The Grind Begins

   My programming for cycle 2 focuses on a few key areas.  Some of them are holdovers from cycle 1, and some are new:

1.  Cook all of my own food that is mostly from whole foods and is dairy, gluten, and alcohol free.  The new change is that I am now allowed to eat 15% of my calories as non- whole foods.  Yay Gluten free waffles!

2. Wake up at 4:30am, eat breakfast, be at the gym at 5:45am.  Do the main workout, plus an extra 100 of something, be it burpies, or calories on a machine,etc.  More work will be added later.

3. Twice a month I will be given an extreme challenge or workout.  These will be grueling/near impossible tasks that I will need to try to complete.

4. Be disciplined in everything.  Sleep schedule, supplements, workouts, meal times, all of it.

The schedule change was the biggest challenge from my previous cycle as I did not have the discipline, or desire, to wake up and workout in the morning.  This cycle has changed that.  

After all of the excitement of the first week I entered the second week a little less enthusiastic about waking up early.  It's not that I wasn't excited about this journey, but the newness and excitement of being up at 4:30am wore off and the reality that this is my new life set in.  It helped that I quickly dialed in my morning breakfast to give myself enough energy to slog my way through the workout, but it was still a grind.  I'm holding out hope this is temporary and it gets easier over time.

Extreme Challenge

The slog of Week 2 wasn't helped by the fact that I opted to do my first "extreme challenge" at the end of the first week.   I wanted to get a taste for what these challenges would be like. The first challenge was to hike Mt. Si in North Bend, WA, an eight mile hike that ascends to 3900 ft.  But that's not all! I was supposed to be up at 4:30am, drive to the trail, and try to beat sunrise.  For those not in the know, Mt. Si is often used as a training hike for Mt. Rainier climbers.  The thought is that if they can hike the 4 miles to the peak with a 30lb backpack, in less than 2 hours, they are ready to take on Mt. Rainier.  

My challenge was a bit more extreme.  I was supposed to tuck 50 lbs into a backpack that was strong enough to carry it, be at the trail while it was still dark, and attempt to climb it ALONE before sunrise.  After deliberating with my wife about the wisdom of hiking 2 miles in the Washington forest in the dark, I opted to not start before dark, so I waited until it was a bit later and headed to the trail.  This did not sit well with my coach.  By the time I got everything loaded, drove to the trailhead and got everything ready, it was already full morning light. I really felt like I had bitched out on this challenge because if I had done it according to his ask, I would probably be out at the trailhead as it was getting light, and full morning light would probably be upon me as I was getting underway.  I also likely would not have been there by myself, as there were many other cars already there when I arrived at 7am.  

The hike was challenging, made even more so by the fact that the total weight of my pack with everything in it was a whopping 72 pounds!  I managed to make it all the way to the top with only a couple of 3-5 minute stops with a total time of 2 hours and 18 minutes.  The Mount Rainier hopefuls at the peak told me I was crazy as they poured out the water bottles that made up the 25-30lbs of their packs.  My problem was that I had steel weights, so I was also hiking down with 70 pounds.  

After a brief break at the top, and a selfie as proof of accomplishment,  I started back down for the long slog down the mountain.   The hike down was by far the worst part.  It was much harder on my knees, and in my desire to keep them intact I had to slow my pace down to a lengthy 3 hours and 30 mins for the descent.  It was brutal on my knees, but I managed to get down reasonably intact.  I was surprised to find a text from my coach telling me that I had passed the test.  I thought for sure my opting to start later would mean failure.

Vacation Discipline

Week 2 happened to align with spring break for my kids, so that meant we had to take them somewhere to have a little fun.  We opted for our old standby favorite of Vancouver, B.C.   I don't have a good history of working out on vacation, but I actually kept my schedule through the 4 days.   The food was a bit more challenging as I needed to find whole foods that I can make cold, or eat out at a restaurant (Eating out is actually banned in my programming, but I didn't really have a choice).  So it was either Korean BBQ that I could cook myself, or sushi.  Overall I think I did okay, all things considered, and still lost weight this week, so I'd call it a success.

Overall this week had some very interesting challenges that saved me from the feeling of it being a total grind.  The real challenge will be next week, when everything returns to normal and it's just me, my alarm clock, and the gym at 5:45am.