I wrote the following 6 years ago today. I thought about it yesterday as I rode up that same hill with no problems. It's been 6 years since I originally lost 40 pounds and have basically kept that weight off. In fact, over the last couple months I have recommitted my self and have lost additional weight so that I am nearly 50 pound less than my early 2008 nadir.
Near Fort Snelling there is a very steep hill that connects a bike trail to the Mendota Bridge. The hill has a good 30+ degree slant and is long. For us flatlanders in the Midwest, it’s a pretty nasty hill for bike riders, the steepest I know of along the river. Early this summer I tried to ride up the hill but had to get off about mid-way and walk. I vowed that by the end of the summer I would be able to ride my bike all the way up that hill.
If life was a Hollywood movie, what would be seen next is a montage (with a kick-ass rock song on the sound track) of me exercising, training on other hills, working that hill and getting closer and closer to the top before I had to get off. But life isn’t a Hollywood movie with rockin’ montages. I did remember my vow and when I was riding my bike this summer I would attack any hill I came across a little harder. I hadn’t, however, been back to the Fort Snelling trail.
This being Minnesota, the bike riding season is fast coming to an end and my vow was weighing on me. Thankfully Saturday was a beautiful day and I had some time. I was going to see if I could make it up that hill. It might be my last time I had this season.
Coming up to the hill I was pretty confident, I noticed that other hills that had given me trouble earlier in the year were easily ascended but as “The Hill” drew nearer, my mind was clouded with doubts. First among them is that the hill trail is perpendicular to the river trail, meaning I wouldn’t have a running start. But more worrisome was what if I failed? What would that do to my confidence? Would that mean the hundreds of miles I put on my bike this summer would be for naught? I approached the hill with trepidation and had further worries when I came to the hill and, due to the nice weather, found it full of other walkers and bikers – I would have to weave my way around them.
Life throws hills at us all the time. Relationships, work, finances, old houses and cars, etc., seem to constantly present some sort of obstacle that we need to overcome. Just dealing with those day-to-day obstacles can be physically and mentally tough, sometimes overwhelmingly so. But I think it’s also important challenge ourselves with hills of our own making. It doesn’t matter what it is, it can be improvements in your personal relationships, it can be that you’re finally going to learn how to play guitar, it can be stop smoking or lose weight. The important thing is to set a realistic goal and accomplish it. Just by doing that you can gain more confidence to address all those other problems that life throws at you.
So yes I made it up the hill. In fact about a third of the way up I knew I was going to make it. It was a lung buster and wasn’t easy but I made true my June vow. Even more satisfying than making it up the hill was the fact that I passed two guys probably 20 years younger than me walking their bikes. Will making it up that hill change my life? Probably not, but who knows maybe it will a little bit, and if I can make little changes for the better, maybe they will add up to bigger changes over time. Know what my next goal is? To stay in shape over the winter so that on the first nice weekend in April when I bring my bike out for the first time, I attack that hill and once again make it up without stopping.
How about you, any hills you’re trying to conquer?
I enjoyed that this was about a real hill and metaphorical hills simultaneously. I certainly have things that I'd like to work on, but (in all honesty) actually setting any of those things down as "Goals" to strive towards would legitimize them in a way that would require action. At present, I rather prefer living with a minor concern at the prospect of failure as opposed to a later experience of actual failure.
Nice to know I'm not the only one doing that. Not that I should.
Now that the nest is empty again, Mrs. Runner and I signed up for the Y (about 3 minutes from us) and I've been trying to go there 2-3 times a week. I've never liked weight lifting, but doing reps on the various machines instead of free weights is a whole different story. Picked up a nice set of earbuds, which helps as well. I can't remember the last time I'd jogged a mile on the track, so I've made that part of my lunch ritual as well. Meanwhile, my quads are so tight, until I stretch a bit it's like I'm walking on stilts.
If I lose a little weight, fine, but my goal is flexibility and endurance.
I have one bad knee, with somewhat limited range of motion, so quad stretching has always been a problem for me. Last year, the in-laws' club installed a pair of new torture devices for stretching (respectively) hamstrings and quads/hip flexors. Knowledge of the quad/hip flexor machine gave me revelatory insight into stretching my quads without killing my knees.
It's basically a lunge with the other leg supported. I do it at home, standing on one leg bent at 90 degrees, arms on an easy chair in front of me and the other knee on an ottoman pushed behind me as far as that leg will reach back while maintaining my hips pretty straight in front.
Knees are great, but I have a tweaky left hip. Remedy for it is a little weight off but more importantly an abdominal workout, my archenemy.
Yea, ab work is the Devil's work.
I have an exercise ball, which I rarely use at home, and use an exercise ball at the gym. It doesn't take much movement to do a proper abdominal curl and if you keep your ab muscles flexed all the way through each rep, you can get a pretty good workout in a hurry.
I have an exercise ball at home as well. Do I use it enough? no, unfortunately
I thought Governor Brown instituted mandatory Yoga for all Californians :o)
If somehow you've avoided his mandate, you may want to check out a yoga practice. I have stretched muscles I didn't even know I had in Yoga and definitely have increased my flexibility. I also work the abs with a medicine ball, nothing gets the sweat pouring faster than that damn ball.
that was the old Gov. Brown. This edition is of the "get sh!t done" generation. 😉
If I had the time and energy to go to yoga classes, then I'd have the time and energy to do the stretching routine I've had in place (but not regularly done) for the last 20 years....
Speaking of muscles I didn't even know I had . . . last weekend I took a full (90 min.) ballet class for the first time in a year and a half. Oy. Four days later, my legs are still sore. But I loved every minute of the class and afterward I felt great about myself, the world, and everything in it. Thank goodness for endorphins. I'm sure I'll be able to walk normally again . . . someday.
This is really good. If it's okay with you, I may use it as a devotion sometime.
No problems with that at all.
If this post won't roust SBG from his retirement, I don't know what will.
Good stuff, Free. This resonates with me in a number of ways. Most of all the attitude to see those obstacles as challenges to conquer rather than simply barriers. That small shift in thinking has made a big difference for me.
Great piece, Free.
And I suppose it's on topic, so I might as well mention that I dropped around 60ish lbs (not 100% sure where I topped off) over the first half of this year through some lifestyle tweaks and finally breaking in those running shoes that had been sitting in the closet. It takes me awhile to get going on things sometimes, and this was something I'd been planning on doing for awhile, which is why those running shoes were in the closet. However, the continued installments of the Fitness posts from their inception on served as a great reminder of what I wanted to get started on. And I must say, I am so glad I did it, and so pissed I didn't do it sooner. I'm literally BSOHL right now. So far, I haven't had any trouble keeping it off, but I've still been running a decent clip. There's a lot more I want to do, but I'm excited to keep pushing further.
Many thanks to the nation, and especially to SBG, NBB, Twayn, Free, and all the contributors, for keeping the motivation up.
BSOHL and it's not even Spring Training!
maybe we should change the title of this feature to "Everliving Fire" or summat.