Landscapers must stay in good shape because they’re in the field all year. I will explore this topic from my own angle but how you do it is up to you. Just as long as you do it. Staying fit is a must.
Aging landscape pro
Getting older sucks. As the seasons pile up I expect some new worker to make me look old. Eventually. This season my boss hired some young all-stars but I’m not about to give up. No way! I use trail running to stay fit.
Racing
Racing isn’t a requirement but I find that casual running isn’t intense enough. Lining up with one hundred runners like I did this morning pushes you much harder than a fartlek session on your favourite trail route.
Trail running also allows you to observe native plant species in forests.
Run Ridge Run
Canada’s best trail runner, Gary Robbins, organizes and runs this event every February. You might want to enter another race if you’ve never done a trail race. All Gary Robbins courses are challenging.
As an aside, consider the case of my Japanese friend Masashi. He beat me at a road race by 3 minutes and entered this event as his first trail race. When he hit the first long climb he was stunned. I crushed his time by 12 minutes!
The race course runs around Sasamat lake and then shoots straight up. Up, seriously up. You will hit your maximum heart rates here.
At the top it dips down to Buntzen lake. This downhill generates maximum speeds. Today it still had snow in many areas.
From Buntzen lake the course heads back up and this where you can expect to do some walking. When I looked up I saw five runners and all of them were walking.
Once you reach the ridge you’re free to descend home to Sasamat lake and delicious soup. I was in some discomfort on this downhill.
Stats
Keeping data is a great idea. I use Polar’s M200 model which is a GPS heart rate monitor with wrist-based full-time monitoring like a Fitbit. All data can be downloaded to your PC.
One excellent statistic is sleep and sleep restfulness in percentages. Sleep is critical for green workers. When I don’t sleep enough, it’s displayed right on my screen. I know what I have to do.
Another good statistic is the number of steps per day. I already know which of my work sites generate the biggest totals. I can’t wait to compare the numbers by season once I have data for all of 2017.
My race statistics
- My running time was 1:33:48
- Total distance 13 km
- 1544 calories burned
- 50 minutes were spent in the highest heart rate zone 5 which equals 67%
- My placing was better than in 2016, 30th overall, 5th in age group
How you decide to stay in shape is totally up to you. Find a sport you enjoy and do it often. Buy a decent heart rate monitor and keep stats. Stay fit so you can perform well at work!
