This past week, due to a high pressure (self-generated) presentation and a very high pressure (not me!) speaker and conference call in class, was way too long. My main goal for this fall has been to make the school experience a sustainable, lifestyle-paced one. Life of course has its ebbs and flows, but I don’t want this semester to end with most of November being focused on just getting shit over and done with.

That means eating well, sleeping, and doing “other stuff” to make me happy (ie training and playing outside, seeing Meredith more than once every 36 hours, etc). Lets just say that not everyone in my academic community thinks this is the best approach, though most do, and social workers are more supportive on this approach than just about any other discipline I’ve encountered.

So this morning I finished off the gear list for the week after next. Mine is here, Kevin’s is here. I’m pretty happy with it, though the possibility still exists of the weather turning south and making us suffer. Looking at the forecasts is a futile endeavor this far out, it’s not like we won’t go if something happens, so why worry?

You might notice that Fireblades have been replaced with Imogenes. After my shoe rant last week, I did a long hike in the CTCs and was reminded of how they’re too wide and generally board-like compared to the Fireblades. I wore the Fireblades on the Carlton Ridge trip Wednesday-Thursday, and they just felt like bedroom slippers the whole time. Unfortunately, what started that trip as a tiny hole in the toe mesh of one shoe had blossomed into a 1.5″ rip by the end. So yesterday evening I dragged myself over to the shops, and took some size 11 Imogenes home. They seemed good after wearing them around the house all day with three different pairs of socks, and now they’re on the basement work bench with seam grip drying on wear points and velcro gaiter patches. I went down half a size, which I think will prove successful. They’re just a tidge more structured than the Fireblades, and have a much toothier sole. The quest for the perfect shoe continues.

I’m nervous about the trip across the Bob, for good reasons: I haven’t had quite as much time on my feet as I would’ve liked, the weather could suck, it’s not a short trip, and I do not want to slow down Kevin. This last is by far the biggest. Again, worrying isn’t going to do much good, so let it go.

Will Gadd has had some good posts about training lately, this one, this one, and this one are well worth perusing. My own thoughts on training echo his.

It’s funny to think of myself as having developed ideas about training, as much I as I get fired up about trips and my accomplishments, I still have a hard time thinking of myself as a serious athlete. The stigma of me as a gangly 12 year old who could hardly throw or catch (still true) and couldn’t do a pullup (hasn’t been true since) is hard to shake. The first 15 years of life are not to be trifled with, even almost another 15 down the road.

My thoughts on training, writ large, are as follows:
-the value of a deep, general base cannot be overstated
-individually based, specific and targeted and preemptive injury prevention and maintenance is crucial
-training power (threshold) before building into endurance (tempo) is the way to go, and can reap surprising benefits in a shockingly short time provided you’ve taken care of the first two items
-there’s a lot to be said for under-eating, under-training, and over-resting (especially sleeping)
-specificity is king, singlespeed climbing and distance on the feet are two brutally stark examples
-have fun, laugh, think positive (my best races, Rim Ride ’07 and Devil’s Backbone ’09 for instance, were highlighted by systematic and delibrative positive attitude immediately before and for the duration, force yourself to laugh at everything, chat, etc)

A little over a week ago I went bouldering at the gym for the first time in 7+ months. I’ve been doing pullups and core stuff for a few months, and have been climbing for almost 16 years. I could do off the couch what I’ve been able to do for the last five years or so, (gym) V3 and 4 onsight (as long as it’s not too crimpy). The movement sense and route reading ability doesn’t seem to diminish at all, and as long as my fingers and body tension are up to it, I get up a lot pretty quickly. I don’t know if I’ll ever get psyched and dedicated enough to climb V8-9 again, but it’s fun and fulfilling to lace up the Mythos again and immediately feel right at home. I aspire to reach the same place with mountain biking and skiing. But I’ve still got a lot of my 10,00 hours of each to go.