McKinley Training - Week 10 of 26
So, I skipped a few weeks of posting training updates. I didn't, however, skip training.
My precious MacBook Air is in the hospital, having its innards replaced, so I don't have access to all of this past week. But, if memory serves, I did four training days in all: two at the gym and two on the stairs. The high point of the stair training was doing 71 flights with 62 pounds in the pack. That took about an hour. On McKinley we typically climbed for an hour between breaks, so training for an hour, instead of trying to go a specific distance, is best - assuming the intensity is similar, which it isn't, since I can't simulate high altitude. But, whatever. It's the best I can do in the confines of the city.
I'll need to bump up the weight in the pack next week (eventually get it up closer to eighty), since I can do the current weight for an hour without any residual soreness.
I started wearing my boots on the stairs instead of my running shoes. It's more difficult since they're heavier and, more importantly, they're larger and don't quite fit on the stairs as well as the running shoes. Taking a tumble on the stairs is not anywhere near the top of my list of Things To Do.
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I made the Executive Decision not to buy myself any more alcohol (wine, primarily), following Christmas, until post-McKinley. For training purposes. I'll drink if I'm over for dinner somewhere and its offered, but that's about it. And I'll probably bring some Jim Bean or something to the mountain. That'll be nice. Mmm.
After getting back from the mountain last time - having gone a full month without even a sip of wine - it was many weeks before I could have even a couple glasses of wine without feeling like I had consumed too much. So pathetic. It's going to be even worse this time. I'm going to be laughed at. I'll just have to come to terms with that now.
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So, ice climbing in just twenty-one days! I can't wait for that. I've been swinging the still-shiny-and-new ice axes around my apartment, relentlessly. Soon I'll have *ice* to swing them at.