BEST CHALLENGE YET!!!

In an attempt to re-introduce more cardio into my life (as I have been focused on lifting heavy) I am trying to incorporate just moving more. For the last few days I have been doing 45mins on the stair master followed by 15 mins on the treadmill. Today, I decided to ditch sleeping in got out of bed at 4:30 to leave the house by 5:15 to head to Swallow Cliff to climb some stairs and jog on some trails. Swallow Cliff is located in Palos Park which is nearly 1.5  hours from where I live, but I have been wanting to make this trip for quite some time and decided today would be the day. I solicited my daughter Brittany, and two of my classmates/colleges Ona and Michelle to go with me. Michelle and Oana had already done 1 round on the stairs before me and Brittany got there. They appeared to be excited for more!

Okay, so I purchased a new camera that has amazing quality and came with all sorts of mounts for me to film this adventure. I had the camera strapped to my hat and thought I knew what buttons to push to get it to record but obviously I didn't! I didn't get any of the Swallow Cliff footage that I had hoped for, so I will have to go back soon and do it correctly. Figures. We do have a couple of pics and Brittany did sneak a video...

The stairs at Swallow Cliff are NO JOKE!!! My legs are strong so that was not the problem. But halfway up each round, it felt like my lungs were going to hop out of my mouth. My cardio is not what it used to be. Even those who are in good shape cardio wise would have a time with these stairs. If you ever have the opportunity to get to Palos Park you HAVE TO hit the stairs at Swallow Cliff. I would like to get D.F.C. out there! I had on one of my D.F.C. hoodies and while I was on the trail people were running behind or passing me up yelling WORK!!! One guy was like "You betta WORK!!!" I did get video of someone yelling WORK!!! at me as we were heading back to the car. It's was pretty amazing!

So we ended up doing the stairs 5 times (up and down) and then we did 5 miles on the trail. The picture does not display just how evil these stairs are. Dem stairs are da debble Bobby Boushe!! Honestly, I like them, but I really love the trails. I jogged some and I walked some. However, when I decided to start jogging, I turned around and  Michelle and Oana were gone!!! They text me saying they wanted to say goodbye but I was not in sight. I think they waited for me to get out of sight before they took off. Lol!

Brittany walked her 5 miles which is great especially on those trails. There are a lot of hills, a lot of dips, and a lot of horse ishT!!! The entire yellow trail is 8.1 miles, so the next time I go I will have to do the entire yellow trail. Here was Brittany's perspective of me for a lot of the time on the trails.

 Speaking of horses, I may elect to go ride horses next Saturday. I know Brittany would love that! We used to have horses when we lived in Arizona. Well, I had a horse and Brittany (who was young) had a horse/donkey mix that hated everyone but her. LOL! Anyhoo... Every Saturday I aim to do something a bit off the cuff, adventurous, and keeps fitness in mind. Now that I know how to work this camera (after the fact), I will be filming these excursions and you will see them soon on a project D.F.C. is working on (shhhh... I'm not supposed to be talking about it).

Before I go, yesterday I got the best 90 min massage. I will be going back for another one on Wednesday and every week after that. For me there is no other option. For whatever reason, my IT bands, Sartorius, and periformis just don't respond to my SMR but totally respond to the massage therapist. If you have never had a quality massage, YOU MUST TREAT YOURSELF!!! You will feel better in every way and it is truly good not only for the body but for the mind and spirit as well. Do your research, then make an appointment! :-)
~me