Before things get too crazy around here with holiday travel, I’ve decided now would be the best time to check in with you all and let you know what I’ve been up to and what the next few weeks have in store.
That said, I want to introduce the latest addition to the team: Active Expert, Joe Decker Joe is a fitness expert who lives and breathes endurance. He lives here in San Diego and I’ve been training with him and his Gut Check Workout Group on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Joe holds class every day of the week, twice a day and his workouts are always challenging and offer a diverse combination of speed work, calisthenics, plyometrics and strength training—all outdoors from 6 a.m. until 7:15 a.m. I leave these group workouts feeling fulfilled because I pushed it to the max and started my day off as well as I possibly could. I feel that this style of workout has been missing until now. I encourage you to get in touch with Joe to learn more.
Then there is ActiveX Training which you may or may not have caught glimpse of here in the community. ActiveX is very similar to Joe Decker’s workouts but it’s even more concentrated, rarely lasting more than 40 minutes. These workouts are held Tuesday and Friday mornings at 11:30 a.m. I’ve been doing both Joe’s workouts and ActiveX Tuesday workouts all month.
I’ve also been quite consistent with my Friday morning yoga class which helps me recover from the high intensity, back-to-back workouts throughout the week. Yoga has been my sanctuary and has kept me balanced and injury free. I encourage you all to give yoga a try for your first time. I’m still usually one of the only guys in the class and often the least flexible out of everyone but that never discourages me because I can feel the benefits of each class and seem to learn more and take more away from each session.
This new level of training was put to the test on Sunday when I successfully ran four, 13-mile loops through Los Penasquitos Canyon. The double marathon distance run lasted just over 12 hours which breaks down to a 14-minute mile pace. This is right on par with where I need to be for the Avalon 50 on Catalina Island, January 12. The run was smooth and I felt strong from sunrise to sunset. My nutrition plan was spot-on and my recovery has been quick and with minimal soreness. I'm excited to end the year on such a positive note!
I’ll be training on the east coast for the remainder of the year. They have two feet of snow where I’ll be and I can’t stop picturing the Rocky IV training montage from the barn in Russia.
Active Toby's Adventure Blog : December 2007
Previous NextLast night I was eight miles into my 21-mile bike commute home when my chain broke. My two companions and I did not have a chain tool so I went through my phone calling co-workers who I knew would be passing by the exit where we were located on their drive home. I finally secured a ride and instead of requesting the ride from our location on the north end of Rose Canyon, I asked to be picked up in Pacific Beach on the south side of the canyon. To make use of this time, Steven and I ended up tying our belts together and attaching one end to the head tube of my bike and the other to Airey's seat post. Please note (see picture): Airey rides a single-speed bike. It's not a fixed-gear because it has a freewheel but to tow my 215-pounds of flesh, bicycle and backpack behind a single-speed bike is no easy feat-for a mortal.
Airey wins the "Beast of the Day Award" (which I just made up) for selflessly rising to the challenge and expertly leading the tow through the darkness of Rose Canyon. We were 100 percent focused on task as to prevent a crash. My front wheel was less than three feet from his rear wheel with our primitive tow-system. If you're ever in need of a tow, call Airey's Tow Service to bail you out (or carry a chain tool).
I covered somewhere around 18-miles on Saturday in Joshua Tree National Park. It took me over five hours because I lost the trail and continued to scramble my way over a mountain pass in effort to make it a looping out-and-back route. I guess I lost the correct trail pretty early on. This might have been because of how absorbed I was in listening to Into the Wild on audiobook.
Despite the lack of water and calories, I still finished feeling good and now I'm confident that Sunday's 50-mile training run in Penasquitos Canyon will go well. I'm teaming up with Joe Decker's group for four, 13-mile loops. With the support of these awesome folks, Sunday should be a breeze. Stay tuned for how it all works out. Thanks for reading!
Last Friday, I took the "red-eye" from San Diego to Newark, New Jersey--arriving at 6:15 a.m. on Saturday. My brother and his wife were waiting for me, coffee in-hand, for the drive to our home town Northfield, Massachusetts. My mother was expecting Steve and Michele for breakfast and had no idea I was with them. This surprise, two months in the making, was originally designed to surprise my father for his 60th birthday. Realizing that he would be in Boston until Saturday night for a meeting, we kept my mom out of the loop to make it a dual-surprise.
It worked perfectly. Steve and Michele dropped me down the street and they continued on home, greeted my mom and then I rang the front doorbell. When the door opened, my mom froze-taking five seconds to process the situation. Tears of joy and excitement and hugs soon followed along with a group hug with Steve and Michele who were the brains of the operation.
We all caught up over a huge breakfast and planned out the day's events, including the big birthday surprise for that evening. Steve and I measured, trimmed and set-up our 8-foot Christmas tree in the front room, stacked wood in the basement for the wood stove and went for a 5-mile run while my mom and Michele prepared the decorations and the meal.
Our run was long over-due. If you all remember from May/June, Steve and I were supposed to run the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon together. He ended up running it alone, with Michele and I cheering him along, because I turned up lame with an over-use injury. So Steve and I ran through our old town together, enduring the 30-degree temps and covering 5 miles in 37 minutes. We followed up the run with a three-set series of hanging leg lifts, medicine ball push ups and bicep curls.
My Dad arrived home that evening to his whole family waiting for him. The look on his face was priceless. The entire experience was the making for a Visa commercial. It couldn't have gone any better. Our celebration that evening was one that we will cherish forever.
A resource for adventure created to inspire. First-hand trip reports, wild stories and ideas for excursions of your own. Questions about gear and trip planning are encouraged. Feel free to offer your stories and suggestions. Active Toby