the great outdoors

Went on another mini-hike in Sabino yesterday. And I sunbathed by the pool for 20 min or so.

I LOVE hiking. There's no other form of exercise I would rather do than to just go on a long hike.
I'm not a runner. I've never been good at it, nor enjoyed it. I do much better with exercise that requires energy and stamina over time as opposed to bursts of it. I really admire people who can just go out and run for miles without stopping, but it sure as hell isn't for me.

Hiking is one of those things I can do for hours. Before the flood damage up in Sabino, I used to walk the road up to the Phoneline Trail trailhead and hike that trail back to the visitor center. Round trip, it's about 8 miles and takes 4-4.5 hours. The first time I went raw, I would go hike that a couple times a week and that's all the exercise I needed. I wore a heart rate monitor once to track caloric expenditure...1500 calories burned! Not that I give a shit about numbers now, but it's nice to know you can get in two of those workouts and burn approximately the equivalent of a pound.

I like having a destination. I like the change of scenery. I had a gym membership a couple years ago and the only real reason I went is because I went with friends, and the gym offered free kickboxing and capoeira classes (which I miss a lot). I get soooo bored on cardio machines. I used to play "musical cardio" just to alleviate the boredom...I'd do 10 minutes on the elliptical, 10 on treadmill, and another 10 on the bike or stairs or whatever. I just hate standing in one place and going nowhere. I don't even like walking on the track at the park down the street. Just going around and around and around and getting nowhere. I can do that for like 30 minutes before calling it quits.

When I'm hiking though, it's like there's a built-in reward. I have a destination in mind. Hiking is a reward in itself to me. I don't think "Dammit, I need to exercise, I better go hiking". I don't even think of it as exercise...it's a treat!

I was thinking about all of this yesterday while hiking, and I'm just so glad I started doing it again. I would like to do Seven Falls sometime, but I'd rather have a hiking buddy for that.

Anyway, hope everyone has a great day :)