Level Up!

 For the past few weeks it has been a struggle to just do my weekend cardio at the fitness center as I am usually exhausted from all the yard work I have been doing. Well I still had plenty of yard work to do this weekend, but I had made up my mind to step up the workouts. Saturday I started off with 1065 steps on the stair-master (this takes about 20 minutes to do). I then moved on to the treadmill. 5 minute warm-up then 35 minutes (1.5 miles) at 15% incline, then 20 minutes at -3%, then  5 minute cooldown. My final stop was the rowing machine. I did 12 minutes on it. Sunday was pretty much a repeat but with just over 13 minutes on the rower. So I have taken my workouts from 60 minutes to 90 minutes in a very short time.

 I'm feeling really good about it as I had worked for over 2 hours in the garden both Saturday and Sunday mornings plus cleaned house. I even played with my power-pole saw and chainsaw on Sunday and did a major prune job on one of my trees that had limbs hanging over and on my roof. Once I got them all pruned off I had to cut them up into smaller pieces so I can dispose of them. Several of the limbs were over 12 feet with numerous branches. Looking at them all I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the job, but I got stuck in and completed in under two hours. 

Just a few years ago I took on a similar job. I ended up calling in help before I got the limbs cut-up. It feels great to be in so much better shape that I can easily tackle these challenging physical tasks and then still go to the gym. I will admit my shoulders are a bit sore today, but that is to be expected when using a power-pole saw. 

I was chatting with one of the Inca Trail trekking companies about the possibility of joining a 5- day trek next Spring. They said they aren't that popular so it would be hard to book if solo. I would really need to plan on doing the four day. So after a bit more research I feel pretty confident that it is within my ability to complete. I've eleven months to get prepared and with the improvements I am making, I'll be ready!