We haven't had a whole lot of snow and it is nastily cold out but my son and I hit the slopes and I tobogganed today for the first time in 25 years.
It's a great workout. I strapped on my heart rate monitor and I'm glad I did. A slow walk up the hill easily gets my heart rate up to 85% of max, where I like to limit myself. I had to pause for a moment or two now and again and slow down to keep my pulse in check, but I was amazed at how well I did. And I expect, like any new exercise, it'll get easier and easier as my body quickly adapts.
Last year I thought I was a hero for walking up the hill a couple of times during the winter but I did it really slowly, pausing to "watch the sledding" every now and again. And I didn't dare put my sedentary body on a sled.
For the last five years, since my first born was old enough to go sledding, I stood at the bottom of the hill envying him, as well as my wife who did the tobogganing. I thought for the first time in many years about the last times I went. It was just after I finished high school and some of my friends would head to the very same hill my son and I went on today.
I remember being dragged there on a really cold winter night and we had the hill all to ourselves. Remembering that night, I'd always be impressed with myself for going out on such a cold night and having fun. Everyone had a blast and I thought of that night often. Today was almost as cold and, as an overweight middle-aged man, I certainly could have stayed at home and had another predictable, safe day. God knows most of the children of Regina opted to stay indoors and play video games. But not me, I got out there, not knowing what might happen.
I put on some cheap winter boots that I bought today from Walmart on credit (don't blame me for being poor) and my deluxe MEC balaclava, stopped by Toys R Us and bought a wide plastic sled and headed for the hill.
My first ride down was surprisingly non-eventful. I seemed to go slow (the snow wasn't very packed down and there's still some grass sticking through.). My son sped ahead of me on his Norwegian-made sled which I wish I had when I was a kid (It has a fun fur seat, steering wheel and brakes on a plastic frame.) I marched up the hill with lots of energy an zest. Really, you don't stop hill-climbing save for the few moments it takes to hurtle down the slope. The subsequent runs were much faster and were a challenge for my recovering back. But what a blast!
My son was nonplussed. I thought it'd be a big deal for him since he's always asked me to to do this (and cycling.) It was just another day on the toboggan hill for him. I'm sure he'll remember it though.
It occurred to me today, after I did the math, that my father was my age (46) when I was born. He died twenty years later and throughout that time, his health steadily deteriorated, mostly due to a weak heart. He was somewhat overweight and had smoked until I was five but he never exercised. That's going to be the difference maker for me and for my kids.
I couldn't have even imagined in my wildest dreams my father going tobogganing with me when I was a kid. I don't even think he went with my brothers who were born eleven and twelve years before me. And all this wouldn't be possible with just weight loss alone.
It's a common theme on this blog that exercise empowers me to do so much more than would be otherwise possible, even with weight loss alone. Just having the confidence in my body to sit down on a sled wouldn't have been possible without having changed my body with fitness and strength.
So the dreaded Winter season has arrived and the side walks are slippery or impassable for walking or jogging. But for a workout--a great workout--all I need do is grab a kid and our sleds and head a few blocks East to the toboggan hill.
I'll keep you updated!
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