I'm spending the holiday weekend in Connecticut with Phil. On Saturday we got a chance to go hiking together with our friend from college, Dave. While on the hike, I started to think about how hiking can be a great workout, and better yet, it is free!
Our destination? Craig Castle in Meriden, CT. It wasn't a particularly grueling hike, but we kept a good pace and challenged ourselves.
As a rower, it is important to concentrate on how your body feels during every piece and every race. A competetive rowers is all all too familiar with the burn that emanates from their quads or other parts of their body. Running on a treadmill or elliptical bike can be thankless. It is all too easy to not challenge yourself if you fall into a workout rut. Hiking is great exercise that challenges your muscles by demanding precision and balance in your steps, stamina to make it up (or even down) steep inclines, and focus and mental strength to keep going.
I suppose the same can be said about mountain biking, but that means you need a lot of specialized gear (a good bike and gear can be more than 1g). Mountain biking also demands an intense level of coordination. Speaking coordination (or lack thereof), I did take a small spill on the hike. It was toward the end, on flater terrain with a small slope on the side of the road. We were going quickly and my shoes slipped on some loose gravel. I sustained a nasty scrape on my knee, but other than being a little bruised and sore, I should survive. On that note, always hike with others and take proper safety precautions.
Find a local hiking spot today and enjoy the holiday weekend!
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