Know Thyself

I’m not quite there yet - but there’s always time and I have a way to go. As Matt & I start doing some preliminary planning for the expedition, I feel it’s time to check in with myself and take an honest, realistic look. Please bear with me as I blather on ...

• Diet: I'm getting better, but let's face it, I am still an addict. I still want cheat meals. I confess that I'm still letting myself ease in simply because Denali is 10 months out and I don't want to burn myself out going hard all the time. Know thyself. Give it a month or 2 and then -BAM- I become Diet-hypomanic because the mental pressure of the expedition kicks in.

  Side note: today's craving... quart of chocolate gelato (800 cal), fried shrimp (about 500cal), and 4-box of Sweet Mandy B's cupcakes (about 2200 cal) ... So, I'm not worried about the calories because I need to gain weight ... I'm worried about how I'm going to feel and perform afterwards ... ugh ... that's gonna suck ... really suck ... well, I just ruined a perfectly good cheat meal for myself ... no longer tempted... I'm such a chicken!

• Physical Training: Consistency! Consistency! Consistency! I'm still easing my way into a training pace, which will make maintaining it easier over time. I know I can burn myself out, but I also know I can rival the laziness of Turkey-the-Cat if I’m not careful - so this is a balancing act. So far, I'm CF'ing 3-5 times a week (for now) - which is good.

  These are my milestones: Around 9-6 months out from expedition, I'll ramp up to 4-5x a week with 2-a-days once a week. Then 5-3 months out, I'll keep the 4-5x a week but ramp up to 2-a-days maybe a few times a week. By the last 2 months, I'm going to aim for 2-a-days as part of my daily schedule with several long, heavy chippers throughout the week... why? My body has to be ready for those tough storm days or those heavy vertical moving days. So far, it seems like the most realistic approach for me.

• Technical Training: Know it in your sleep, know it in a storm, know it when your rope partner punches through a bridge, just F’ING KNOW IT... that pretty much sums it up. I have to remind myself that wilderness skills are perishable. I don’t believe I’ll ever forget HOW to tie knots, beacon search, probe, or set anchors ... but being able to do them as if second nature when it matters is critical.

  A climbing buddy once said that you can never practise rescue and climbing techniques enough because the safety of team members and having a good experience are at risk. Last year, Matt and I were prepared, but a couple of folks on our team weren't ... frostbite and AMS became trip killers ... and not fun at all when you’ve trained hard, got yourself mentally and physically prepared, and spent 5-figures to climb a mountain with a pretty narrow summit window.

• Expedition/Logistical Planning: it’s just me, Matt, and our well-seasoned gear. We started putting together the plan for our climbing gear, protection gear, layering systems, food, fuel, and camping gear together. Since this is my 5th (and Matt’s 3rd) time on this mountain, we’re pretty solid in terms of planning this out. The major adjustments will be pack weight, food/fuel rationing, and cache/carrying strategy since we’re going unsupported and on a different, more challenging route (west rib).

  I finally got around to looking at all the videos from last year ... given the bad injuries and death, it wasn’t particularly easy (story for another day). But we need to take everything and our trip report into consideration as lessons learned ... and move forward. Since it's just us two unsupported for Denali this time (i.e., no guides/sherpas to help build camps, cook, guide, handle logistics, food/fuel planning), there will be major pack weight increases, more recovery time needed, cache/carry adjustments on the route, and more disciplined eating... I confess that my biggest lesson was that I made things harder on myself... I just wasn't eating or drinking enough when we got above 14k ... that and we didn't check in with the other team members to ensure they were taking care of themselves as well (btw, frostbite and AMS are very preventable).

  No doubt, mountaineering is a team sport and you can't f#ck around when you risk so much... so if you ever see me slack off or complain, I give you free reign to give me hell or remind me what it will take to get Matt to safety if we’re above 17k feet and he’s too injured to get down on his own. Alex was totally right - failure is NOT an option.

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Anyhoo, on Tuesday, I worked on cleans ... here's some of the videos ... please don't judge me!

2997 - warm up @ 75 (15-45-15). Haven't worked on cleans in a while so I came in knowing it'd feel a little rusty. There aren't enough hours in the day ...

2998 - not sure, but this is either 95 or 115 (25 or 35# plates)? I guess it doesn't really matter at this point because I'm still warming up and working on my timing (or lack thereof) ... neutral spine, time the pull, aware of hips, elbows underneath, explode, get under the f’ing bar! ... that sorta thing

2999 - added more weight ... as matt point out, a bunch of things here ... gotta bend hips and kness to get under the bar faster, thus avoiding that odd-looking wide landing. I also lost engaged, neutral spine. I still struggle with that in many lifts so it needs to be continous work.

3001 - coach matty really gets into the mix now ... i can see that i'm starting to over-think it and not just getting aggressive under the bar ... and just doing what he says!

3003 - tad better ... but not by much ... one thing improves, other things appear ...

3006 - elbows and back... the work continues...

so yeah ... there are many, many more opportunities for improvement, but you get the picture. I’m not "awful", but my cleans definitely need work and I know what I need to do. It’s a work in progress like the rest of everything else in life and certainly not the end of the world.