chip, chip, chip away for we aim to climb another day…

on the road WOD … ugh … it’s like maintenance rather than progress … i really miss the box and my peeps … it’s just not the same, really …

1m run
50 pullups
50 burpees
50 suitcase overhead squats (48lbs)
50 TTB
1m run

oooh... tough 4 days training in the boundary waters ... driving 9hrs each way … then carrying heavy packs (65/85) in subzero temps … long miles, nasty weather, and nasty terrain ... tough, but good expedition training this weekend ... it was very telling about where I am and what work needs to be done ... bulking up to 150+lbs may not be as much a priority as much as other goals I've identified given how technical the west rib route is and some tough decisions Matt and I need to make about the future in the next few months  (http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/route_photo.php?r=akdewrib&dpid=Pj01Pj84ISAl)

all life-changing things aside, this weekend was a good sniff test for ice fest competition in jan/feb, rainier in march/april, baker/hood in april, and (of course) denali in may ... as well as where our heads, hearts, and skills are at … good, but tough weekend

mental energy = 9

physical energy = 9

recovery = 8

diet = 7

health = 9

… will try to post more often, but matt and I have a lot of things competing for our attention these days … suffice to say that we’re doing well, but I honestly miss my coaches, my CF support system, and my friends

the rope climbs just sneak up on ya!

some of the rope climbs from this weekend's WOD

followed by clean & jerks ... oh man, after watchingi REALLY need to work on initiating with a neutral spine ... didn't keep abs or lower back engaged and lost a lot of power in my cleans ... ended up doing that rep (and a few others) with my back instead of my hips ... by the last 2 rounds, it was too heavy for me to "cheat" it up there, so ...

... ironic how i thought the rope climbs would be easier than the C&J ... oooh, i was so wrong! unknown and unknowable indeed. ha!

I fought the rope... and the rope won.

Hi! I’m Tery, your neighborhood dorkness monster! My ego got blasted to hell today! Wow! I was so excited about yesterday’s rope climb/C&J games WOD that I did it with matt today … I was thinking, “oh yeah, the C&J will be tough, but I got this”. Uhhhh... NOT SO MUCH.

 

 

 

 

 

• 15 foot Rope climb, 5 ascents
• 115 pound Clean and jerk, 5 reps
• 15 foot Rope climb, 4 ascents
• 125 pound Clean and jerk, 4 reps
• 15 foot Rope climb, 3 ascents
• 135 pound Clean and jerk, 3 reps
• 15 foot Rope climb, 2 ascents
• 145 pound Clean and jerk, 2 reps
• 15 foot Rope climb, 1 ascent
• 155 pound Clean and jerk, 1 rep

I fought the rope and the rope won ... but I finished ... and definitely NOT sub 7:00 ... in fact, we might multiply that time ... yeah, it was brutal. It wasn’t so much that I was gassed, it’s that I’m really frickin SLOW and it's HARDER than it looks!

Yeah, so my grip also fatigued around round 2... so of course, the timer just ticked away while I stared at the rope going up and struggled to move faster going down. Then I failed the last C&J and finally got it on the 3rd attempt... talk about an ego squasher!

So Matt and I had a good laugh, did our best, and moved onto expedition training... we’re working on knots, rescue systems, and climbing techniques... THIS, I got ;)

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.

---

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.

Aim Higher...

WOD @ 18:48

4 Rounds (20 min cap)

• 400M Run
• 20 Wall Balls (14#)
• 10 Pull-ups

Sodding 14# med ball taunted me the whole time ... my bad toe didn’t like the run either, but I just had to buck up. My breaks were too long and I found myself kinda ambling on that last run - but at least I survived and finished sub 19:00. I'm going to hear Matt scoffing at my weak sauce in my dreams tonight.

Part of me believes that I needed to aim higher ... there were many opportunities for me to just keep going, but I didn’t. Perhaps I was capable of a sub 17 time ... I think the only thing stopping me was me.

Post-WOD

• 10 Rope climbs @ 18' 12' ... yes, I had to get up the tree and hang/take down the rope myself ... sucked failing twice and having to start over. Not much of a climber these days, eh?! (I’ll post video of how sad they were later)
• 20 TTB @ 6-5-4-5 ... still not stringing more than 2-3 at a time ... even though I shook the cobwebs, I’m still kinda sore and pooped
• 10 deadhangs @ 3-2-2-1-1-1 ... sad, but kinda worn out

I thought I’d post photos of rope climbs we do at home. Matt enjoys watching me do the work myself and I know I need the exercise. I should also prolly consider wearing a rash guard, though ;) I fought the tree and the tree won... legs and hands were even more trashed

A breakdown of our Expedition

As we move into our last week before
leaving for the expedition, these are things we kept in mind when we
trained...

Activities/specific movements
- Heavy climbing/caching/carrying (15 days)
- Travel style: 3 on a rope each pulling 50-80lb sleds through snow/ice with
40-60lb backpacks
- Route: usually travel at 30degree incline, some parts of route are 70+
degree vertical pitches requiring technical climbing and gear hauling
- Average 8-10hrs climbing per expedition day (90min increments with short
breaks in between)
- Summit attempt (4-day window): 14-18hr climbing days to/from summit
- Camp Rest days (5-6 total) in between heavy cache/carry days to speed up
acclimatization. Lots of eating, drinking, and sleeping.
- Camp setup/breakdown (5-6 total): as each camp gets higher, the physical
demands for altitude and bigger ice shelter grow

Expedition Timeline
Weather and snow conditions will ultimately determine our progress on the
mountain. This itinerary is a rough guide and outlines a possible schedule.
With lucky weather, we might be able to finish the expedition in 18-19 days.
On the other hand, delays at the start with un-flyable weather or storms at
high camps may result in running out of time . but we built in a flexible
schedule with 2 additional days.
Day 1 8:00 am meet for orientation, gear check, and pack food. fly to Base
Camp, 8500', distance: 60 miles, elevation gain: 6850'
Day 2 Base Camp: organize, acclimate, review glacier travel and crevasse
rescue
Day 3 Single to Ski Hill, Camp 1, 7,800', distance: 5.5 miles, elevation
gain: 600'
Day 4 Carry to Kahiltna Pass, 9,700', distance: 5 miles, elevation gain:
1900'
Day 5 Move to Kahiltna Pass, Camp 2, 9,700', distance: 5 miles, elevation
gain: 1900', under the right conditions we may move all the way to 11,000'
Day 6 Single to 11,000', Camp 3, distance: 1.5 miles, elevation gain: 1300'
Day 7 Rest/acclimatization day
Day 8 Carry to 13,500' around Windy Corner, distance: 1.75 miles, elevation
gain: 2500'
Day 9 Move to 14,200', Camp IV, distance: 2.75 miles, elevation gain: 3200'
Day 10 Back carry 13,500' cache, distance: 1 mile, elevation gain: 700'
Day 11 Carry to 16,200' , distance: 1 mile, elevation gain: 2000'.
Day 12 Rest/acclimatization day at 14,200'
Day 13 Move to 16,200 feet or 17,200', Camp V, distance: 1.75 miles,
elevation gain: 3000'
Day 14 Rest/acclimatization day or move to 17,200 feet, Camp VI, distance:
1.75 miles, elevation gain: 3000'
Day 15, 16, 17, 18 Summit days, distance: 4 miles, elevation gain: 3120'
Day 19 Return to 14,200 feet or 11,000', distance: 2.25 miles
Day 20 Return to Base Camp, 7,200' (Also known as the "Death March"),
distance: 11.25 miles, fly back to Talkeetna
Day 21 Weather day

A breakdown of our Expedition

As we move into our last week before
leaving for the expedition, these are things we kept in mind when we
trained...

Activities/specific movements
- Heavy climbing/caching/carrying (15 days)
- Travel style: 3 on a rope each pulling 50-80lb sleds through snow/ice with
40-60lb backpacks
- Route: usually travel at 30degree incline, some parts of route are 70+
degree vertical pitches requiring technical climbing and gear hauling
- Average 8-10hrs climbing per expedition day (90min increments with short
breaks in between)
- Summit attempt (4-day window): 14-18hr climbing days to/from summit
- Camp Rest days (5-6 total) in between heavy cache/carry days to speed up
acclimatization. Lots of eating, drinking, and sleeping.
- Camp setup/breakdown (5-6 total): as each camp gets higher, the physical
demands for altitude and bigger ice shelter grow

Expedition Timeline
Weather and snow conditions will ultimately determine our progress on the
mountain. This itinerary is a rough guide and outlines a possible schedule.
With lucky weather, we might be able to finish the expedition in 18-19 days.
On the other hand, delays at the start with un-flyable weather or storms at
high camps may result in running out of time . but we built in a flexible
schedule with 2 additional days.
Day 1 8:00 am meet for orientation, gear check, and pack food. fly to Base
Camp, 8500', distance: 60 miles, elevation gain: 6850'
Day 2 Base Camp: organize, acclimate, review glacier travel and crevasse
rescue
Day 3 Single to Ski Hill, Camp 1, 7,800', distance: 5.5 miles, elevation
gain: 600'
Day 4 Carry to Kahiltna Pass, 9,700', distance: 5 miles, elevation gain:
1900'
Day 5 Move to Kahiltna Pass, Camp 2, 9,700', distance: 5 miles, elevation
gain: 1900', under the right conditions we may move all the way to 11,000'
Day 6 Single to 11,000', Camp 3, distance: 1.5 miles, elevation gain: 1300'
Day 7 Rest/acclimatization day
Day 8 Carry to 13,500' around Windy Corner, distance: 1.75 miles, elevation
gain: 2500'
Day 9 Move to 14,200', Camp IV, distance: 2.75 miles, elevation gain: 3200'
Day 10 Back carry 13,500' cache, distance: 1 mile, elevation gain: 700'
Day 11 Carry to 16,200' , distance: 1 mile, elevation gain: 2000'.
Day 12 Rest/acclimatization day at 14,200'
Day 13 Move to 16,200 feet or 17,200', Camp V, distance: 1.75 miles,
elevation gain: 3000'
Day 14 Rest/acclimatization day or move to 17,200 feet, Camp VI, distance:
1.75 miles, elevation gain: 3000'
Day 15, 16, 17, 18 Summit days, distance: 4 miles, elevation gain: 3120'
Day 19 Return to 14,200 feet or 11,000', distance: 2.25 miles
Day 20 Return to Base Camp, 7,200' (Also known as the "Death March"),
distance: 11.25 miles, fly back to Talkeetna
Day 21 Weather day