 12 hours up there, and much of the hike is exposed to the sun. You need plenty of water, which means plenty of weight.

I made camping reservations back in January for the Upper Pines campground, across the street from the Happy Isles trailhead. We're all extremely excited about going up.

This is why I've been working out every day, making sure I have squats & lunges in every workout I do. When I started I didn't have much upper body strength, which I'll need for the ascent up the cables. I feel pretty confident now that while it's going to be difficult, I can make it.

So again: 6 days left!

Today's workout wasn't too bad. They ordered pizza at work today, I had none. I won't have pizza again probably for a few months. They just love pizza here at work but unfortunately it doesn't help the weight loss plan much. Anyway, here you go:

Warmup, 30 seconds of each in a circuit, 3 sets
* Jumping jack
* Split jack
* Prisoner squat
* Alternating lunge
* Mountain climber

Workout, alternating sets between exercises 1 & 2, then 3 & 4
* Elevated heels high bar squat, 115lbs, 5 sets of 10
* Cardio ball weighted back extension, 20lbs, 5 sets of 10
* Wide-grip barbell curl, 50lbs on bar (not sure how much bar weighs), 3 sets of 10
* Incline dumbbell triceps extension, 1 set of 10, 1 set of 8 @ 25lbs ea

That's it, back to the grindstone...

Warmup, 3 sets of 5 w/45lb bar
* Overhead squat
* Squat
* Good morning
* Lunge
* Romanian deadlift
* Bent-over row

Workout, alternate sets
* Bench press, 105lbs, 4 sets of 5
* Single-arm dumbbell row, 50lb dumbbell, 4 sets of 6
* External rotation, 20lb dumbbell, 4 sets of 5
* Swiss ball crunch, 4 sets of 5

I was just commenting to another guy in the workout room about how gains in workouts happen so quickly. A few weeks ago I couldn't do a rotation with 20lb dumbbells, I had to use 10's. The same week I was only bench pressing 85lbs. I'm also doing chin-ups now when I couldn't do any. It's not like 3 chin-ups are going to break any records except for the fact that it breaks my record.

My record, back in the 8th Grade, when I was never able to win any Presidential Physical Fitness awards, simply because I couldn't do enough chin-ups. At 37 years old, you would think I wouldn't care anymore, but I do. So now I can do more chin-ups than my 13-year-old self could. I wonder what he would think.

I did my first Saturday cardio day in quite a while today. As per instructions, of course, it was 6 30-second sprints at full speed, with a 2-minute rest between. Two things worked against me, though: the heat and my breathing, still not quite up to snuff. I'm on Robitussin full time at this point. All I have to say is I better be back to normal by next weekend.

I must be getting better, the bronchial congestion has set in. That also means my workouts are becoming harder, simply because it's harder to breathe. They say that exercise can actually make your asthma feel better, so I'm toughing it out. Today's punishm... I mean workout:

Warmup, 30 seconds of each in a circuit, 3 sets
* Jumping jack
* Split jack
* Prisoner squat
* Alternating lunge
* Mountain climber

Workout, alternating sets
* Deadlift, 115lbs, 5 sets of 7
* Single leg swiss ball hip extension, 5 sets of 8
* Close grip bench press, 105lbs, 2 sets of 7
* Hammer curl, 25lb dumbbells, 3 sets of 8

Yesterday afternoon had me so busy I wasn't able to post my workout same-day. Sorry about that. I did more chin-ups than ever before, which was great! Here we go.

Warmup, 3 sets of 5 w/45lb bar
* Overhead squat
* Squat
* Good morning
* Lunge
* Romanian deadlift
* Bent-over row

Workout, alternating sets
* Neutral-grip incline press, 30lb dumbbells, 1 set of 12, 1 set of 11
* Chin-Up, 1 set of 2, 1 set of 1
* Bent-arm lateral raise & rotation, 10lb dumbbells, 4 sets of 12
* Swiss ball side flexion, 4 sets of 12

That swiss ball thing was difficult, only because I'm not the most graceful of creatures. I kept rolling off.