Month: December 2018

I did a quick ski tour from Government Camp to the top of Magic Mile up and down on the Alpine Trail from Summit Ski Area today. Traffic was terrible through Sandy – there was construction right outside of Otto’s in Sandy and only one lane of traffic was getting through. Combined with a late start (left home at 10am) I wasn’t skinning until noon. There was a couple on skis with their dog going up and a snowboarder who had stopped to stretch his IT band(s). Those were the only people going up – but I got to make my ‘Crack of Noon’ joke twice. I was surprised how little wind there was – zero through the trees nearly to the top of Jeff Flood. I was a bit overdressed and was dripping sweat from my nose and getting sunblock sweat in my eyes. Once I got up to treeline the wind picked up and I literally felt my nipples freezing. I pushed a little bit further and then relented and put on a softshell that blocked the wind.

I have no idea what the uphill travel policy is at Timberline atm. The few times I’ve gone up this way I’ve been in for an early start and never see any skiers coming down. Today I stuck to the left side and scooted across to skiers left on a few sections where snowboarders were hucking off jumps near the ski area boundary. I didn’t want a snowboarder to land on my head.

Felt amazing on the way up . Time in the gym has really paid off. I don’t think I stopped until I got just below the Jeff Flood lift and was just super thirsty. I still subscribe to the idea that the only thing that makes climbing mountains easier is climbing mountains and lifting weights.

New pack was dope. It’s a Mountain Equipment Tupilak 37. The interior rolltop was surprisingly nice – I kept a soft flask and my helmet in the area between the lid flap and roll top, so I only needed to open the flap and reach under my helmet for my water. I also carried a 34 oz. vacuum bottle of green tea – totally overkill. I had a PbJ, apple and cheese at the top of Magic Mile and maybe drank 20oz.

Skiing out was a little rough. First day out and I over cranked my boots and had to stop a couple of times to adjust. I just forgot where I had them dialed in last season. I always worry I’m going to completely forget how to ski – it never happens and then I relax 🙂

Oftentimes on Hood there is a low cloud layer – today shit was out of control, the cloud layer was from maybe Govy elevation up to about 6K ? so a 2K + pillow of clouds that were stacked way, way up. There was even a rainbow coming through the clouds. I thought about taking a picture, but I’m a little anti-picture sharing lately. Someone else probably posted one on Insta – so find it there.

More than any human innovation or invention, the most amazing things you’ll see and experience in your life will come from the natural world.

The clouds broke and the sun rose to reveal a rainbow over the entire city of Portland on my bike commute this morning. Should I stop to take picture? No. Just recognize it and move on. 

I’ve been using the Strong app to record workouts. Super nice, super free. This is the time of year when my motivations are beginning to be torn across various interests. There is snow on Mt. Hood, alpine objectives are possible, but I’ve got to close out my running mileage for the year.

I pulled down Training for the New Alpinism from my bookshelf and skimmed through the strength training section. It seems all very basic to me, but the single thing I find I miss most is simply putting on a heavy pack and spending time on some easy alpine terrain. I’ll definitely be doing more of that this winter to prep for Spring climbing.

My winter climbing boots will be here soon. I returned a pair of La Sportiva G2 SM boots b/c of a manufacturing defect – there was a huge glob of dried glue in the left boot that I could feel through the liner. New boots will arrive soon and then I’ll want to break them in on the mountain. Patience, patience, patience.

Upper Body Workout #3
Tuesday, December 4, 2018 at 13:19

Stretching
Set 1: 0:08

Lateral Raise (Dumbbell)
Set 1: 10 lb × 8
Set 2: 15 lb × 8
Set 3: 15 lb × 8

Incline Bench (Dumbbell)
Set 1: 35 lb × 12
Set 2: 45 lb × 10
Set 3: 50 lb × 5

Bench Press (Dumbbell)
Set 1: 45 lb × 10
Set 2: 50 lb × 5
Set 3: 50 lb × 5

Cable Crossover
Set 1: 17 lb × 7
Set 2: 23 lb × 5
Set 3: 30 lb × 5

Chest Dip
Set 1: 10 reps
Set 2: 10 reps

Pull Up
Set 1: 10 reps

Push Up
Set 1: 20 reps

Stellar 10 miler today. Not my fastest, but I maintained a steady-state pace with a few random intervals thrown in for the entire run. Consistently around 7:40/mile with a dip into the 8:00 +/mile on the last 2 climbs around miles 8-9. Definitely had more left at the end and felt great. My focus was on form, keeping my hips underneath me and keeping my head slightly forward with my chin low. I also concentrated on pressure breathing – forceful exhales and deliberate inhales.

I ran 3 days during the work week this week, the last on Friday when I tweaked my lower soleus. I was in a flow state working with my desk lowered (not standing) and then quickly changed and took off with a couple of work colleagues. I think the tweak is attributed to just sitting, then quickly running without stretching or warming up. I rested it on Saturday, it felt better on Sunday – then felt much better when I started moving at the start of the 10 miler today. 

This year I’ve been running with my watch flipped around on my wrist quite a bit – recording the run but not paying any attention to pace. Today I kept it up where I could see it and tried to press a little harder if it started to drop below 7:50. 

I’m beginning to realizing I need to be in the gym more to prep for climbing season. As with earlier in 2018, I’ll need to reduce running mileage and throw in more time in the weight room. There is nothing that helps climbing mountains other than climbing mountains and lifting weights.

This was my interval jam today (wait for the drop):