idad- I first thought you were talking about a via ferrata- then I looked up Morgan and got Queensland. Ok , now I see where you are and it is ladder- that is impressive. It does remind me of the ladder in the Mesa Verde native homes. Loved the video.
abasket- I did not know much about Graves at all until this past week. Apparently 3 million people in the US have it and it is 0.5% of the population. Who knew?
The ladders spook me!!
Today’s exercise was brutal - dug up the veggie garden plot, spread compost, and prepped for planting which will happen tomorrow. I’m sweaty, tired, and sore all over!
Bunsen, IMO, there are pros and cons to both units. The Valor’s push-up bars are very versatile. It’s also nice to have the ability to chose between a pronated grip and a partially externally rotated grip when doing pull ups. The cons, however, are that the pull up station appears to be on the same side as the dip station which is not ideal and presents limitations. Also, the fact that the pull up bar does not run straight across but is segmented limits grip variation, particularly if you want to do narrow grip pull ups or chin ups focusing on biceps.
The Body Solid, while not as versatile for push-ups still has bars on which push-ups can be done. While it does not have pull up handles for an externally rotated hand position, the longer straight bar does offer the ability to keep your grip wide for focusing on the lats or to take a closer grip to focus more on arms and shoulders. Finally, having the pull up station on the opposite side from the dip station, in my opinion, enables you to engage in a broader range of movements. I have the Body Solid Assisted pull up /dip machine in my studio and like it very much. It can be used for a broad varirty of grips and exercises. I’m partial to body solid because of that.
Nrdsb4, yeah, the A1c really doesn’t make any sense to me given the other results. Both of my docs basically said to just keep an eye on it from year to year but otherwise to not read too much into it.
Acadia National Park has a bunch of cliff hikes with iron rung ladders and handholds. Some that a geezer like me will do and some that I wouldn’t even consider.
The sloping ledges above the ladders on the hike I did yesterday could use some iron handholds in places, but I can’t recall anywhere they are used in the White Mountains. Everything is wooden ladders or steps bolted to the rock.
Rode 66 miles yesterday in heat that hit 90 degrees. Fairly hilly and I rode the hills aggressively. In my haste to depart, I forgot to bring Enduralytes with me and became a bit concerned when I started sweating foam at the back of my knees! The friends I was with had a few extra Enduralytes and I drank 4 x 24 oz of water but it was not enough. At mile 53 I started to cramp in my adductors to the point where I had to get off the bike and stretch 5 times in the last 13 miles. We had been riding relaxed on the flats, keeping our speed at 18-20 mph and with the hills had an average of mid-upper 16’s which was fine with me since we were training for endurance over distance in preparation for the 4 day Habitat ride which starts on Thursday. The cramping was so severe, however, that the last 13 miles dropped my average to 14.8! So here I am this morning, laying in bed thinking about the ride I’m supposed to do today with the women’s bike club/race team I sponsor. They are having their annual bbq at my local bike shop which sponsors the race team. Since the ride is covering territory that’s my stomping ground, I’m supposed to lead the group that wants to ride a bit longer and faster. My legs feel like battered driftwood. This is not going to be pretty lol.
Sendin ya the mojo for a good ride nonetheless, Michael 
Nice hike, idad!
There’s only so many ways to say “I aquajogged today after sweeping 4,678,213 maple keys from the pool patio” but that’s what I’ve been up to the last few weeks.
I need to add the hill back, which would get me back up to a full hour in the a.m.s. I retired the hill for a spell after a slip/twist tricked out my bad knee, but its fine again so there’s no excuse (if you exclude the mosquitos and poison ivy…but those are always early summer perils ;))
Good luck today, Michael. I hope you don’t cramp up!
Spectacular hike, iDad. I would have a hard time with both the ladders and the tight spaces!
Rocky, glad your H is doing better.
Michael, I hope your ride today goes better than yesterday’s - somehow I’m sure you’ll rise to the challenge!
KMC, I feel the same about my workouts - run, Pilates, run some more, Pilates, run some more…yadayadayada. Stay out of that poison ivy!
Yesterday did a bit over 7 and today a bit over 5 to get me over 100 for the month. Feel like I have a pretty good base to start training. Have done better with slowing the runs down and sticking to my plan instead of just going along with the group.
My exercise was walking around D’s very hilly campus for graduation and move- out. With the Fitbit, I got well over the 10,000 steps a day! Also tried an OrangeTheory in Boston which was just like Chicago except it was wicked hard 
Today should be a run day but it is pouring BUCKETS out there and suppose to continue for the next several hours. Three choices: go to the gym early this afternoon during their limited Sunday hours, hope it stops by evening, or punt it. We will see what wins by the end of the day.
Best kind of exercise, Pizzagirl! Congrats to your D (and her very supportive parents)!
Congrats on the graduation, pizzagirl!
Sabaray- that is a really good base. My daughter ran really nice marathon PRs off of 100 miles or less a month.
I had a good month. 155.3 miles, for my highest month since December’s 160 and a 34.3 mile week. I’m 100 miles ahead of the pace bunny for 1500 miles for the year, but that was sort of a low goal.
3.3 miles on tired legs this morning. I got chased by some geese who were protecting their young-uns right along the path. They can be very aggressive.
MNKat - Sweating foam at the back of the knees! I have something new to strive for.
Congratulations PG on your D’s graduation! Are both graduations done now for you??
Good luck, Michael! Fingers crossed that there will be no cramping.
I feel like someone beat me with a big stick! Sore all over after shoveling dirt all day yesterday. I totally forgot that our sun can be very powerful - got a bad sunburn on the back where I did not apply sunblock. Pretty dumb of me. We came back from HI without any sun damage, and here I am, got sunburned in my own backyard! I felt that something was wrong when my digging came down to a crawl…
Make sure to smear sunblock all over, dear CCers, when you exercise outdoors!
I guess I’m just lucky. I sweat everywhere! Between the sweat and the bug spray, I can’t even stand myself until I’ve had a shower!
Speaking of sweating. On my hike, I drank 2 liters of water plus SuperStarch mixed in another .75 of water. Summer is definitely here.
MKATs bicycling is a much bigger challenge for hydration. With the constant breeze evaporating sweat, it’s easy to get seriously dehydrated. With hiking, you know you are sweating.
Good luck, Michael.
Just did an hour on the bike, will try to increase my distance and time spent after weeks of rain interruptions.
Today is beautiful in north Texas. No rain in the forecast for the next week.
In this weather, hydration can be tricky. You can’t go by thirst and need to be mindful to get the fluids in even if you don’t feel thirsty. On yesterday’s ride, not withstanding drinking 4x24 oz water bottles on the bike and at least half a bottle at a rest stop, I weighed 4 lbs less after the ride than when I started. That’s just a huge amount of water loss and upon reflection, I’m sure that’s why I cramped. I’ve done several rides this season that were that long, our speed was squarely in my comfort zone. The only thing different was temperatures in the low 90’s and the amount of water I lost as measured by the weight loss. When I was starting to cramp 13 miles from home, I was clearly a couple of quarts low! as IDad says, it can really sneak up on you even if you think you are drinking enough.
Today’s ride turned into a nice relaxed recovery ride. There were some new riders with not much experience and we decided to all stay together. My average was 12.5 over 32 miles. Sometimes you have to know how to go slow if you want to go fast. It was a welcomed respite from yesterday. Now I have to focus on being fully recovered by Thursday for the Habitat ride.