Training Ramps Up!

A big part of success in the mountains starts months before the climb.  While training for any sport takes time, discipline and fortitude, mountaineering seems to require a significant amount of suffering, both during training as well as during the actual climb.  I assume this is true for other sports as well, when the participant is looking to achieve the very best that they can but my experience in over exertion lies in the mountains mostly. 

Many friends have mentioned living vicariously through my mountaineering adventures over the years.  Those climbs included a few stories and photos, including the summit shot of course but no real depth so here's a look at some of my training routines.

St. Mary's Glacier
Local hikes and climbs are fun and we do lots of them for training, exercise and overall enjoyment.  What better way to train for climbing mountains than to climb mountains?  A little while ago, Kriss and I went up for a quick climb of St, Mary's Glacier and beyond depending on how it goes.  It was a particularly energizing day as you can see below

We had some nice new snow and there was about a foot of powder on the trail.  The temperature was a balmy 18 degrees at the car so let's just say it was less than that on the glacier.  Oh and yes there was just a little bit of wind, maybe 20 mph sustained with those gusts that stand you up and halt all forward progress when they slam into your chest.  I think that happens at about 60 mph.  A couple of miles up, we decided that was enough.

What usually happens to me when climbing with a heavy backpack is a general dissension within the ranks of my clothes in the area around the waist.  It all starts off great but then the pants slide down and all the upper layers begin to ride up, under the backpack waist belt.  Eventually a gap develops between the bottom edge of all the upper body layers and the top edge of all the lower body layers.  This particular day was no different but I really didn't notice until we turned around and the first 60 mph gust hit me from behind...    

Mornings at Pipestone
Most mornings I begin the day at Pipestone at about 6:30 with a brisk walk on the treadmill.  It's a simple 45-60 minute workout which starts with putting on my old friend the Denali Pro backpack.  It's got a variety of things in it including two tents, a climbing rope and a few dumbbells.  Total weight right now is about 45#.

I start the treadmill at a 5% grade and within a few minutes it's topped out at 10% with gradual speed increases all the way up to 4mph (15 min pace for you runners).  The result includes heavy breathing, lots of sweating and worked legs.  Exactly what's needed on a regular basis.  Note the photo in front of the treadmill.  It's titled "The World From the Summit of Mt Everest"

James Peak Today
This morning was beautiful so we headed out for a climb of James Peak.

Feeling pretty strong, I threw an extra pair of boots into my training pack along with another water bottle.  Total weight, 58#.  The climb started reasonably enough with the usual steep slope but thankfully a complete lack of wind.  Oh, what a beautiful day this will be I thought.  It's a rare treat to be up high without getting blown around.  Kriss was also feeling good and we had high hopes that the morning clouds would lift.

A few miles into the climb, we noticed the air was starting to feel damp and the clouds were lowering to meet us.  We could still see slivers of mountains in the distance rising above the trees and into the clouds.

Hitting the steep slopes of James Peak, I began to wonder about the judgment displayed earlier within the warm confines of our house.  There, with a warm cup of coffee to drink and walking around in my slippers, it sounded like a great idea to throw a few random things into the top of that cavernous Gregory pack.  Now, at 12,500' and climbing a 45 degree slope, my back and hips are complaining.  But, like a good mountaineer, I realize the value in suffering for practice so onward we went for a few more hundred vertical feet until we hit our turnaround time.

It's just as well that we were done.  We were climbing in the clouds with visibility of about 100 ft and a breeze was starting to develop.

Running loops and thinking about math
Yesterday I decided to take our dogs for a run.  They're both fully grown exuberant Dobermans and the roads around our house are snow packed so the prudent thing was to take each separately for a loop around the mountain.





Tessa is absolutely crazy and pulls like a Clydesdale so most of the first loop was spent in self preservation mode.  Mocha on the other hand is a pretty good boy unless we see cars or other dogs.  Of course we saw two cars and one other dog who happened to be running loose and was interested in our little adventure.  At one point I was dragging my boy up a steep hill to create separation between the two dogs.  More good training I guess!  After that, we had an uneventful couple of miles together and my mind turned back to the New Math post and all of the good feedback I received from my fellow engineering geek friends.  One suggestion had me puzzled and I finally worked out a suitable solution worthy of an equation revision.  Stay tuned for New Math 2.

Training Statistics
Just for fun, I've been keeping a spreadsheet.  I know that's a surprise to most of you who know me but please don't post any comments.  Here are a few totals to ponder:

Miles Climbing and Running - 264
Elevation Gain - 68,516 ft
Push-ups - 4,171
Sit-ups - 4,000
Weightlifting - 16 hours