[quote]twojarslave wrote:
We camp on the top of the mountain, so it is already a weighted hike with 35lb packs. Bourbon and ribeye steaks aren’t particularly light, and we’re not the types to skimp out on the finer things in life just because we’re dragging our fat asses up a big hill to get away from the women and smoke cigars for a night.
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Reminds me of a buddy’s “bachelor party” weekend. Instead of the strippers-in-Vegas kind of thing, we camped in the woods for a long weekend, did a canoeing trip one day and then a Warrior Dash mud race the next day, and grilled out both nights. I’m a big fan of steak and bourbon myself, FYI.
[quote]twojarslave wrote:
Hiking/backpacking is not a new activity for me, just one I plan on doing more often than once or twice a year. I’m actually back to the size I was when I hiked the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim in 2006, just not the same weight (I think I was around 240-250 then). But that’s mostly good weight. The shirt I wore for that hike fits me well again. I’d really like to benchmark myself against that hike again. It was a tough hike, but the groomed trails and switchbacks make it easier. No such thing in Maine. The trails are all rocks and roots that run right up the mountains. Very tough terrain here.
I am not, nor will I ever be, a lifting purist. There’s too much stuff to do in Maine during the summer besides sit around waiting for my next lifting session. I’ve always enjoyed hiking, swimming, canoeing and kayaking, it was just such a struggle so I didn’t do it as much as I’d like to. This year will be a more active one without a doubt.
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Very cool. I suspect the barbell training and weight loss have improved your fitness enough to make those activities even more enjoyable. As you’re alluding to here, one of the great paradoxes/struggles is that the more out of shape you are, the more difficult those “fun” types of exercise are and thus the less likely you are to really enjoy them. But when you’re in good shape, those things become a lot more fun 
It’s funny, after football, when I got into distance running and bicycling, people would say things like “How can you run that far?” or “How can you bike for that long?” and I really wouldn’t have a good answer besides “Well, I’m in good enough shape that it’s fun to ride for two hours.”
[quote]twojarslave wrote:
A bike is also one of my next purchases. I am keeping an eye out on CL. I used to ride a lot. Our new place is in a good neighborhood for it. [/quote]
Good deal. I’ve been a sporadic cyclist over the last few years; every year I ride at least “some” from spring through fall, last summer in particular I rode a LOT (100+ miles a week) because I wasn’t running as much as I usually do in the warmer months.
Now, coming off an injury, I’m just happy to have an outdoor cardio workout available again. Since my one biking buddy is coming off Achilles surgery (he was a Division I distance runner and had been having chronic issues for years), we are both working our way back into some sort of “cardio” shape after he spent the winter doing PT and I spent it just lifting and yoga-ing.
I’m a big fan of biking, both as an “exercise” and as a commute/leisure activity. I don’t have a car, so I always ride my bike to the grocery store, the climbing gym, etc when the weather allows.