A couple of weeks ago I went on a much needed vacation. Usually on vacation I eat like a pig and stay away from a scale for a while! But this time I tried to eat in moderation (most of the time). We stayed in Augusta house sitting for my in-laws for 6 days. During that time I decided to start walking. On Monday through Friday that week I walked at least 3 miles each day! Needless to say my muscles were a bit sore. I took off the following Saturday and Sunday. Then on Monday my left knee started hurting. So, I wore a knee brace for a few days and took it easy.
Now that I am back from vacation and my knee seems to be doing better I went walking yesterday (2.76 miles). My goal is not to go fast, but to build up strength & endurance. Today I took my bicycle to a friend's house and we worked on it for 3 hours (putting on new tires, adjusting the cables and tensions, checking the brakes, and cleaning up everything). It has been many, many years since I rode my bike. But now I have bike riding as an option for exercise. That should help my knees and also be enjoyable.
One of the things I realized while walking during vacation is that 3 years from now will be my 40th anniversary for hiking the Appalachian Trail. So I decided that I want to spend the next 3 years getting back into shape. And on April 12, 2020 I will climb Springer Mountain, which is the Southern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. It will be 40 years to the day when I first climbed that mountain on my thru-hike. I also decided that on September 4, 2020 I will climb Mount Katahdin in Baxter State Park, Maine. That will be 40 years to the day of when I completed my thru-hike. I know it is 3 years away, but it is a goal to shoot for!
I also realized that much of the Appalachian Trail can be "day hiked". That means you don't have to carry a backpack with camping gear as long as someone drops you off and picks you up along the way. In order to get ready for the 2020 hikes, I will probably do some day hikes. I did quite a bit of hiking on the Appalachian Trail both before and after my thru-hike. I'm going to go back and reconstruct all of the hikes that I remember. I'm pretty sure I have done all of Georgia in pieces, all of the Smokies, from South of the Nantahala River to Fontana Dam, a week in Virginia, and some other hikes. It's a long shot, but perhaps I could eventually day hike most (or all) of the Trail again in pieces. That would probably take the rest of my life to do!
And a weight check, I'm at 201 right now. I went up a few pounds right after my vacation, but I have already trimmed them back off. I'm making progress little by little!
