I had originally planned to head to a bodybuilding show this morning to support my friend Ryan’s client. The morning show is less expensive than at night, only $15, but once I got up and out of bed I felt motivated to do something more productive with my day. Sorry Ryan’s client, I still hope you do well.
After taking the dog for what turned out to be a 4 mile run (she runs, I ride the bike) I decided on a whim to head up to Piestewa Peak in Phoenix. That’s a link to the simple map of the area (here’s the main site address). I was mostly on trail 302 and went up and back to the summit in the middle. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy that trail, maybe just because of the obvious comparison to the summit trail. The main difference? The summit trail is crowded on a day like today and it’s half a fashion show. These are the people that dress to be seen on their hike and never smile at anybody. The circumference trail (302) is much less crowded and the people who are on the trail actually smile and say hi. I’m not saying you have to be everyone’s friend, but the vibe I get on the summit trail just annoys me. I stopped about 40 feet from the top and turned around since it was such a crowded mess up there.
Anywho, now that I’m home I decided to look up and calculate how many calories I burned today. I used this MET chart to figure out at what rate I was burning calories. I’m using 8.0, which is equivalent to walking up stairs. The summit trail is pretty much the same as stair walking and the 302 trail is a mix. I ran where possible on the flats and descents so I think 8.0 is a fair average. Once you get this number you multiply by your weight in kilograms to calculate how many calories you burn per hour.
72 (my weight in kg) X 8.0 = 576.
Since I was out there for about an hour and 40 minutes:
576 X 1.66 = 956 kcal.
This is probably a conservative estimate since I wasn’t exactly strolling up the hill. I was hauling ass whenever possible. It’s no matter though, since this I don’t really use this information for anything and since it’s only a small part of the only equation that really matters:
Sunshine + smiley people + a few dogs + 950 calories burned = Happy Matt.