2018 is off to a good start with a 4.8 km (3 mile) walk/run on the treadmill tonight.  It was very late and dark and scary outside (I’ll get over that eventually), so the treadmill was a safe bet!


My friend and I have set a very unrealistic goal for 2018 but I’m going to try my best to succeed.  Even a partial finish will be a great success!  We want to walk/hike/run/bike the equivalent distance of cross Canada travel, which is 5,514 kms (3,426 miles) from Cape Spear, Newfoundland and Labrador, to the Yukon and Alaska boundary.  This figure varies depending on which boundaries you use, but we will likely go with this one for simplicity sake.


We won’t be actually traveling cross country, just doing the miles in the Maritime provinces, which is where we live.  I’d love to do the actual trip by bicycle when my kids are grown up. 


I have several multi-day hiking trips planned, which will significantly contribute to my overall total.  I’m not counting my average, ordinary every day step tally toward the total because I work on my feet, which does accumulate but it’s very fragmented and not a particularly good workout overall.  I’m counting planned workouts only, as well as planned hiking/biking getaways. 


Miscellaneous bucket list, 2018:


Running half marathons in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.  Possibly Newfoundland.


Hiking Gros Morne Summit in Newfoundland.


Hiking Cape Chignecto in Nova Scotia.


...and in a perfect world...biking the Cabot Trail but realistically this may not happen any time soon.  It’s an extremely strenuous week long adventure that requires peak physical fitness.  I swear, I will do it someday, if it’s the last thing I do!  I will optimistically plan for mid fall season.


There are more but those are the top priorities, as it stands today.


...


Wow, researching weight training workouts is difficult for a beginner!  A lot of information to absorb.  For now, it makes most sense for me to follow a training program known as the Classic 3-Day Upper/Lower Split, which looks like this:


Week One:


Monday:  Upper Body (chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps)
Tuesday:  Off
Wednesday:  Lower Body (quads, hamstrings, calves, abs)
Thursday:  Off
Friday:  Upper Body
Saturday:  Off
Sunday:  Off


Week Two:


Monday:  Lower Body
Tuesday:  Of
Wednesday:  Upper Body
Thursday:  Off
Friday:  Lower Body
Saturday:  Off
Sunday:  Off


Continuing to alternate weeks.

This is ideal for me as it requires a commitment of only three days per week.  I live a busy lifestyle, raising two children and employed as a night shift nurse.  Spare time is limited, and going to the gym frequently is tough to stick with.  Plus, I’m also training for a half marathon, which requires several runs per week, and may need to be done on the aforementioned days off.


As a beginner, my exercises will be quite simple (ordinary bicep curls, for example) until I learn more about which exercises to perform for each muscle group.  I’ve been going to the gym for just shy of one year now.  You’d think I’d know a little more about weight lifting but...a lot of my time is spent playing around.  Experimenting!


I’d love to squeeze a bit of yoga in, as well.  Certain poses aggravate my lumbosacral herniated disc but there are several poses that help strengthen my back, if done carefully.  It’s a miracle that my running has not caused a flare up, and for that I am eternally grateful.  The pain of a blown disc is absolutely horrendous.  Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.


A recent CT scan has shown that my spine has developed a condition called osteophyte complexes/bone spurs that form on the vertebrae in degenerative disc disease.  I take pain medication and during flare ups I try to cope as well as I possibly can but it is a very disheartening diagnosis.


But...onward with life as a 37 year old woman with grit, or so I like to believe about myself!


I am very excited over my (potential...likely!) hikes.


And don’t even get me started on the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February of 2019.  Provided we get tickets (which apparently sell out very quickly), I am going with three friends (and hopefully more!) to run the 5k, 10k, and half marathon.  I’ve been brainstorming costume ideas for, oh, YEARS.  The races take place in Magic Kingdom and Epcot, Disney World, Orlando, Florida.  What am I looking most forward to?  The medals or the food?  Ugh, tough call!


No one reads this blog but I’m keeping it for myself, as a record of my progress to maintain motivation.