Still Sore To the Core

Tuesday and the gym is empty because I'm getting there at noon. We got back from whitewater rafting yesterday and unpacked all our gear. Multiple loads of laundry and I'm still not done because sleeping bags also need cleaning. Our 5-person tent as well as the two 3-person tents we lent out are all in the yard drying. It's a blazing 89F today, but will rain by Thursday. Today is the day to lay out all the tarps and tents before folding them away in storage. Wet tents lead to mildew and decay, and inevitably, rotted seams that leak. No one needs that.

It rained all weekend, but we escaped major thunderstorms. Luckily we were prepared with tarps and rain gear. My glutes are oddly sore and I can't tell if it's from the long car ride to and from the campsite in Pennsylvania, or from whitewater rafting. My hands are also sore, probably from gripping the paddle. No one wants to lose their paddle to the river, and believe me, the rushing waters smack you in the face while hidden underwater rocks bump you out of the raft if you've not securely anchored your feet under the inflatable cross-bars (aka thwarts). What really surprises me is how tender my hip bones are, and I only notice this while dragging the bar up my front during Smith RDLs. Whitewater rafting is core and upper body intensive because you need to maintain your balance in the roiling waters, and you need to paddle to avoid rocks, as well as other rafts!

We had a great team and were consistently right behind the lead kayak guide. He would tell us where to travel on the river to avoid getting hung up on rocks (one area is called "45 minute rock" because that's how long it takes to get your raft unstuck). We do the river in sections, traveling through rapids (class 3) and then pulling over against the bank to let others catch up. There are several guides for safety reasons, and there are a lot of inexperienced groups who can't really maneuver their raft. People fall in, usually because they've hit a big rock which tilts the raft sideways and dumps everyone out if you haven't anchored yourself. There's a grab line along the perimeter of the boat, but anchoring your feet works better, leaving your hands free to hang onto the paddle, the bail bucket (because the river will fill your boat), the lunch bucket, and your rafting crew.

Since we've done this before, we had an easier time of it, although my hubs got popped out of the boat (we hit a rock sideways and then got rammed by another boat) and we had to drag him back in. Sometimes we had to hold back (because we were going so fast) for fear of running our kayaker over with the raft. Not a good thing to do! He was impressed though. Another kayak guide got tossed by the rocks and flipped over. He had to empty his craft out on shore before climbing back in.

I'm not at all surprised by how sore my hands are. They're little without much surface area to them. Between the soreness of the front pubic bone (weird, right?!) and my hands, it's no wonder that I start to lose my grip on the bar during the heavy sets. I only make it to five reps and I notice that I'm not really able to thrust my hip out into the bar at the top of the movement. Ugh. I also notice today that the seated cable row jumps in 10 lb increments for the first 70 lbs, then jumps to 15 lbs. Ugh. So I can do 40 lbs but not 45. That's annoying! I try to add the E-shape 5 lb bar weight to the stack but the notches don't line up so I can't use it. I even try balancing a 5 lb plate on the pin, but it falls off after the 3rd rep. Grrrr....

I'm relieved I got pull ups and push ups though. But the two core movements are a complete afterthought. I don't even do a full mat stretch because I'm running late, I'm wearing shorts and I can see the sticky imprint of someone else who's lain on the mat before me. Yuck. The gym is humid as the lunch time crowd arrives. I've been here for two hours and now I can enjoy an actual hot shower. Because there's no showering when you camp, and getting drenched by the Lehigh River during whitewater rafting doesn't count.

Memorial Day Weekend Activities

Saturday: Waterfall hike 3 miles

Sunday: Whitewater Rafting 4+ hrs

Pull Tuesday
30 min elliptical
Program 1
Calories 292
Miles 2.58
Average Heart Rate 140/194

HGPU 30
Push Ups 60

Smith RDLs
Bar (30) x 15
80 x 12
120 x 12
160 x 10 (grip slip reps 8-10)
170 x 5 (no hip thrust), 5, 5
Core still sore from rafting

Smith RG BB Rows
80lbs x 25 reps x 3 sets

Seated 1-Arm Cable Rows
30lbs x 12
40lbs x 12
45lbs x 3 (5lb plate fell off)
50 x 6

Bicycles 50
Crunches 30/20