04/05 Wildflower Run Morgan Hill 10 or 5K
04/26 Big Sur 21 miles
05/10 Skyline Ridge 37K
05/17 Big Basin 25K
05/31 SD RnR Marathon
09/11 Palo Alto Moonlight
09 Banana Chase
10 Run with the bulls Palo Alto
09/27 MV trailblazer 5K
10/04 SJ RnR 1/2
10/25 Silli Valley Marathon
12/05 Woodside PCTR 50K or LV marathon or CIM
where the trail races in April/May substitute for long training runs in preperation for the RnR marathon in San Diego after my bad experiences with long runs in the past fall.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Recovery...
...No more!
The last two weeks after the LV Marathoon were really slow, I went to yoga once, climbed once, and used a stationary bike once.
No more of this! Yesterday started a new trainings cycle... Some running, some exercises from the 'Dryland Skiing' cycle.
Today it will continue with some cycling and some strength work (barbell complex & abs/core work). Hopefully I'll finish up with some more running or 'skiing'.
The last two weeks after the LV Marathoon were really slow, I went to yoga once, climbed once, and used a stationary bike once.
No more of this! Yesterday started a new trainings cycle... Some running, some exercises from the 'Dryland Skiing' cycle.
Today it will continue with some cycling and some strength work (barbell complex & abs/core work). Hopefully I'll finish up with some more running or 'skiing'.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Hardest things I have done
Finishing my first marathon last Sunday brought up a question I had pondered about a few times over the past year: What is the hardest thing I've ever done? Thing meaning athletic/ adventurous endeavour. I am actually having a hard time coming up with things. Sure, the marathon was hard, it wore out my legs, and I cramped a lot, but endurance-wise I could have gone further. So what qualifies as hard? The amount of excertion during the activity? The time it takes to recover from the activity? The rating of the climb? I don't know.
Here's a few candidates though:
Here's a few candidates though:
- North Ridge of Mt. Conness with a late start and getting lost on the way back to the car
- Mt. Shasta
- Mt. Diablo 25K
- Las Vegas Marathon
- On Conness we had a late start, and both our headlamps died.
- On Shasta I didn't eat properly.
- Before Mt. Diablo I didn't run any hills, especially no downhills.
- Before Vegas I was sick and didn't stick to the long runs according to my plan.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Las Vegas Marathon
I made it! I finished my first marathon! Not that I had any real doubts about it, but hey, although I am not entirely happy with the outcome it was not a walk in the park. But let's start at the beginning:
Due to the early start I had set my alarm for 4:30AM, but was wide awake at 4:10. After getting ready, a breakfast of some pita bread with PB and honey, a coffee and some streching Lesley, who had decided to run the 1/2 marathon despite her injury, and I walked over to the starting line close to the Mandalay Bay. The temps were pretty good. Probably somewhere in the high 40's to low 50's. What I don't like about big races is that slow people are in spots where they should not be:
If you intend to walk - Don't be in the 1st 100 rows of starters! After weaving my way through the maze of slower runners and walkers I found a pretty good rythm, going at approximately an 8:15 pace. This was very comfortable for the first half... I hit the 13.1 mile marker at 1:52, and was quite pleased. My goal of finishing with a sub four hour time seemed very achievable... Until mile 18. Here I started having cramps, so that I had to walk for stretches... I don't really understand why I came down with cramps, since I had hydrated plenty, I had used GU gels and CLIF shot bloks... I was not excessively sweating... Well, of course it is a correlation, that the cramps started at mile 18, and my longest trainings run incidentally was 17 miles. Hm. What was disturbing was the fact that when I was able to start running again, and I was plodding along at a 9:30 pace, and thought: "OK, all I have to do is keep doing what I am doing now for the next hour and I will finish sub 4!" At exactly that point the next cramp would hit. Frustrating... What didn't help either was that I became increasingly hungry. The event webpage had announced an aid station with PowerGels and one with snacks from Emerald... Both stations were not available. A very poor effort on behalf of the organizers! Well, with a combination of walking, running and streching I made it to the finish line in 4:19,29. Here the disappointment with the organization continued... No space blankets for the finishers despite rather chilly temperatures. but what was worse: No food at this point either! I have no idea what I paid $95 for! This was definitely my last event with devine.
Despite all the negative things, overall it was a good experience and I am sure I will run another marathon and I will do it much faster!
Due to the early start I had set my alarm for 4:30AM, but was wide awake at 4:10. After getting ready, a breakfast of some pita bread with PB and honey, a coffee and some streching Lesley, who had decided to run the 1/2 marathon despite her injury, and I walked over to the starting line close to the Mandalay Bay. The temps were pretty good. Probably somewhere in the high 40's to low 50's. What I don't like about big races is that slow people are in spots where they should not be:
If you intend to walk - Don't be in the 1st 100 rows of starters! After weaving my way through the maze of slower runners and walkers I found a pretty good rythm, going at approximately an 8:15 pace. This was very comfortable for the first half... I hit the 13.1 mile marker at 1:52, and was quite pleased. My goal of finishing with a sub four hour time seemed very achievable... Until mile 18. Here I started having cramps, so that I had to walk for stretches... I don't really understand why I came down with cramps, since I had hydrated plenty, I had used GU gels and CLIF shot bloks... I was not excessively sweating... Well, of course it is a correlation, that the cramps started at mile 18, and my longest trainings run incidentally was 17 miles. Hm. What was disturbing was the fact that when I was able to start running again, and I was plodding along at a 9:30 pace, and thought: "OK, all I have to do is keep doing what I am doing now for the next hour and I will finish sub 4!" At exactly that point the next cramp would hit. Frustrating... What didn't help either was that I became increasingly hungry. The event webpage had announced an aid station with PowerGels and one with snacks from Emerald... Both stations were not available. A very poor effort on behalf of the organizers! Well, with a combination of walking, running and streching I made it to the finish line in 4:19,29. Here the disappointment with the organization continued... No space blankets for the finishers despite rather chilly temperatures. but what was worse: No food at this point either! I have no idea what I paid $95 for! This was definitely my last event with devine.
Despite all the negative things, overall it was a good experience and I am sure I will run another marathon and I will do it much faster!
Friday, November 28, 2008
This weeks workouts
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 5.5 mile easy run on SCT
Wednesday: climbing at PG Belmont w/ Daniela 10 climbs
Thursday: mountain biking at Monte Bello w/ Lesley and Marcus (approx. 1hr 15 min)
Friday: bouldering/climbing at PG Belmont w/ Ben 5 boulder probs/5climbs
Saturday: 5 miles easy on SCT
Sunday: yoga w/Eric at PG SV
Tuesday: 5.5 mile easy run on SCT
Wednesday: climbing at PG Belmont w/ Daniela 10 climbs
Thursday: mountain biking at Monte Bello w/ Lesley and Marcus (approx. 1hr 15 min)
Friday: bouldering/climbing at PG Belmont w/ Ben 5 boulder probs/5climbs
Saturday: 5 miles easy on SCT
Sunday: yoga w/Eric at PG SV
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
:-)
Just came back from the first run in 10 days or so...
It put a smile on my face!
It was good to take a break...
It put a smile on my face!
It was good to take a break...
Monday, November 24, 2008
48 hours: From the Warfield to Yosemite and back
Last weekend started, like many weekends, with me stuck in traffic... I was not trying to leave the Bay Area, but heading to San Francisco to see In Flames play at the Warfield. The show was well worth the drive and the traffic jam! In Flames entered the stage around 10:30 after the 36crazyfists, Gojira and All That Remains finished their sets. They played a good selections fof their songs with empasis on material from their latest album 'A Sense of Purpose'. The only downside was that they didn't play 'Only for the weak' :-/
I was back at my car at 12:30 and back at my place at 1:05... Gosh my alarm would go off at 5!
Fortunately I had packed already, so I only had to throw the bags into my car and could leave at 5:30 in the morning to pick up Clint in Palo Alto. One advantage of leaving the Bay Area in the early morning is the non-existent traffic: Palo Alto - Fern Spring in Yosemite Valley: 3 hrs 20 min.
On the way we had decided to climb the Regular Route on Higher Cathedral Spire, one of the first rock climbs in Yosemite, which had its first ascent in 1934. It was also one of the first former aid climbs which were free climbed later on. From the Cathedral Rocks pullout we hiked up the tallus field to the base of the spire in a little more than an hour. After eating a bite and zipping some water I started leading the first pitch. From there on we swung leads, until I got off route on the third pitch. I was following some chalk marks up a good looking dihedral with quite a few jugs left and right, until I hit a bulge. I remembered that the topo said something about a powerful 5.9 bulge somewhere, so I gave it a few shots, but I didn't know how to climb the section. To the right was an arette and an other dihedral, so I tried to traverese over, but the rope drag got pretty bad. After a while Clint lowered me to an intermediate belay. He climbed up to my highpoint, checked out the situation and said "That's not 5.9!"
He cleaned my gear, down climbed for a bit and found the traverse around an arette to the left to the chimney... Saved!
The 'powerful 5.9 bulge' was on the fourth pitch :-)
The last two pitched led us to a beautiful summit with amazing views of the Valley and the snow covered peaks of Tuolumne. Five rapells brought us back to the base of teh climb, from where we hiked back down the gully to the car, where we arrived around 6:15. After a quick dinner at Church Bowl we found a campsite and hit the sleeping bags.
Sunday morning we woke up to another amazing day... It was pretty cold though, and I had to scratch the ice from the windshield of my car. During breakfast at Church Bowl we were able to warm up in the sun though. The plan for the day was to climb Serenity Crack and Sons of Yesterday. We got to the base of Serenity, around 9AM, and there was no one there! Exciting!
Clint led all the pitches, except for the first one on Sons... By the time we reached the other pitches which were within my capabilities I was so spent, and my feet were hurting so badly, that I didn't feel particularly anxious to lead more. After 8 fantasic pitches we rapelled down to the base (one 70m rope is sufficient!) from where we hiked back to the car in the Awahnee parking lot. It was Sunday evening 5:45. Exactly 36 hours after we started our trip in Palo Alto :-)
The ride back was easy and eventless...
I am glad that I was able to do these routes before the winter! Thanks Clint!
I was back at my car at 12:30 and back at my place at 1:05... Gosh my alarm would go off at 5!
Fortunately I had packed already, so I only had to throw the bags into my car and could leave at 5:30 in the morning to pick up Clint in Palo Alto. One advantage of leaving the Bay Area in the early morning is the non-existent traffic: Palo Alto - Fern Spring in Yosemite Valley: 3 hrs 20 min.
On the way we had decided to climb the Regular Route on Higher Cathedral Spire, one of the first rock climbs in Yosemite, which had its first ascent in 1934. It was also one of the first former aid climbs which were free climbed later on. From the Cathedral Rocks pullout we hiked up the tallus field to the base of the spire in a little more than an hour. After eating a bite and zipping some water I started leading the first pitch. From there on we swung leads, until I got off route on the third pitch. I was following some chalk marks up a good looking dihedral with quite a few jugs left and right, until I hit a bulge. I remembered that the topo said something about a powerful 5.9 bulge somewhere, so I gave it a few shots, but I didn't know how to climb the section. To the right was an arette and an other dihedral, so I tried to traverese over, but the rope drag got pretty bad. After a while Clint lowered me to an intermediate belay. He climbed up to my highpoint, checked out the situation and said "That's not 5.9!"
He cleaned my gear, down climbed for a bit and found the traverse around an arette to the left to the chimney... Saved!
The 'powerful 5.9 bulge' was on the fourth pitch :-)
The last two pitched led us to a beautiful summit with amazing views of the Valley and the snow covered peaks of Tuolumne. Five rapells brought us back to the base of teh climb, from where we hiked back down the gully to the car, where we arrived around 6:15. After a quick dinner at Church Bowl we found a campsite and hit the sleeping bags.
Sunday morning we woke up to another amazing day... It was pretty cold though, and I had to scratch the ice from the windshield of my car. During breakfast at Church Bowl we were able to warm up in the sun though. The plan for the day was to climb Serenity Crack and Sons of Yesterday. We got to the base of Serenity, around 9AM, and there was no one there! Exciting!
Clint led all the pitches, except for the first one on Sons... By the time we reached the other pitches which were within my capabilities I was so spent, and my feet were hurting so badly, that I didn't feel particularly anxious to lead more. After 8 fantasic pitches we rapelled down to the base (one 70m rope is sufficient!) from where we hiked back to the car in the Awahnee parking lot. It was Sunday evening 5:45. Exactly 36 hours after we started our trip in Palo Alto :-)
The ride back was easy and eventless...
I am glad that I was able to do these routes before the winter! Thanks Clint!
Plans for 2009
It's Thanksgiving week, the year is coming to an end... Time to look back, but also time to look ahead. I have accomplished quite a few of the goals I had set for myself for this year, not all of them, but given the circumstances I am quite happy with what I managed to complete.
During the year a few things came up which I want to do next year:
Running:
During the year a few things came up which I want to do next year:
Running:
- do more races (5k - half marathon)
- improve PRs
- do trail races
- run an ultra (50k)
- increase weekly mileage (and run consistently)
- Palisades Traverse
- become a more solid leader, I know this is hard to quantify...
- Mt. Whitney East Face/East Buttress
- East Buttress of El Cap
- a bigwall (Half Dome, Washington Coloumn, Leaning Tower?)
- a trip to Red Rocks
- a trip to J-Tree
- Mt. Shasta
- Mt. Lyell/Mt. Maclure
- Matterhorn Peak
- Asia, South America or Central America: I need to do international travel again! I haven't done any (besides Germany) since 4 years! I miss it!!!
- Hawaii
- Skiing in New Mexico, Colorado
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thoughts on Marathons and Training for Running
This week I am taking a break from running, since I have a cold (sore throat, congested nose), and I have a hard time breathing. With Vegas coming up in less than three weeks, I am going to take it easy.
As I posted last week, I have a really hard time to motivate myself for the long runs. One of the reasons might be the time of the year. It's dark by 5:15PM right now, and I find it hard to get out even for shorter runs. If I should decide to train for another marathon, I will chose one earlier in the year.
Although I seem to need a break from running, and I am looking forward to a break in training between Dec. 8 and Dec. 20, I started researching other trainings plans. Up to now I used smartcoach from RunnersWorld.com, and was quite happy with it. The results were consistent when I used the training calculator on the webpage. I plugged in my 10k time, and it gave me a half marathon time, which was 7 seconds off... I think that's impressive!
However, I am not really happy with the plan for the marathon training, essentially it cut one workout and increases the mileage of the long run. Given the necessary time commitment, my motivation problems and the time of the year, this is not very satisfactory.
Earlier I had mentioned an interest in the Crossfit Endurance program. The shortm high intensity workouts seem very appealing, and actually remind me of the time I did Track and Field back in Germany. One big plus is the versatility of the program. It probably benefits my climbing as well as my running.
Further research today led me to Hal Higdon's site. He has a few programs, which look very interesting too.
It seems as if I have to do some more research, and come up with a plan for next year, before I decide on how to proceed.
P.S.: I definitely need to incorporate yoga into my regular schedule again!
As I posted last week, I have a really hard time to motivate myself for the long runs. One of the reasons might be the time of the year. It's dark by 5:15PM right now, and I find it hard to get out even for shorter runs. If I should decide to train for another marathon, I will chose one earlier in the year.
Although I seem to need a break from running, and I am looking forward to a break in training between Dec. 8 and Dec. 20, I started researching other trainings plans. Up to now I used smartcoach from RunnersWorld.com, and was quite happy with it. The results were consistent when I used the training calculator on the webpage. I plugged in my 10k time, and it gave me a half marathon time, which was 7 seconds off... I think that's impressive!
However, I am not really happy with the plan for the marathon training, essentially it cut one workout and increases the mileage of the long run. Given the necessary time commitment, my motivation problems and the time of the year, this is not very satisfactory.
Earlier I had mentioned an interest in the Crossfit Endurance program. The shortm high intensity workouts seem very appealing, and actually remind me of the time I did Track and Field back in Germany. One big plus is the versatility of the program. It probably benefits my climbing as well as my running.
Further research today led me to Hal Higdon's site. He has a few programs, which look very interesting too.
It seems as if I have to do some more research, and come up with a plan for next year, before I decide on how to proceed.
P.S.: I definitely need to incorporate yoga into my regular schedule again!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
A solid week...
... of workouts:
Mon: 12 miles on SCT, Shoreline, Baylands
Tue: rest
Wed: 5.5 miles, SCT & climbing PG Belmont: 7 climbs
Thu: climbing PG Belmont: 10 climbs
Fri: 5.5 miles SCT
Sat: climbing PG San Francisco: 7 climbs (cracks)
Plus some occaisional core work & stretching.
Mon: 12 miles on SCT, Shoreline, Baylands
Tue: rest
Wed: 5.5 miles, SCT & climbing PG Belmont: 7 climbs
Thu: climbing PG Belmont: 10 climbs
Fri: 5.5 miles SCT
Sat: climbing PG San Francisco: 7 climbs (cracks)
Plus some occaisional core work & stretching.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Motivation
Why is it so hard to find motivation to go on long runs? I've really been struggling lately to get out to runs longer than 12 miles. These runs are no problem at all, but once it comes down to 15, 17 miles it becomes somewhat boring and really time consuming. Not only the longer run times, but also the recovery time afterwards increases tremendously...
I hope I can get myself to run at least 20 miles this coming weekend... Otherwise Vegas might be BAAAAD!
I hope I can get myself to run at least 20 miles this coming weekend... Otherwise Vegas might be BAAAAD!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Skiing
Ok, I am still in the preparation for the Las Vegas Marathon, but I find myself thinking about skiing more and more over the last few weeks. First there was the SF Ski & Snowboard Fest at Fort Mason last weekend (an excellent opportunity to try tons of California wines). Then the Sierras got hit by the first winter storm. Kirkwood got between 10"-24" which results in a base depth of 12"-14". Compared to the last two years this seems quite promising.
In a previous post I mentioned that I want to change my training after the marathon. I have been looking at different resources like crossfit, crossfit endurance, Gym Jones and Mountain Athlete. On the later I found some promising workouts, which could enhance my shape for the skiing season. An example would be what Rob Shaul calls a 'Leg Blaster':
20 Air Squats
10 Lunges ea leg
10 Jumping Lunges ea leg
10 Jump Squats
And this is just the warm up :-)
I am looking forward to it!
In a previous post I mentioned that I want to change my training after the marathon. I have been looking at different resources like crossfit, crossfit endurance, Gym Jones and Mountain Athlete. On the later I found some promising workouts, which could enhance my shape for the skiing season. An example would be what Rob Shaul calls a 'Leg Blaster':
20 Air Squats
10 Lunges ea leg
10 Jumping Lunges ea leg
10 Jump Squats
And this is just the warm up :-)
I am looking forward to it!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
One year of blogging!
Happy B-day to me! Well, not to me but to my blog...
So what did this year bring?
So what did this year bring?
- Lots of running: This is pretty much the only category in which I achieved the goals I set during last winter. I ran three half marathons (Las Vegas, San Fran, San Jose), one 10k (Palo Alto) and one 25k trail race (Mount Diablo). Currently I am training for my first marathon in Las Vegas in a month.
- Some climbing: Not as much as I would have liked to, and not as spectacular routes as originally planned. My life was pretty messy in spring, and I was not in a good head space climbing wise. During summer (July, August) and fall (October) work related travel made climbing trips scarce. But I still managed to get a few classic lines in. A trip in late September (East Buttress Middle Cathedral) was really promising.
- Travel: I never spent as much time on a plane as this year. Unfortunately mostly for unpleasant things.
- Food: Made quite some progress on the project of eating at every place on Castro Street in Mountain View.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Long runs
After completing the SJ RnR 1/2 and taking it easy on the running for a bit I have been ramping up my long runs in the last two weeks. With the Las Vegas marathon coming up in six weeks, I did 15 and 17 mile runs in the last two weeks. It's pretty rough... This week I'll try for 20 miles.
One of my favorite things
I've been wanting to write this post for a while...Well, for almost exactly a week.
On the drive from Carlsbad, NM to El Paso, TX I realized what one of my favorite things, or better activities is: Driving along a straight desert highway in perfect weather blasting power ballads in the radio. During last weeks drive the two radio stations which are available down there played the Scorpions' "Still Loving You", Def Lepard's "Hysteria" and Cinderella's "Nobody's Fool". It's just the pefect music for the situation. The funny thing is that I didn't even like that kind of music that much until I lived in Nevada 11 years ago. But listening to "Here I go again" by Whitesnake, speeding along an empty highway towards Death Valley, or to Ozzy's "Mama I'm coming home" while driving towards a sunset, can change some preferences...
It's definitely something I am looking forward toon my next trip to New Mexico - hopefully I'll get a rental with satelite radio...I hear there's a station called "Hair Nation" :-)
On the drive from Carlsbad, NM to El Paso, TX I realized what one of my favorite things, or better activities is: Driving along a straight desert highway in perfect weather blasting power ballads in the radio. During last weeks drive the two radio stations which are available down there played the Scorpions' "Still Loving You", Def Lepard's "Hysteria" and Cinderella's "Nobody's Fool". It's just the pefect music for the situation. The funny thing is that I didn't even like that kind of music that much until I lived in Nevada 11 years ago. But listening to "Here I go again" by Whitesnake, speeding along an empty highway towards Death Valley, or to Ozzy's "Mama I'm coming home" while driving towards a sunset, can change some preferences...
It's definitely something I am looking forward toon my next trip to New Mexico - hopefully I'll get a rental with satelite radio...I hear there's a station called "Hair Nation" :-)
Saturday, October 18, 2008
High Points of the 50 States
Here's another list I came up with while procrastinating more pressing things:
The high points of the 50 States of the US. I might tackle the second of those tomorrow...
Guadalupe Peak.
Alabama Cheaha Mt., AL 2,405
Alaska Mt. McKinley (Denali), AK 20,320
Arizona Humphreys Peak, AZ 12,633
Arkansas Magazine Mt., AR 2,753
California Mt. Whitney, CA 14,494
Colorado Mt. Elbert, CO 14,433
Connecticut Mt. Frissell--S slope, CT 2,380
Delaware Ebright Azimuth, DE 448
Florida Britton Hill, FL 345
Georgia Brasstown Bald, GA 4,784
Hawaii Mauna Kea, HI 13,796
Idaho Borah Peak, ID 12,662
Illinois Charles Mound, IL 1,235
Indiana Hoosier Hill Point, IN 1,257
Iowa Hawkeye Point, IA 1,670
Kansas Mt. Sunflower, KS 4,039
Kentucky Black Mt., KY 4,139
Louisiana Driskill Mt., LA 535
Maine Mt. Katahdin, ME 5,267
Maryland Backbone Mt., MD 3,360
Massachusetts Mt. Greylock, MA 3,487
Michigan Mt. Arvon, MI 1,979
Minnesota Eagle Mt., MN 2,301
Mississippi Woodall Mt., MI 806
Missouri Taum Sauk Mt., MO 1,772
Montana Granite Peak, MT 12,799
Nebraska Panorama Point, NE 5,424
Nevada Boundary Peak, NV 13,140
New Hampshire Mt. Washington, NH 6,288
New Jersey High Point, NJ 1,803
New Mexico Wheeler Peak, NM 13,161
New York Mt. Marcy, NY 5,344
North Carolina Mt. Mitchell, NC 6,684
North Dakota White Butte, ND 3,506
Ohio Campbell Hill, OH 1,549
Oklahoma Black Mesa, OK 4,973
Oregon Mt. Hood, OR 11,239
Pennsylvania Mt. Davis, PA 3,213
Rhode Island Jerimoth Hill, RI 812
South Carolina Sassafras Mt., SC 3,560
South Dakota Harney Peak, SD 7,242
Tennessee Clingmans Dome, TN 6,643
Texas Guadalupe Peak, TX 8,749
Utah Kings Peak, UT 13,528
Vermont Mt. Mansfield, VT 4,393
Virginia Mt. Rogers, VA 5,729
Washington Mt Rainier, WA 14,410
West Virginia Spruce Knob, WV 4,861
Wisconsin Timms Hill, WI 1,951
Wyoming Gannett Peak, WY 13,804
The high points of the 50 States of the US. I might tackle the second of those tomorrow...
Guadalupe Peak.
Alabama Cheaha Mt., AL 2,405
Alaska Mt. McKinley (Denali), AK 20,320
Arizona Humphreys Peak, AZ 12,633
Arkansas Magazine Mt., AR 2,753
California Mt. Whitney, CA 14,494
Colorado Mt. Elbert, CO 14,433
Connecticut Mt. Frissell--S slope, CT 2,380
Delaware Ebright Azimuth, DE 448
Florida Britton Hill, FL 345
Georgia Brasstown Bald, GA 4,784
Hawaii Mauna Kea, HI 13,796
Idaho Borah Peak, ID 12,662
Illinois Charles Mound, IL 1,235
Indiana Hoosier Hill Point, IN 1,257
Iowa Hawkeye Point, IA 1,670
Kansas Mt. Sunflower, KS 4,039
Kentucky Black Mt., KY 4,139
Louisiana Driskill Mt., LA 535
Maine Mt. Katahdin, ME 5,267
Maryland Backbone Mt., MD 3,360
Massachusetts Mt. Greylock, MA 3,487
Michigan Mt. Arvon, MI 1,979
Minnesota Eagle Mt., MN 2,301
Mississippi Woodall Mt., MI 806
Missouri Taum Sauk Mt., MO 1,772
Montana Granite Peak, MT 12,799
Nebraska Panorama Point, NE 5,424
Nevada Boundary Peak, NV 13,140
New Hampshire Mt. Washington, NH 6,288
New Jersey High Point, NJ 1,803
New Mexico Wheeler Peak, NM 13,161
New York Mt. Marcy, NY 5,344
North Carolina Mt. Mitchell, NC 6,684
North Dakota White Butte, ND 3,506
Ohio Campbell Hill, OH 1,549
Oklahoma Black Mesa, OK 4,973
Oregon Mt. Hood, OR 11,239
Pennsylvania Mt. Davis, PA 3,213
Rhode Island Jerimoth Hill, RI 812
South Carolina Sassafras Mt., SC 3,560
South Dakota Harney Peak, SD 7,242
Tennessee Clingmans Dome, TN 6,643
Texas Guadalupe Peak, TX 8,749
Utah Kings Peak, UT 13,528
Vermont Mt. Mansfield, VT 4,393
Virginia Mt. Rogers, VA 5,729
Washington Mt Rainier, WA 14,410
West Virginia Spruce Knob, WV 4,861
Wisconsin Timms Hill, WI 1,951
Wyoming Gannett Peak, WY 13,804
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Recovery week
The past week was pretty slow, at least regarding work-outs. (Work was pretty busy though.)
Now that I am back in New Mexico there was no gym climbing or yoga, and after last weekends race I tuned down on the running part a bit. Wednesday and Friday I ran 5 easy miles and this morning I ran 7.5 miles. It was a horrible run though! The morning temperatures were in the low 50's for the entire week...But not today...low 70's...add the rain of last night and you have a muggy humidity, which makes for most unpleasant running.
I also brought my 'Rock Rings'. Since I was disappointed with my power endurance in the climbing gym after returning from NM last time I decided to do a little strength training out here too. I had two short sessions so far, and definitely feel it in my forearms... A good sign...
In combination with some push-ups and some core exercises this will get me somewhere.
Next week I will increase my mileage towards the Las Vegas marathon. I'll be doing a 6 mile tempo workout on Tuesday, an 4 mile easy run on Thursday and a long run of 16 miles on Saturday. Between the runs I'll try to keep up the strength work-outs.
Now that I am back in New Mexico there was no gym climbing or yoga, and after last weekends race I tuned down on the running part a bit. Wednesday and Friday I ran 5 easy miles and this morning I ran 7.5 miles. It was a horrible run though! The morning temperatures were in the low 50's for the entire week...But not today...low 70's...add the rain of last night and you have a muggy humidity, which makes for most unpleasant running.
I also brought my 'Rock Rings'. Since I was disappointed with my power endurance in the climbing gym after returning from NM last time I decided to do a little strength training out here too. I had two short sessions so far, and definitely feel it in my forearms... A good sign...
In combination with some push-ups and some core exercises this will get me somewhere.
Next week I will increase my mileage towards the Las Vegas marathon. I'll be doing a 6 mile tempo workout on Tuesday, an 4 mile easy run on Thursday and a long run of 16 miles on Saturday. Between the runs I'll try to keep up the strength work-outs.
Monday, October 6, 2008
San Jose Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon
To make it short: What an awesome race!
It was so good, or felt so good because, as evident in the previous post, I was quite nervous about this race. I hadn't felt too well for the entire week, and on top of that hadn't gotten much sleep two nights before the run. But as soon as my alarm went of at 5:30 I felt good... a quick shower, two PB&H pitas, a coffee, and some water and I was ready to go. Lesley and her friend picked me up at 6:30 and we got to downtown San Jose in about 20 minutes. The parking was surprisingly easy... About a 8 minute walk from the start area. The temperatures this morning were in the 50's which felt ok, if not a little too chilly. Around 7:30 I dropped my long sleeve and my long pants at the gear check and went looking for my starting corral. I had given an estimated finishing time of 1:45.30, which put me in corral 3. Honestly, I was surprised to be that far up front (there were 13 coralls). Lesley was in corall 4, so we hung out for a bit anc chatted etc. With ten minutes to go we took our positions. During this waiting period I was quite happy that I had brought a 'space blanket' that I wrapped around my legs, and which kept me nice and warm. This race featured 'pace groups': Some runners carried signs saying 1:45 for example, and they were expected to run at the pace to get you to the finish in exactly that time. I spotted one a few meters in front of me and figured that I might tag along...
Then at 8:02 the starting horn went off. The start was, compared to other races, a pleasure! The corral system worked! No one walking or running extremely slowly, so that I could get into my pace right away. And that pace was fast. My plan was to run the first mile at 8:30, but checking my watch I was doing 7:30...ah well...it felt alright. The miles went by and I felt good... always a tad behind the pace group guy...by perhaps 30 seconds to a minute... At some point I caught up and even passed him. By mile 7 or 8 the group passed me again and essentially took off. Checking my watch revealed that I was on the right pace, so that I didn't worry too much. Around mile 10 I switched my soundtrack from "Live after Death" to my "Hate Crew Death Roll". I instantly felt the boost... Without the GI problems I had during the Kaiser 1/2 in February and with more long runs under my belt the last two miles were a pleasure compared to my previous half marathons. At some point during the last mile I passed the 1:30 pace group guy... No sign of the 1:45 group though. Shortly past the 13 mile marker I turned into the final stretch and see the time ticking away: 1:44...1:44.05...
I wanted to stay below the 1:45 mark, and managed to in 1:44,45. I took almost 14 minutes off my previous PR.
So what did I learn? Don't trust 'pace groups' but stick to your own pace!
This race was definitely different from Las Vegas: Crossing the finish line there I ate almost everything they handed me...Bananas, Oranges, cookies, pretzels...Here I was disgusted by the idea of food. I had half a banana, that was it...
After picking up my gear I came across the Widmer Brother's booth though...One free beer for every participant! Now that was something I could not say no to! What an excellent recovery drink :-)
After meeting up with Lesley I got back to my place around 11... Met up with my parents and went for a huge breakfast at Stack's...Now I was ready to eat...
It was so good, or felt so good because, as evident in the previous post, I was quite nervous about this race. I hadn't felt too well for the entire week, and on top of that hadn't gotten much sleep two nights before the run. But as soon as my alarm went of at 5:30 I felt good... a quick shower, two PB&H pitas, a coffee, and some water and I was ready to go. Lesley and her friend picked me up at 6:30 and we got to downtown San Jose in about 20 minutes. The parking was surprisingly easy... About a 8 minute walk from the start area. The temperatures this morning were in the 50's which felt ok, if not a little too chilly. Around 7:30 I dropped my long sleeve and my long pants at the gear check and went looking for my starting corral. I had given an estimated finishing time of 1:45.30, which put me in corral 3. Honestly, I was surprised to be that far up front (there were 13 coralls). Lesley was in corall 4, so we hung out for a bit anc chatted etc. With ten minutes to go we took our positions. During this waiting period I was quite happy that I had brought a 'space blanket' that I wrapped around my legs, and which kept me nice and warm. This race featured 'pace groups': Some runners carried signs saying 1:45 for example, and they were expected to run at the pace to get you to the finish in exactly that time. I spotted one a few meters in front of me and figured that I might tag along...
Then at 8:02 the starting horn went off. The start was, compared to other races, a pleasure! The corral system worked! No one walking or running extremely slowly, so that I could get into my pace right away. And that pace was fast. My plan was to run the first mile at 8:30, but checking my watch I was doing 7:30...ah well...it felt alright. The miles went by and I felt good... always a tad behind the pace group guy...by perhaps 30 seconds to a minute... At some point I caught up and even passed him. By mile 7 or 8 the group passed me again and essentially took off. Checking my watch revealed that I was on the right pace, so that I didn't worry too much. Around mile 10 I switched my soundtrack from "Live after Death" to my "Hate Crew Death Roll". I instantly felt the boost... Without the GI problems I had during the Kaiser 1/2 in February and with more long runs under my belt the last two miles were a pleasure compared to my previous half marathons. At some point during the last mile I passed the 1:30 pace group guy... No sign of the 1:45 group though. Shortly past the 13 mile marker I turned into the final stretch and see the time ticking away: 1:44...1:44.05...
I wanted to stay below the 1:45 mark, and managed to in 1:44,45. I took almost 14 minutes off my previous PR.
So what did I learn? Don't trust 'pace groups' but stick to your own pace!
This race was definitely different from Las Vegas: Crossing the finish line there I ate almost everything they handed me...Bananas, Oranges, cookies, pretzels...Here I was disgusted by the idea of food. I had half a banana, that was it...
After picking up my gear I came across the Widmer Brother's booth though...One free beer for every participant! Now that was something I could not say no to! What an excellent recovery drink :-)
After meeting up with Lesley I got back to my place around 11... Met up with my parents and went for a huge breakfast at Stack's...Now I was ready to eat...
Thursday, October 2, 2008
San Jose Rock'n'Roll Half - 3 days
Later today will be the last workout before the SJ RnR 1/2 Marathon on Sunday. A 3 mile tempo run... I am getting antsy to get the race over with. I have been training well, had a few good long runs, really good fast runs... I should be well prepared. Still I am nervous... today I feel tired and drained of energy. I didn't sleep well the last few nights, although I still got 7+ hours every night.
I wonder if last weekend's climbing is still taking its toll. Although it shouldn't! I mean, that's why I do all this endurance training, right? To reduce recovery times.
My legs feel funny... I can't quite tell if they feel tired, or if they are screaming: "Let me run!" The last real run was last Friday, since then I just did some miles on the treadmill... That might have been a bad idea as well...to change that in the last week before a race...
Another thing which contributes to my 'antsyness': For my first two 1/2s I just wanted to finish, and I put hardly any training in... This time around I have a goal...and I have put quite some effort and work into the race preperation... Will it work out? Will I be able to achieve the goal? Did I prepare right? Am I on the right way to the second goal of the season, the Las Vegas Marathon?
I guess Sunday will tell!
I wonder if last weekend's climbing is still taking its toll. Although it shouldn't! I mean, that's why I do all this endurance training, right? To reduce recovery times.
My legs feel funny... I can't quite tell if they feel tired, or if they are screaming: "Let me run!" The last real run was last Friday, since then I just did some miles on the treadmill... That might have been a bad idea as well...to change that in the last week before a race...
Another thing which contributes to my 'antsyness': For my first two 1/2s I just wanted to finish, and I put hardly any training in... This time around I have a goal...and I have put quite some effort and work into the race preperation... Will it work out? Will I be able to achieve the goal? Did I prepare right? Am I on the right way to the second goal of the season, the Las Vegas Marathon?
I guess Sunday will tell!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Middle Cathedral Rock - East Buttress
Sunday saw an early start, waking up at 5:30, packing up, downing a cup of coffee and a quick breakfast, filling up the water bottles and driving to the Cathedral Rocks pull-out. Racking up took a bit but we left the car at shortly after 7AM. The approach trail brought us to the base of the climb pretty quickly and we started up the first pitch around 8AM. Ben took the first lead which didn't pose any problems. I faced a slight problem in the roof starting of the second pitch, but I managed to figure it out in relatively short time. From here on we swung leads, moving at a pretty good pace. Besides the climbs the day before this was the first climb I really fully enjoyed and was comfortable on at all times. This showed especially on my lead of the 6th pitch, a traversing face pitch. There are two pitons on the pitch, and not too many other places that take protection. The move off the second piton is a 5.8 friction move, where I took a while to figure out how it should be done. But I managed it... I guess on another day I would have wanted to bail...But Sunday it felt really good... On the 8th pitch I got slightly off route, as I traversed to the belay ledge too late. There were plenty of cracks to build an anchor though. It was quite amazing to see a flock of pigeons fly by below me as I belayed Ben up. Another few pitches brought us to the top, which we reached at 1:52. Just about 6 hours after we left the ground. It's a pity that such a great climb ends in an ugly gully! Next time we'll definitely try the 5.10 finger crack variation on the left of the original route.
Another downside of the climb is the rather nasty descent along exposed cliffs and down a nasty gully. At 3:45 we were back at the car, sorting gear, packing up and starting the drive back to the Bay Area. A dinner at Taqueria Algave in Oakdale concluded an amazing weekend of climbing. It really feels as if I got my mojo back. Too bad that I have to go the New Mexico for work again next week, and that I can't make it out to the Valley more often!
Another downside of the climb is the rather nasty descent along exposed cliffs and down a nasty gully. At 3:45 we were back at the car, sorting gear, packing up and starting the drive back to the Bay Area. A dinner at Taqueria Algave in Oakdale concluded an amazing weekend of climbing. It really feels as if I got my mojo back. Too bad that I have to go the New Mexico for work again next week, and that I can't make it out to the Valley more often!
R.I.P.
Unfortunately I have to report the untimely passing of my beloved camera...
Got to start looking for a new one. I guess the economy can use every dollar spent!
Got to start looking for a new one. I guess the economy can use every dollar spent!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sweeeeet!
Despite the Rock'n'Roll 1/2 marathon coming up next weekend I ditched my long run this past weekend and went back to Yosemite Valley for the first time in almost half a year. And what a trip it was! Ben and I took an early Saturday morning start from the Bay Area and got to the Valley around 9AM. Our plan was to spend Saturday on short routes in the 5.10 range and do something long on Sunday. So it came that the first stop on the way was Highway Star, a 5.10a close to the road, just after the intersection of HW 120 and HW 140. The approach is about 3 minutes, and despite its 4-star rating in Supertopo there was no one around. I took a look at the route and decided that I'd give it a shot on lead...My first attempt to lead a 5.10 ever! The route starts up a flake, continues in a finger lieback section, before a hand traverse leads to a finger traverse to nice hand jams to the anchors. The crux section is the change from the hand traverse to the finger traverse, since the rock is bulging out slightly. I managed to lead to this point, but was completely pumped after placing a BD .75 cam at the beginning of the finger crack. I lowered off at this point. Lowering down I unclipped the rope and Ben lead the climb. After he lowered off, unclipping but leaving the gear in place I gave it another shot. With the pre-placed protection I made it to the top with a few hangs. After Ben TR'ed a 10b variation and lead the 10a route a second time I cleaned the anchor and we moved on to Schultz's Ridge. We had been looking for this crag on a previous trip and didn't manage to find it. This time around it also took us some bushwhacking for the better part of an hour before we finally found it... Although it's about 2 minutes from the road if one starts in at the right spot...
Here Ben lead 'Second Thoughts' (5.10a) which I cleaned. Since an other party (Meg and Laura) were on the other 10a in the area Ben looked at the 10c in between and decided to give it a shot. One short hang in the 10c crux section was all it took to get him to the anchor bolts. I cleaned the route hanging at the 10b section and also in the 10c crux.
After this we swapped routes with Meg and Laura, and I lead 'Warm Up Crack' (5.10a). I managed to do it clean... I guess tightly spaced bolts in the lower part really helped. The climb was also not as pumpy as 'Highway Star' in the morning or 'Peruvian Flake' in the Royal Arches area, which we climbed afterwards. But hey! It's a start.
As mentioned we finished off the day with 'Peruvian Flake' a 5.10a finger crack between Serenity Crack and Royal Arches. Again Ben lead this one and I cleaned. Between 10AM and 6PM we had gotten five different climbs in the 5.10 range in three areas in...not bad. After this days effort we met my parents at the Curry Village pizza deck for beer and pizza...There's nothing better after a day of climbing!
By 9PM we were in our sleeping bags in the North Pine campground with the alarm set to 5:30 in order to get an early start to climb the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral Rock...
Here Ben lead 'Second Thoughts' (5.10a) which I cleaned. Since an other party (Meg and Laura) were on the other 10a in the area Ben looked at the 10c in between and decided to give it a shot. One short hang in the 10c crux section was all it took to get him to the anchor bolts. I cleaned the route hanging at the 10b section and also in the 10c crux.
After this we swapped routes with Meg and Laura, and I lead 'Warm Up Crack' (5.10a). I managed to do it clean... I guess tightly spaced bolts in the lower part really helped. The climb was also not as pumpy as 'Highway Star' in the morning or 'Peruvian Flake' in the Royal Arches area, which we climbed afterwards. But hey! It's a start.
As mentioned we finished off the day with 'Peruvian Flake' a 5.10a finger crack between Serenity Crack and Royal Arches. Again Ben lead this one and I cleaned. Between 10AM and 6PM we had gotten five different climbs in the 5.10 range in three areas in...not bad. After this days effort we met my parents at the Curry Village pizza deck for beer and pizza...There's nothing better after a day of climbing!
By 9PM we were in our sleeping bags in the North Pine campground with the alarm set to 5:30 in order to get an early start to climb the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral Rock...
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Bouldering
Tonight I went bouldering at PG for an hour.
In an earlier post I mentioned that my power endurance is not the best at the moment. This was confirmed tonight. I played the "pick a number" game again. You pick a number and add the V-grades until the sum equals the chosen number... I picked 20... Not too bad... I thought. It seems though that the ratings on the bouldering problems in Belmont became harder. I was not able to finish a V3. So I ended up doing 4 V2 and 12 V1 problems. My arms were toast! I hope that repeating this for a few weeks will get me back on track soon.
In an earlier post I mentioned that my power endurance is not the best at the moment. This was confirmed tonight. I played the "pick a number" game again. You pick a number and add the V-grades until the sum equals the chosen number... I picked 20... Not too bad... I thought. It seems though that the ratings on the bouldering problems in Belmont became harder. I was not able to finish a V3. So I ended up doing 4 V2 and 12 V1 problems. My arms were toast! I hope that repeating this for a few weeks will get me back on track soon.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Long run
Ok, now that I caught up on Trip Reports, it is time to update trainings activities...
On Saturday I did a "long run" I think this was actually the first run that deserved that name. I ran 12 miles on the Stevens Creek Trail, through Shoreline Park in Mountain View and the Palo Alto Bayland Reserve.
It felt quite OK, although I had a hard time getting up and getting moving. But after a couple of miles I got into the groove... The time wasn't too bad either 1:42 gives me some hope for the Rock'n Roll Half Marathon in San Jose in a few weeks.
Yesterday I had planned on climbing at the new Planet Granite in San Francisco with a friend, but the person at the front desk claimed that they didn't do guest passes anymore... I am convinced that she just didn't know how to deal with it! Anyway...no climbing yesterday...
The plan for this week is to do some speed-work tomorrow, some yoga and bouldering on Wed. Another run on Thursday, a long run on Friday and go to Yosemite for the weekend.
HA! Just looked at the trainings plan! I am supposed to run 3 miles today...OK gotta go!
On Saturday I did a "long run" I think this was actually the first run that deserved that name. I ran 12 miles on the Stevens Creek Trail, through Shoreline Park in Mountain View and the Palo Alto Bayland Reserve.
It felt quite OK, although I had a hard time getting up and getting moving. But after a couple of miles I got into the groove... The time wasn't too bad either 1:42 gives me some hope for the Rock'n Roll Half Marathon in San Jose in a few weeks.
Yesterday I had planned on climbing at the new Planet Granite in San Francisco with a friend, but the person at the front desk claimed that they didn't do guest passes anymore... I am convinced that she just didn't know how to deal with it! Anyway...no climbing yesterday...
The plan for this week is to do some speed-work tomorrow, some yoga and bouldering on Wed. Another run on Thursday, a long run on Friday and go to Yosemite for the weekend.
HA! Just looked at the trainings plan! I am supposed to run 3 miles today...OK gotta go!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Traveller's Buttress
Since I am catching up on Trip Reports here's the missing one form two weeks ago: Traveller's Buttress at Lover's Leap.
Friday night Ben and I couldn't decide what to do on Sunday. Either go to Stinson Beach for some bouldering, or go to Lover's Leap and climb some multi-pitch trad. Saturday night we decided on Lover's. So I pulled up in front of Ben's place at 6AM Sunday morning to start a pleasant drive up to Tahoe. There was hardly any traffic at all. We got there shortly after 9AM. The plan was to climb Surrealistic Pillar followed by Traveller's Buttress. Of course the only other party at the Leap had chosen Surrealistic Pillar too... Only they had gotten there 2 minutes before us. Instead of waiting for them we started on the Groove, where Ben lead the first pitch and I the second one.
From the top we went over to the base of Traveller's... The first pitch starts out with a little 'bouldery' problem, but is not too bad in the middle section. There's a part close to the top though, which features a deep, flaring crack...One can get decent handjams in, but they are way in the back of the crack. Following that section I tried to climb around the flare on the face and took a fall. Using the crack is definitely the way to go!
The second pitch is the tough part (at least physically). It features a 20 foot section of nasty off-width. I tried to lead that part, but had no chance to get actually into the crack, so I lowered off after placing some pieces of pro. Ben tried his luck and was more successful. He placed some pro pretty high, thrutched his way up a little further then moved out of the crack and used the finger crack, which is parallel to the OW on the left hand side. For me even following was HARD!
After reaching the anchors I set out to lead the third pitch. The start was pretty nice, although the strong wind was pretty nerve wrecking. That was even worse as soon as I reached the arrete, which I had to cross. If you look up 'exposure' in the dictionary you'll find a photo of that section. In combination with the wind I completly freaked and froze...Again I lowered off :-( By this time I was pretty unhappy with my leading skills, which are apparently non-exsitent...
Anyway, Ben finished pitch 3 as well, before I lead the final (easy) pitch to the summit. Both of us were at the top at 4:15PM. It took us another hour to get back to the car. Even the drive back was not bad compared to other weekend trips...I guess the gas prices show some effect on weekend trips.
I was back in Mountain View at 9PM.
Traveller's Buttress is definitely a Classic! It's a beautiful climb, with lot's of variety. Despite the painful off-width section both of us enjoyed the route. (We'd only find out about the bruises on our right shoulders a day later ;-))
Friday night Ben and I couldn't decide what to do on Sunday. Either go to Stinson Beach for some bouldering, or go to Lover's Leap and climb some multi-pitch trad. Saturday night we decided on Lover's. So I pulled up in front of Ben's place at 6AM Sunday morning to start a pleasant drive up to Tahoe. There was hardly any traffic at all. We got there shortly after 9AM. The plan was to climb Surrealistic Pillar followed by Traveller's Buttress. Of course the only other party at the Leap had chosen Surrealistic Pillar too... Only they had gotten there 2 minutes before us. Instead of waiting for them we started on the Groove, where Ben lead the first pitch and I the second one.
From the top we went over to the base of Traveller's... The first pitch starts out with a little 'bouldery' problem, but is not too bad in the middle section. There's a part close to the top though, which features a deep, flaring crack...One can get decent handjams in, but they are way in the back of the crack. Following that section I tried to climb around the flare on the face and took a fall. Using the crack is definitely the way to go!
The second pitch is the tough part (at least physically). It features a 20 foot section of nasty off-width. I tried to lead that part, but had no chance to get actually into the crack, so I lowered off after placing some pieces of pro. Ben tried his luck and was more successful. He placed some pro pretty high, thrutched his way up a little further then moved out of the crack and used the finger crack, which is parallel to the OW on the left hand side. For me even following was HARD!
After reaching the anchors I set out to lead the third pitch. The start was pretty nice, although the strong wind was pretty nerve wrecking. That was even worse as soon as I reached the arrete, which I had to cross. If you look up 'exposure' in the dictionary you'll find a photo of that section. In combination with the wind I completly freaked and froze...Again I lowered off :-( By this time I was pretty unhappy with my leading skills, which are apparently non-exsitent...
Anyway, Ben finished pitch 3 as well, before I lead the final (easy) pitch to the summit. Both of us were at the top at 4:15PM. It took us another hour to get back to the car. Even the drive back was not bad compared to other weekend trips...I guess the gas prices show some effect on weekend trips.
I was back in Mountain View at 9PM.
Traveller's Buttress is definitely a Classic! It's a beautiful climb, with lot's of variety. Despite the painful off-width section both of us enjoyed the route. (We'd only find out about the bruises on our right shoulders a day later ;-))
Regular Route on Fairview Dome, aka the North Face
I know this is majorly delayed, but here it finally is: The trip report of the Regular Route on Fairview Dome in Tuolumne Meadows.
The morning after coming back from Carlsbad I got up at 4:30 (the time I usually got up in NM anyway), packed up my gear and drove over to Sam's place in Milpitas. From there we headed out to Yosemite around 5:30. It is always amazing how fast the drive out there is when there's no traffic. Including a gas stop and a coffee stop it took us just over 4 hours to the Cathedral trailhead, where we stashed our food in the bear boxes. On the way there we passed the pullout for Fairview and were amazed that there was only one car parked. Even by the time we got back it was just one car... It took us a bit to sort out the gear and rack up. After a walk of about 20 minutes we reached the base of the route and could jump right on. Sam started leading the first pitch and chose the left of the two parallel cracks. He did a solid job all the way through the crux about 2/3s up the pitch. He continued on and linked pitches 1 and 2 with my 70m rope. Following the crux I had a pretty hard time due to the slick rock. I can't imagine how that's supposed to work when the crack is wet, which is supposedly the case often. Sam also took the lead on the next pitch, the 5.8 finger crack. At the next belay I took over the lead, and from here on we swung leads to one pitch above Crescent Ledge. At this point I got off route, because I was following another party, to which we had caught up. Following, Sam took the right way while I belayed from above. Things went downhill from here on, at least for me: I suffered from a severe headache. I don't really know what was the reason. I definitely was well hydrated. The most likely reason must have been the lack of sleep and insufficient food. Anyway, Sam lead the rest of the route in three pitches with me following. Since the upper pitches are quite easy we pitched it out, but hardly placed any gear. We reached the summit at 6:30PM after 8 hours on the route. I took it pretty slow on the descent... so that we got back to the car around 7:30. Since my headache got better as soon as we were back at the base it might actually have been related to altitude, although I've never had problems at altitude before. At this point we decided to cut the trip short and drive back to the Bay Area the same evening. Unfortunately Taqueria Algave in Oakdale was closed by the time we got there, so we stopped at In&Out in Manteca for dinner.
I got back to my place around 1AM that night...
The morning after coming back from Carlsbad I got up at 4:30 (the time I usually got up in NM anyway), packed up my gear and drove over to Sam's place in Milpitas. From there we headed out to Yosemite around 5:30. It is always amazing how fast the drive out there is when there's no traffic. Including a gas stop and a coffee stop it took us just over 4 hours to the Cathedral trailhead, where we stashed our food in the bear boxes. On the way there we passed the pullout for Fairview and were amazed that there was only one car parked. Even by the time we got back it was just one car... It took us a bit to sort out the gear and rack up. After a walk of about 20 minutes we reached the base of the route and could jump right on. Sam started leading the first pitch and chose the left of the two parallel cracks. He did a solid job all the way through the crux about 2/3s up the pitch. He continued on and linked pitches 1 and 2 with my 70m rope. Following the crux I had a pretty hard time due to the slick rock. I can't imagine how that's supposed to work when the crack is wet, which is supposedly the case often. Sam also took the lead on the next pitch, the 5.8 finger crack. At the next belay I took over the lead, and from here on we swung leads to one pitch above Crescent Ledge. At this point I got off route, because I was following another party, to which we had caught up. Following, Sam took the right way while I belayed from above. Things went downhill from here on, at least for me: I suffered from a severe headache. I don't really know what was the reason. I definitely was well hydrated. The most likely reason must have been the lack of sleep and insufficient food. Anyway, Sam lead the rest of the route in three pitches with me following. Since the upper pitches are quite easy we pitched it out, but hardly placed any gear. We reached the summit at 6:30PM after 8 hours on the route. I took it pretty slow on the descent... so that we got back to the car around 7:30. Since my headache got better as soon as we were back at the base it might actually have been related to altitude, although I've never had problems at altitude before. At this point we decided to cut the trip short and drive back to the Bay Area the same evening. Unfortunately Taqueria Algave in Oakdale was closed by the time we got there, so we stopped at In&Out in Manteca for dinner.
I got back to my place around 1AM that night...
Friday, September 12, 2008
Moonlight Run
I just finished the Palo Alto Weekly Moonlight Run. It was my first 10km run, and the first of the planned races for this fall. It was quite exciting! Although my training went really well lately, I didn't have to big expectations, since my right glute was pretty tight since last night. A thorough warm-up took care of that though...No problems after about 1.4 miles of easy jogging and stretching...
The race started at 8:15PM under an almost full moon. It was amazing to have a race in the dark. I managed to get away from the crowds right in the beginning and settle to a good pace... Between mile 2 and 3 something weird happened: I was completely zoned out... I had a song in my head, and actually don't have any recollection of how I ran that section... At mile 5 I decided that no one would pass me anymore until the finish line... It worked :-) It was a hard 2km, but hey, who said it should be easy. It's pretty much as Dean Karnazes said in his presentation last night: "We can do more than we think we can." Anyway, I finished in (approx. taken with my Garmin) 47:33, a 7:27 pace. Definitely the fastest run of that duration I ever did. And also a PR (well it was my first 10k :-)).
Splits:
mile 1 - 7:36
mile 2 - 7:33 15:09
mile 3 - 7:26 22:35
mile 4 - 7:40 30:14
mile 5 - 7:36 37:50
mile 6 - 7:08 44:57
finish - 47:33
Update:
Official result: 47:29 22/149 AgeGroup 99/479 Gender 114/920 Overall
The race started at 8:15PM under an almost full moon. It was amazing to have a race in the dark. I managed to get away from the crowds right in the beginning and settle to a good pace... Between mile 2 and 3 something weird happened: I was completely zoned out... I had a song in my head, and actually don't have any recollection of how I ran that section... At mile 5 I decided that no one would pass me anymore until the finish line... It worked :-) It was a hard 2km, but hey, who said it should be easy. It's pretty much as Dean Karnazes said in his presentation last night: "We can do more than we think we can." Anyway, I finished in (approx. taken with my Garmin) 47:33, a 7:27 pace. Definitely the fastest run of that duration I ever did. And also a PR (well it was my first 10k :-)).
Splits:
mile 1 - 7:36
mile 2 - 7:33 15:09
mile 3 - 7:26 22:35
mile 4 - 7:40 30:14
mile 5 - 7:36 37:50
mile 6 - 7:08 44:57
finish - 47:33
Update:
Official result: 47:29 22/149 AgeGroup 99/479 Gender 114/920 Overall
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Some thoughts on goals and training
I have thought about some long term goals. They include:
I've been following a trainings plan from RunnersWorld.com, and it seems to work well for me. I'll know more in a few days, after having raced in the Palo Alto Moonlight run. I intend to stick with this plan/plans for the upcoming half and full marathons as well.
However, I came across crossfitendurance.com, and it seems very interesting, since the actual volume of the workouts seems to be smaller and less time consuming. Additionally, the regular crossfit workouts, which are incorporated in their program seem to be beneficial to my climbing plans too. Furthermore, looking at a 50miler trainings plan on RunnersWorld.com, their emphasis on strength training increases as well. So it might be worth a shot...
I've also toyed with the idea of joining a local Triathlon Team. Seems like a fun thing to do.
- A triathlon (hopefully an Ironman)
- An ultra-marathon (50 or 100 miles)
- more alpine routes
- climb as many of the 50 classics as possible
- climb all California 14ers
- climb a few Bigwalls
I've been following a trainings plan from RunnersWorld.com, and it seems to work well for me. I'll know more in a few days, after having raced in the Palo Alto Moonlight run. I intend to stick with this plan/plans for the upcoming half and full marathons as well.
However, I came across crossfitendurance.com, and it seems very interesting, since the actual volume of the workouts seems to be smaller and less time consuming. Additionally, the regular crossfit workouts, which are incorporated in their program seem to be beneficial to my climbing plans too. Furthermore, looking at a 50miler trainings plan on RunnersWorld.com, their emphasis on strength training increases as well. So it might be worth a shot...
I've also toyed with the idea of joining a local Triathlon Team. Seems like a fun thing to do.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
What a weekend!
This weekend was simply fantastic!
I started Saturaday morning with a 10 mile run through Shoreline Park and the Palo Alto Baylands. Besides the two half marathons I ran, and the Diablo 25, this was the longest run I ever did...and it felt good! Really good! I was right on the rx'ed pace, actually two seconds faster and could have kept going... So the running training is going well...
After getting back home I had a huge omlette with mushrooms for breakfast (ok, I had a banana before I left for the run), and took a nap while watching college football. Around 1:15 I drove over to Sue's place and we went to Lindamar Beach in Pacifica surfing. Again: Simply fantastic, I can only compare it to the most perfect day out there, which was Oct. 29. 2005 :-). But yesterday was close...really calm sea, and occaisional perfect (for my limited skills at least) waves. It was rally peaceful and relaxing. On the way back we stopped at 'Flying Fish' in Half Moon Bay for fish tacos...
Today Ben and I headed up to Lover's Leap, where we climbed 'The Grove' and 'Traveller's Buttress'. Details on that will follow. Here only so much: It was another beautiful day!
The next week will be a little calmer... No plans for tomorrow, a tempo run on Tuesday, perhaps some climbing on Wednesday, a talk by Dean K (the Ultra-Marathon Man) in San Carlos on Thursday, and the Palo Alto Moonlight 10K on Friday... Sounds pretty busy too, but there is not too much exercise in there... Also no plans for the next weekend yet... we'll see what that brings (besides another long run (12 miles)).
I started Saturaday morning with a 10 mile run through Shoreline Park and the Palo Alto Baylands. Besides the two half marathons I ran, and the Diablo 25, this was the longest run I ever did...and it felt good! Really good! I was right on the rx'ed pace, actually two seconds faster and could have kept going... So the running training is going well...
After getting back home I had a huge omlette with mushrooms for breakfast (ok, I had a banana before I left for the run), and took a nap while watching college football. Around 1:15 I drove over to Sue's place and we went to Lindamar Beach in Pacifica surfing. Again: Simply fantastic, I can only compare it to the most perfect day out there, which was Oct. 29. 2005 :-). But yesterday was close...really calm sea, and occaisional perfect (for my limited skills at least) waves. It was rally peaceful and relaxing. On the way back we stopped at 'Flying Fish' in Half Moon Bay for fish tacos...
Today Ben and I headed up to Lover's Leap, where we climbed 'The Grove' and 'Traveller's Buttress'. Details on that will follow. Here only so much: It was another beautiful day!
The next week will be a little calmer... No plans for tomorrow, a tempo run on Tuesday, perhaps some climbing on Wednesday, a talk by Dean K (the Ultra-Marathon Man) in San Carlos on Thursday, and the Palo Alto Moonlight 10K on Friday... Sounds pretty busy too, but there is not too much exercise in there... Also no plans for the next weekend yet... we'll see what that brings (besides another long run (12 miles)).
Friday, September 5, 2008
Ouch!
I had a pretty good workout at Planet Granite tonight. I met Ben there, and we both had the same idea, since we both had brought our ropes. I started out leading two 5.9s and a 10a. After these three climbs my arms felt as if I had done 8 climbs already. This also showed on the 10b I tried to lead afterwards. Also the 11a I toproped following that was pretty pathetic. But it was a good workout never the less.
No that I am writing this my forearms are pretty sore... I hope this passes by Sunday, when we'll head either to Stinson Beach for some bouldering, or to Lover's Leap...
No that I am writing this my forearms are pretty sore... I hope this passes by Sunday, when we'll head either to Stinson Beach for some bouldering, or to Lover's Leap...
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Planet Granite
I had a good evening of gym climbing tonight. I met Dan at PG in Belmont, because we wanted to keep the option of joining Ben's yoga class, but decided to stick to climbing for the evening.
My fingers were still slightly tender from the weekend's face and finger crack climbs, and I was pretty tired since I hadn't slept the night before...
Despite all that I got seven climbs in mostly 11a's and b's.
Ok, off to sleep now...
My fingers were still slightly tender from the weekend's face and finger crack climbs, and I was pretty tired since I hadn't slept the night before...
Despite all that I got seven climbs in mostly 11a's and b's.
Ok, off to sleep now...
Tuolumne Meadows
Last weekend Ben and I went up to Tuolumne again. The trip started Sunday morning at 5:30AM, when Ben picked me up. Traffic was not bad at all, and we got to Tuolumne about 9:45. After dropping off our food at the bear boxes on the South side of Tenaya Lake, we continued on to Mettlicot Dome. A 20 minute approach on trails and climbers trails brought us to the base of Shagadellic. Since I had led the first pitch already while climbing "Piss Easier" last year, Ben started leading the first pitch. Following him I managed to clean a stuck cam and scored a .75 BD cam. I took the lead on the second pitch. It took me quite a while, and Ben got quite cold. The wind on Sunday was pretty strong and cold. The third pitch was Ben's lead again. Instead of topping out after the fourth pitch we rappelled back to the base and headed over to Daff Dome to check out the approach to West Crack. Since we were already there, we climbed "Witch of the West" I started leading, but at some point couldn't find the next bolt anymore. The wind was a problem too, and made it hard to find balance sometimes. I bailed of the third bolt. Ben led the whole climb nicely and lowered down.
From the base of West Crack we walked over to the Western Front, where we TRed a 5.9 and a 5.10a (me) and 5.10b (Ben).
After this it was time to check out the campground, where we met Lesley and Daniela, who had invited us to stay with them. After shortly checking in with them we drove down to the Mobil for dinner. The evening ended with a bottle of red wine at the campfire...
Sunday we started on West Crack, where Ben led the first two pitches and the fourth. Following the second pitch scared the living day lights out of me: It took me quite a while to figure out the chimney part at the start of the second pitch. It was hard to squeeze my 6'3" in there. The rest of the pitch was not bad at all. It was funny to find a nest of critters behind the flake at the start of the wide crack. What do they eat up there?
The third pitch was a nice lead, fingers to hands well protected. It definitely helped to regain my confidence in my leading abilities.
The last two pitches were a nice cruise. After rappelling down, and walking back to the car, we decided to have a look at "Little Sheeba" on Drug Dome. At this point a streak ended: It was the first climb in Tuolumne I had to wait for in Tuolumne this year. Ben led the one pitch 10a finger crack, which I TRed afterwards.
After 12 great pitches on the weekend we got back in the car around 4:30 on Monday and headed back to the Bay Area, of course stopping at the Taqueria Algave in Oakdale.
From the base of West Crack we walked over to the Western Front, where we TRed a 5.9 and a 5.10a (me) and 5.10b (Ben).
After this it was time to check out the campground, where we met Lesley and Daniela, who had invited us to stay with them. After shortly checking in with them we drove down to the Mobil for dinner. The evening ended with a bottle of red wine at the campfire...
Sunday we started on West Crack, where Ben led the first two pitches and the fourth. Following the second pitch scared the living day lights out of me: It took me quite a while to figure out the chimney part at the start of the second pitch. It was hard to squeeze my 6'3" in there. The rest of the pitch was not bad at all. It was funny to find a nest of critters behind the flake at the start of the wide crack. What do they eat up there?
The third pitch was a nice lead, fingers to hands well protected. It definitely helped to regain my confidence in my leading abilities.
The last two pitches were a nice cruise. After rappelling down, and walking back to the car, we decided to have a look at "Little Sheeba" on Drug Dome. At this point a streak ended: It was the first climb in Tuolumne I had to wait for in Tuolumne this year. Ben led the one pitch 10a finger crack, which I TRed afterwards.
After 12 great pitches on the weekend we got back in the car around 4:30 on Monday and headed back to the Bay Area, of course stopping at the Taqueria Algave in Oakdale.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Las Vegas Marathon
Yesterday I signed up for the Las Vegas Marathon on Dec. 7.
That leaves me with exactly 100 days... or 63 days after the San Jose RnR half marathon.
This week is going pretty well so far. I posted about Tuesdays Temporun earlier, last night I did some yoga, and I had a really nice easy 3 mile run this morning. It was actually the first enjoyable morning run (pre-work) I ever did. I managed to maintain an average heartrate of 148 bpm while keeping a 8:27 pace. It seems I am getting used to it! :-)
That leaves me with exactly 100 days... or 63 days after the San Jose RnR half marathon.
This week is going pretty well so far. I posted about Tuesdays Temporun earlier, last night I did some yoga, and I had a really nice easy 3 mile run this morning. It was actually the first enjoyable morning run (pre-work) I ever did. I managed to maintain an average heartrate of 148 bpm while keeping a 8:27 pace. It seems I am getting used to it! :-)
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
This F'in rocked!
Just got back from my 4 mile tempo run...
I have to admit, that I was a little scared of doing it. But it was awesome...Felt really good!
4 miles in 30:20, slightly slower than perscribed, but I am still happy with it.The best part is that the last mile was the fastest.
I have to admit, that I was a little scared of doing it. But it was awesome...Felt really good!
4 miles in 30:20, slightly slower than perscribed, but I am still happy with it.The best part is that the last mile was the fastest.
More Races
One of my goals for this year was running a full marathon. Due to some changes in my worktravel plans it is actually going to happen. I'll do a marathon in early December, Dec. 7 to be precise. I am not quite sure which one though... The Las Vegas marathon, where I ran my 1st 1/2 last year, and where I have good memories, or the California International Marathon in Sacramento.
I should come to a decision in the next few days...
I am also thinking about a 5K race at the end of October...
I should come to a decision in the next few days...
I am also thinking about a 5K race at the end of October...
Workouts this week
After getting back from Tuolumne (report for the Regular Route on Fairview Dome is still to come) Sunday was supposed to be a rest day. Well, my running trainings plan told me that I was to run 5 miles, but on Saturday I felt like I would need to rest. Anyway, resting became boring real quick, so I ran 5 miles as perscribed. So last week I missed one 5 mile run, leaving me 5 miles short of the mileage goal.
Last night I faced the challenge of the first gym climb in four weeks. It was not nearly as bad as I had expected. OK, my endurance is down a bit, but I managed 8 climbs, including 3 11a's, two 10c's and a few cracks. I sucked on the cracks though!
Still to come this week:
Last night I faced the challenge of the first gym climb in four weeks. It was not nearly as bad as I had expected. OK, my endurance is down a bit, but I managed 8 climbs, including 3 11a's, two 10c's and a few cracks. I sucked on the cracks though!
Still to come this week:
- Tempo run tonight
- Yoga tomorrow
- more climbing Thu
- 'Long' run (8 miles) Fri
- Recovery run (4 miles) Sat
- Climbing trip Sun/Mon (yay, for Labour Day!)
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Exhausted!
Why?
Thu: Last evening in Carlsbad Celebration 3 beers bedtime 10PM MT
3AM wake up, can't go back to sleep
6AM get up, pack
8AM leave Blue House Cafe, drive to El Paso, TX
11:15 AM Sit down at gate B10
12:15 PM Take off to SJC via PHX
3:15 PM (PT) Touch Down SJC
4:15PM back home
4:45PM leave for lunch/dinner & grocery shopping
5:30PM back home
8:00PM (approx) fall asleep
10:30PM wake up, can't fall asleep until 1:30
4:30AM Alarm goes off, get up
5:10AM leave for Sam's place
5:30AM leave for Tuolumne
9:30AM drop off food at Cathedral trailhead
10:30AM start climbing Regular Route on Fairview Dome
6:30PM top out
7:30 PM pick up food, leave for the Bay Area
Now: back home
Details later!
Thu: Last evening in Carlsbad Celebration 3 beers bedtime 10PM MT
3AM wake up, can't go back to sleep
6AM get up, pack
8AM leave Blue House Cafe, drive to El Paso, TX
11:15 AM Sit down at gate B10
12:15 PM Take off to SJC via PHX
3:15 PM (PT) Touch Down SJC
4:15PM back home
4:45PM leave for lunch/dinner & grocery shopping
5:30PM back home
8:00PM (approx) fall asleep
10:30PM wake up, can't fall asleep until 1:30
4:30AM Alarm goes off, get up
5:10AM leave for Sam's place
5:30AM leave for Tuolumne
9:30AM drop off food at Cathedral trailhead
10:30AM start climbing Regular Route on Fairview Dome
6:30PM top out
7:30 PM pick up food, leave for the Bay Area
Now: back home
Details later!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Upcoming (Film)Events
The tradition continues!
Faster, Steeper, Higher, Deeper...
Radical Reels return to Santa Cruz on September 27th. It has become somewhat of a tradition to me, since it will be the fourth time that I'll visit the event.
Radical Reels is a spin-off of the Banff Mountain Film Festival dedicated to "dynamic, high-adrenaline films featuring sports such as skiing, climbing, kayaking, BASE jumping, snowboarding and mountain biking."
Less of a tradition, but also returning to the Bay Area is the ReelRockTour. This event (Berkeley (Oct. 15/16) Santa Cruz (Oct. 9) and San Francisco (Oct. 23) features two full length movies... Dosage V and The Sharp End, the new production from SenderFilms. The trailer for the later is AWESOME!
Who wants to come?
Faster, Steeper, Higher, Deeper...
Radical Reels return to Santa Cruz on September 27th. It has become somewhat of a tradition to me, since it will be the fourth time that I'll visit the event.
Radical Reels is a spin-off of the Banff Mountain Film Festival dedicated to "dynamic, high-adrenaline films featuring sports such as skiing, climbing, kayaking, BASE jumping, snowboarding and mountain biking."
Less of a tradition, but also returning to the Bay Area is the ReelRockTour. This event (Berkeley (Oct. 15/16) Santa Cruz (Oct. 9) and San Francisco (Oct. 23) features two full length movies... Dosage V and The Sharp End, the new production from SenderFilms. The trailer for the later is AWESOME!
Who wants to come?
Sunday, August 17, 2008
19 miles...
...was the running goal for this week...and I reached it.
5 miles on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday, 6.5 on Saturday and 4.5 today.
Compared to the previous runs here in Carlsbad, the 4.5 miles today were rather fast. I managed a 8:35 pace. It is really important to keep the heart rate low though! I can sustain a HR above 170 for a bit, but it's hard to recover from that.
Other than that the week was pretty eventless, still haven't made it to the Guadalupe Mountains :-/
Hopefully I'll get some climbing in on the next weekends, back in the Bay Area!
Running-wise the next week will be a little bit of a 'recovery-week' with only three runs of 5 miles each. One will be here in New Mexico, the other two on Friday and Sunday in Mountain View. Can't wait for those flat trails!
5 miles on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday, 6.5 on Saturday and 4.5 today.
Compared to the previous runs here in Carlsbad, the 4.5 miles today were rather fast. I managed a 8:35 pace. It is really important to keep the heart rate low though! I can sustain a HR above 170 for a bit, but it's hard to recover from that.
Other than that the week was pretty eventless, still haven't made it to the Guadalupe Mountains :-/
Hopefully I'll get some climbing in on the next weekends, back in the Bay Area!
Running-wise the next week will be a little bit of a 'recovery-week' with only three runs of 5 miles each. One will be here in New Mexico, the other two on Friday and Sunday in Mountain View. Can't wait for those flat trails!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
One mile short...
I stayed one mile below this week's scheduled mileage.
Today I wanted to make up for the shorter than planned runs on Tuesday and Friday, but my choice of trail was pretty unfortunate... The Octoillo trail in the Living Desert State Park proved to be pretty steep, and on top of that I turned out not to be a loop as I had hoped...
Well, I ran four miles, and I guess the uphill was worth something as well.
I won't be running there again though...But I could have used that hill in my backyard while training for the Diablo 25
Today I wanted to make up for the shorter than planned runs on Tuesday and Friday, but my choice of trail was pretty unfortunate... The Octoillo trail in the Living Desert State Park proved to be pretty steep, and on top of that I turned out not to be a loop as I had hoped...
Well, I ran four miles, and I guess the uphill was worth something as well.
I won't be running there again though...But I could have used that hill in my backyard while training for the Diablo 25
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Carlsbad Caverns
Carlsbad Caverns National park is located 20 miles west of Carlsbad, NM. Today was my second visit to the caves, but I was impressed once again. The bottom of the accessible cave is 754ft below the surface and can be reached by a hike from the Natural Entrance or by elevator.
The Big Room at the bottom of the cave is the world's largest limestone cavern with an area of 600000 sft.
This area is packed with impressive formations! It just makes me want to explore other caves in the area... and elsewhere. I guess it's time to take a caving class. Here are some pictures of this amazing place:
The Big Room at the bottom of the cave is the world's largest limestone cavern with an area of 600000 sft.
This area is packed with impressive formations! It just makes me want to explore other caves in the area... and elsewhere. I guess it's time to take a caving class. Here are some pictures of this amazing place:
"WOD"
Due to the lack of climbing around here, and since it's a rest day from running I 'created' my own WOD today. Well, there's no gym either, so I did the following at the place where I stay:
3 rounds of:
Next time it will be for time!
Ok, off to the caverns in a bit...
3 rounds of:
- 15 squats
- 20 push-ups
- 30 crunches straight
- 30 crunches left
- 30 crunches right
- 30 whatever they are called for the lower back
Next time it will be for time!
Ok, off to the caverns in a bit...
Friday, August 8, 2008
Getting used to it!
Yes! Just came back from my third run of the week... It was the first one that actually felt really good. Probably because it was pretty cool tonight, only 30C (86F). It was supposed to be a long run of 7 miles, but I ended up running only 6 miles... This means that I am two miles short for this week...Well, I got Sundays run to make up for it.
The trick to keep runs out here pleasant is apparently to really watch the heart rate and go real slow... The high temperatures, the relatively high humidity (approx. 50%) and the rolling terrain are pretty taxing otherwise.
If I get 5 miles in on Sunday, I got the mileage, no speedwork though :-/
I'll work on that once I get back to the flat and cool trails in the Bay Area!
Most likely I'll visit the Guadalupe Mountain National Park this weekend...
Perhaps I'll re-visit the Carlsbad Caverns as well...
The trick to keep runs out here pleasant is apparently to really watch the heart rate and go real slow... The high temperatures, the relatively high humidity (approx. 50%) and the rolling terrain are pretty taxing otherwise.
If I get 5 miles in on Sunday, I got the mileage, no speedwork though :-/
I'll work on that once I get back to the flat and cool trails in the Bay Area!
Most likely I'll visit the Guadalupe Mountain National Park this weekend...
Perhaps I'll re-visit the Carlsbad Caverns as well...
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
A tough 'easy' run
I am in Carlsbad, NM since yesterday. Despite travelling for work, I try to stick to my training schedule for my upcoming races. Today asked for a speed workout... Ok, here comes the first modification to the program... There's no track available... Well, I figured I go for a longer easy run. The 'easy' run turned out to be pretty tough. It was scorching hot all day, and even at 7pm, half an hour before sunset, the thermometer still showed 92F. I headed out anyway, taking a bottle of water, which I would not have done for a 5 mile run in the Bay Area. I ran along the road through the 'Living Desert' State Park, which is essentially right outside the place I stay at. The road climbs a hill for the first mile, then drops of a little and finally flattens out on a dirt road. The climb turned out to be quite a challenge in the heat, it also didn't help that Carlsbad is at 3500ft. I was looking forward to the downhill on the way back. I had planned to run a 8:40 - 8:50 pace which I realized was not achievable on the first section...
I turned around after two miles, and I saw a lightening storm on the horizon. During the next few minutes I also felt a distinct temperature drop and the wind picking up. Unfortunately it turned out to be a headwind. Half way through the way back to my house it started pouring down on me... the rain and teh headwind made sure that the downhill part was no faster than running up the same hill. Easy is definitely the wrong category for the run... anyway...4 miles, 9:29 pace at a super high heart rate...(Avg: 169, max 180) was a first running experience in the desert, I hope it will be better in the next days.
I turned around after two miles, and I saw a lightening storm on the horizon. During the next few minutes I also felt a distinct temperature drop and the wind picking up. Unfortunately it turned out to be a headwind. Half way through the way back to my house it started pouring down on me... the rain and teh headwind made sure that the downhill part was no faster than running up the same hill. Easy is definitely the wrong category for the run... anyway...4 miles, 9:29 pace at a super high heart rate...(Avg: 169, max 180) was a first running experience in the desert, I hope it will be better in the next days.
Stinson Beach Photos
Here are some photos of the bouldering trip up to Stinson Beach:
Again, it was an amazing day!
Again, it was an amazing day!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Stinson Beach Bouldering
There's a new mark on the map with my favorite spots: Stinson Beach.
Originally had planned to go to Yosemite this weekend to climb the Dana Couloir and Regular on Fairview, but several circumstances, like a huge fire in Merced Canyon, and the upcoming trip to New Mexico kept me from going. Instead I followed up on something I had been wanting to do for quite some time - bouldering outside.
I had seen some photos of boulders along the Northern California Coast (around Humbolt County), which triggered the idea of bouldering at the beach. The closest spot to the South Bay to do so is Stinson Beach (or perhaps Mickey's Beach, but there's no big difference).
The tide table showed low tide for 6:30 PM, so Dan and I headed up there in the afternoon. Traffic through the city was pretty bad - it took us a full two hours to get there (it's a 60 mile drive). It was worth every second though! The last nine miles along the coast are just amazing! the views from the winding road out to the ocean and down to the coastline were payback for time spent in the stop-and-go traffic. The weather was also perfect. We were a little worried before, since the temps in the city were in the 50's during the last week, but yesterday it was just perfect... Hitting the beach it felt more like Southern California than Marin county!
The boulders are on the southe end of the beach, and although the main stretch was pretty packed there were just a few people hanging out back there. We climbed on the "Old Woman" and "Old Man" boulders, starting out with the V0 arrete followed by some V1-V2's on the Old Woman, and some tries on the V4 arrete on the Old Man. I actually got the start of that one! There were a bunch of other lines we did, but we essentially made them up as we went along.
Bouldering is pretty different to 'real climbing' in that respect...It's not for the gratification to get on top of something, it really is more about finding a way together some moves, and a problem might end half way up the rock... It was fun though!
After wrecking our fingers for about two and a half hours we took a walk along the beach before heading back to the car. On the way we decided to have dinner at the Park Cafe. Their Menu says: "Park Cafe - Eat Well, Be Happy!" It definitely worked for me...This day definitley reminded me of a day I spent surfing almost three years ago: Back then I thought: "This can't be real...Something like this only happens on TV!" The exact same feeling returned yesterday...
A perfect beach, absolutely blue sky, nice rock, good food in the evening... Too Good to be true!
I'll definitely be back!
Photos will follow...
Originally had planned to go to Yosemite this weekend to climb the Dana Couloir and Regular on Fairview, but several circumstances, like a huge fire in Merced Canyon, and the upcoming trip to New Mexico kept me from going. Instead I followed up on something I had been wanting to do for quite some time - bouldering outside.
I had seen some photos of boulders along the Northern California Coast (around Humbolt County), which triggered the idea of bouldering at the beach. The closest spot to the South Bay to do so is Stinson Beach (or perhaps Mickey's Beach, but there's no big difference).
The tide table showed low tide for 6:30 PM, so Dan and I headed up there in the afternoon. Traffic through the city was pretty bad - it took us a full two hours to get there (it's a 60 mile drive). It was worth every second though! The last nine miles along the coast are just amazing! the views from the winding road out to the ocean and down to the coastline were payback for time spent in the stop-and-go traffic. The weather was also perfect. We were a little worried before, since the temps in the city were in the 50's during the last week, but yesterday it was just perfect... Hitting the beach it felt more like Southern California than Marin county!
The boulders are on the southe end of the beach, and although the main stretch was pretty packed there were just a few people hanging out back there. We climbed on the "Old Woman" and "Old Man" boulders, starting out with the V0 arrete followed by some V1-V2's on the Old Woman, and some tries on the V4 arrete on the Old Man. I actually got the start of that one! There were a bunch of other lines we did, but we essentially made them up as we went along.
Bouldering is pretty different to 'real climbing' in that respect...It's not for the gratification to get on top of something, it really is more about finding a way together some moves, and a problem might end half way up the rock... It was fun though!
After wrecking our fingers for about two and a half hours we took a walk along the beach before heading back to the car. On the way we decided to have dinner at the Park Cafe. Their Menu says: "Park Cafe - Eat Well, Be Happy!" It definitely worked for me...This day definitley reminded me of a day I spent surfing almost three years ago: Back then I thought: "This can't be real...Something like this only happens on TV!" The exact same feeling returned yesterday...
A perfect beach, absolutely blue sky, nice rock, good food in the evening... Too Good to be true!
I'll definitely be back!
Photos will follow...
Friday, August 1, 2008
upcoming races
I just signed up for the Palo Alto Moonlight 10K and the San Jose Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon.
I am still not sure about the full Marathon...
Silicon Valley, Las Vegas, California International in Sacramento?
Or none at all?
To some degree it depends on work related travel...
I am still not sure about the full Marathon...
Silicon Valley, Las Vegas, California International in Sacramento?
Or none at all?
To some degree it depends on work related travel...
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
This weeks workouts
Another good week in workouts!
After the bouldering/crossfit session last Sunday, I went climbing at Planet Granite Sunnyvale with Ben on Monday. It was a good session! I did 10 climbs, most of which were 10c's. Towards the end I threw a few low 11's in, and ended the workout with two crack climbs...
We both had the impression that the ratings at PG were a little tougher than they used to be. Which is good! It's more likely to correspond to the 'real world' now.
Tuesday was the first 'scheduled' run in my 10k/half-marathon/marathon trainings plan. I ran last Friday and felt super weak... mostly due to the jet-lag I was experiencing upon my return from Germany. The prospect of doing a 'tempo run' after a night of only three hours of sleep were quite scary. Anyway, I gave it mu best shot: The plan asked for a 1 mile warm-up, 3 miles at 7:26 pace and a 1 mile cool-down. I headed out from my place to the SCT at a very moderate pace as the warm up, and picked it up for the last quarter of a mile. After a short walking section I started the 3 mile tempo run. I haven't really run at a controlled pace yet, so it was hard to find the right stride, and rythm. The strong head wind didn't make things easier.
I stayed in a pretty good average until 2.3 miles, where I hit a wall...I am definitely not used to run at that pace. I got way slower and finished the 3 miles in 23:28 (a 7:49 pace...so I missed the targeted 7:26 :-(), the fastest I ever managed for that distance. I ended the workout with a very mellow jog back to my place (another 1.2 miles.) The next day I definitely felt a surprising feeling in my legs...my quads are a little tight and have a slight sore feeling, which feels actually good...
Wednesday saw the second run on my trainings plan. An easy run of two miles at 8:54. Since I couldn't drag my behind out of bed early, and since my legs had a slight heaviness to them I decided to do the run on the treadmill at PG Belmont before my yoga class. Running on the treadmill is horrible though... even two miles seem to take ages...
Although the yoga class was not very hard I was completely shot afterwards. Perhaps because of the three climbs (10c) I did between running and yoga...
Tomorrow is definitely a rest day.
After the bouldering/crossfit session last Sunday, I went climbing at Planet Granite Sunnyvale with Ben on Monday. It was a good session! I did 10 climbs, most of which were 10c's. Towards the end I threw a few low 11's in, and ended the workout with two crack climbs...
We both had the impression that the ratings at PG were a little tougher than they used to be. Which is good! It's more likely to correspond to the 'real world' now.
Tuesday was the first 'scheduled' run in my 10k/half-marathon/marathon trainings plan. I ran last Friday and felt super weak... mostly due to the jet-lag I was experiencing upon my return from Germany. The prospect of doing a 'tempo run' after a night of only three hours of sleep were quite scary. Anyway, I gave it mu best shot: The plan asked for a 1 mile warm-up, 3 miles at 7:26 pace and a 1 mile cool-down. I headed out from my place to the SCT at a very moderate pace as the warm up, and picked it up for the last quarter of a mile. After a short walking section I started the 3 mile tempo run. I haven't really run at a controlled pace yet, so it was hard to find the right stride, and rythm. The strong head wind didn't make things easier.
I stayed in a pretty good average until 2.3 miles, where I hit a wall...I am definitely not used to run at that pace. I got way slower and finished the 3 miles in 23:28 (a 7:49 pace...so I missed the targeted 7:26 :-(), the fastest I ever managed for that distance. I ended the workout with a very mellow jog back to my place (another 1.2 miles.) The next day I definitely felt a surprising feeling in my legs...my quads are a little tight and have a slight sore feeling, which feels actually good...
Wednesday saw the second run on my trainings plan. An easy run of two miles at 8:54. Since I couldn't drag my behind out of bed early, and since my legs had a slight heaviness to them I decided to do the run on the treadmill at PG Belmont before my yoga class. Running on the treadmill is horrible though... even two miles seem to take ages...
Although the yoga class was not very hard I was completely shot afterwards. Perhaps because of the three climbs (10c) I did between running and yoga...
Tomorrow is definitely a rest day.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
I really should stop making plans!
Alright...all the nice ideas related to the trainings schedule in my last post are irrelevant...
I will spend the next three weeks in Carlsbad, NM... No climbing, probably limited running...
Perhaps a gym? (Depends if they sell weekly memberships or have trial memberships).
Update (approx. 1 hour after original post): Damn it I am going to climb a big wall this year!
And I will chip away from my tick-list!
I will spend the next three weeks in Carlsbad, NM... No climbing, probably limited running...
Perhaps a gym? (Depends if they sell weekly memberships or have trial memberships).
Update (approx. 1 hour after original post): Damn it I am going to climb a big wall this year!
And I will chip away from my tick-list!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Brutal!
Just got back from the gym, where I tried two new training methods I found online in one session...
Well, the one was bouldering, which was intended as a warm-up, the other a WOD posted here.
The bouldering followed a point system though. Before the workout one picks a number, say 20, and the climbs as many boulders until the V-ratings add up to the chosen number. So 20 V1's, 10 V2's, 6 V3's and 2 V2's, etc. pretty fun... and a nice way to quantify bouldering, which was always a problem for me... Too bad V0's don't count at all, neither do failed attempts.
It took me the better part of an hour to reach 15. Didn't manage to finish a single V3... Bummer!
The WOD was last week Wednesdays:
Finding the one-rep max for the bench press: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
followed be three rounds for time of:
Surprisingly that's not too far of my PR from way-back-when (I played football and was a fair bit heavier than I am now (198 vs. 180). So the goal is obvious...press body weight...without bulking up!!!
The three rounds were quite tough! I am glad my new roomie Albert joined me, otherwise I probably wouldn't have finished this one...Time: 21:59.
I hope I am not too sore tomorrow, when I'm meeting Ben for some climbing!
Well, the one was bouldering, which was intended as a warm-up, the other a WOD posted here.
The bouldering followed a point system though. Before the workout one picks a number, say 20, and the climbs as many boulders until the V-ratings add up to the chosen number. So 20 V1's, 10 V2's, 6 V3's and 2 V2's, etc. pretty fun... and a nice way to quantify bouldering, which was always a problem for me... Too bad V0's don't count at all, neither do failed attempts.
It took me the better part of an hour to reach 15. Didn't manage to finish a single V3... Bummer!
The WOD was last week Wednesdays:
Finding the one-rep max for the bench press: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
followed be three rounds for time of:
- 500m row
- 15 bench press 95#
- 15 pull ups
Surprisingly that's not too far of my PR from way-back-when (I played football and was a fair bit heavier than I am now (198 vs. 180). So the goal is obvious...press body weight...without bulking up!!!
The three rounds were quite tough! I am glad my new roomie Albert joined me, otherwise I probably wouldn't have finished this one...Time: 21:59.
I hope I am not too sore tomorrow, when I'm meeting Ben for some climbing!
mid term planning
Alright, as announced in the last post I am going to sign up for a few races in the next months.
As a first I'll try to stick to a trainings plan...
The weekly plan looks roughly like this:
Mon: rest or climbing
Tue: Tempo-/Speedwork (PM)
Wed: easy run (AM)/ Yoga (PM)
Thu: climbing / crossfit
Fri: long run (AM)
Sat: rest or climbing (trip)
Sun: easy run /crossfit
Where easy runs are between 2 and 5 miles, so are right in the avenue I've been running anyway. Prefered places will be the SCT and campus loop, perhaps the Dish to throw in some hills...
Lately the idea of doing a bigwall seems appealing again as well. But before committing to that I'll have to sort out some other things...
As a first I'll try to stick to a trainings plan...
The weekly plan looks roughly like this:
Mon: rest or climbing
Tue: Tempo-/Speedwork (PM)
Wed: easy run (AM)/ Yoga (PM)
Thu: climbing / crossfit
Fri: long run (AM)
Sat: rest or climbing (trip)
Sun: easy run /crossfit
Where easy runs are between 2 and 5 miles, so are right in the avenue I've been running anyway. Prefered places will be the SCT and campus loop, perhaps the Dish to throw in some hills...
Lately the idea of doing a bigwall seems appealing again as well. But before committing to that I'll have to sort out some other things...
Sunday, July 20, 2008
gym ratings
Today I was climbing indoors here in Germany. In the beginning it was quite confusing, since all the routes are rated with UIAA grades, which range from 3 (doesn't probably 1, but the lowest I've ever seen is 3) to 12, which roughly corresponds to a 5.15a. Another very unusual feature of the gym was the height: The longest climbs there were over 70ft long. As a warm-up I hopped on a 5, which looked pretty reasonable. It turned out to be a good pick...After a few more climbs (up to 7) I got pretty tired and started to think about how these things would be rated in gyms back in the Bay Area...Since the holds and the route setting were quite different, I really couldn't tell.
Upon getting home I check a conversation table and was kind of shocked: the 5 corresponds to a 5.7, and 7 is a 10c. Before I left the US two weeks ago, I was climbing 11c's! But then everyone agrees that the PG ratings are too soft... and are in no relation to ratings outside. This made me think some more and it seemed about right...the 5 felt like a 5.7 outside, and the 7 like a 5.10 outside... I guess they got it right.
On other news: I've been running regularly last week, and I will sign up for a few races...basically the ones I listed here. I will swap the distances of the Aug. and Sep. races though. Last night I played around with some websites (mainly runnersworld.com), and came up with a trainings plan, which looks quite reasonable, and which leaves still enough time for climbing and even weekend trips.
I also realized, that I haven't climbed anything on my ticklist for the year! Time to start to work on that!
Upon getting home I check a conversation table and was kind of shocked: the 5 corresponds to a 5.7, and 7 is a 10c. Before I left the US two weeks ago, I was climbing 11c's! But then everyone agrees that the PG ratings are too soft... and are in no relation to ratings outside. This made me think some more and it seemed about right...the 5 felt like a 5.7 outside, and the 7 like a 5.10 outside... I guess they got it right.
On other news: I've been running regularly last week, and I will sign up for a few races...basically the ones I listed here. I will swap the distances of the Aug. and Sep. races though. Last night I played around with some websites (mainly runnersworld.com), and came up with a trainings plan, which looks quite reasonable, and which leaves still enough time for climbing and even weekend trips.
I also realized, that I haven't climbed anything on my ticklist for the year! Time to start to work on that!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
10 and a half hours...
... on a plane brought me back to Germany last Monday.
It has only been three months after I was out here, but I needed to get away from some things.
This led to the fact that I didn't do much during the last week besides watching the Tour de France, reading (the Bill Bowerman biography is AWESOME!), and thinking about the future... My Jul. 1st post had a quite optimistic feel to it, but unfortunately that changed a bit... I really need to figure out how to proceed from here.
I went on a few bike rides last week, nothing special though. If the weather stays stable I'll go for a run in the afternoon. For the weekend I am planning on getting some outdoor climbing in...
Between now and then I have a few appointments, which require some travel... So I will be on the road for a bit before I head back to the Bay Area next week.
It has only been three months after I was out here, but I needed to get away from some things.
This led to the fact that I didn't do much during the last week besides watching the Tour de France, reading (the Bill Bowerman biography is AWESOME!), and thinking about the future... My Jul. 1st post had a quite optimistic feel to it, but unfortunately that changed a bit... I really need to figure out how to proceed from here.
I went on a few bike rides last week, nothing special though. If the weather stays stable I'll go for a run in the afternoon. For the weekend I am planning on getting some outdoor climbing in...
Between now and then I have a few appointments, which require some travel... So I will be on the road for a bit before I head back to the Bay Area next week.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
My first WOD
Yay!
just got back from the gym, where I finished my first Workout of the Day on my own.
After warming up on a few boulders I went over to the fitness area, where I reviewed the deadlift technique. After a couple of exercises with a barbell only, I loaded up some weight. For the first weighted attempt I used 95 lbs. Which were no problem at all. I did the full WOD consisting of 5 rounds of 5 deadlifts and 10 burpees for time with 115 lbs. I finished in 8:18. When I do this workout the next time, I will definitely use more weight, but I felt more comfortable with the lighter load, doing this the first time without a trainer around. Felt good though...and took quite a bit out of me!
Off to the shower and the bookstore...
just got back from the gym, where I finished my first Workout of the Day on my own.
After warming up on a few boulders I went over to the fitness area, where I reviewed the deadlift technique. After a couple of exercises with a barbell only, I loaded up some weight. For the first weighted attempt I used 95 lbs. Which were no problem at all. I did the full WOD consisting of 5 rounds of 5 deadlifts and 10 burpees for time with 115 lbs. I finished in 8:18. When I do this workout the next time, I will definitely use more weight, but I felt more comfortable with the lighter load, doing this the first time without a trainer around. Felt good though...and took quite a bit out of me!
Off to the shower and the bookstore...
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Hetch Hetchy
This morning I woke up feeling not too great...
So we decided not to climb today, but to go to Hetch Hetchy instead, where neither Daniela nor I had been before. After a breakfast at the TM grill (the vibes in the parking lot in front of the grill in the morning are just fantastic!) we broke camp and headed out on HW 120. Originally we had planned to TR at the Western Front, but since we both slept pretty poorly (I had crazy dreams, and was def. missing a certain person), we decided to take it easy.
The drive along Evergreen Road is really beautiful: It leads through a mix of fir forest and meadows. Just after re-entering Yosemite NP one can see the reservoir in the distance, several thousand feet below. We parked near the dam, and hiked across it and through the tunnel towards Wamapa Falls. It's a easy 5 mile round trip hike past beautiful views. I'd definitely go back to do some backpacking in the area...
So we decided not to climb today, but to go to Hetch Hetchy instead, where neither Daniela nor I had been before. After a breakfast at the TM grill (the vibes in the parking lot in front of the grill in the morning are just fantastic!) we broke camp and headed out on HW 120. Originally we had planned to TR at the Western Front, but since we both slept pretty poorly (I had crazy dreams, and was def. missing a certain person), we decided to take it easy.
The drive along Evergreen Road is really beautiful: It leads through a mix of fir forest and meadows. Just after re-entering Yosemite NP one can see the reservoir in the distance, several thousand feet below. We parked near the dam, and hiked across it and through the tunnel towards Wamapa Falls. It's a easy 5 mile round trip hike past beautiful views. I'd definitely go back to do some backpacking in the area...
A clear moon-less night...
...With a view of millions of stars ended an awesome day at Tuolumne Meadows yesterday.
Daniela and I had left the Mountain View at 6:30 in the morning, and made good time to the Tuolumne Meadows campground, where I arrived just before 11am. Surprisingly we even managed to get a site there! After setting up camp, we drove over to Low Profile Dome to climb Golfer's Route. This climb used to be a my "nemisis" I had bailed off it twice, since it's quite run out. I figured it would be a good test of my mental state, since I hadn't climbed outside in almost three months. At points I was quite nervous, but it wasn't too bad. Daniela followed the climb nicely. It was only her 5th time climbing outdoors, and the first time on granite. Being back on the ground she said:"Ok, higher!" This left me with the questions where to next?
Our choice fell on Stately Pleasure Dome, where we wanted to to The Great White Book, but a party was just starting in front of us, since there was no one on West Country, so we hopped on that. I had a really good climb there! The crux on the second pitch was no problem at all. I actually ran that pitch out quite a bit...
The descent was hideous as usual.
After five pitches of climbing and 4 hours of driving, it was definitely time for dinner at the Mobil Station. YUM!
Back at the campsite around 7pm, we decided to watch the sunset from the Meadows with a beer. Tuolumne Meadows is my favorite place ever! The light last night was perfect! I will have a really hard time leaving this place!
Daniela and I had left the Mountain View at 6:30 in the morning, and made good time to the Tuolumne Meadows campground, where I arrived just before 11am. Surprisingly we even managed to get a site there! After setting up camp, we drove over to Low Profile Dome to climb Golfer's Route. This climb used to be a my "nemisis" I had bailed off it twice, since it's quite run out. I figured it would be a good test of my mental state, since I hadn't climbed outside in almost three months. At points I was quite nervous, but it wasn't too bad. Daniela followed the climb nicely. It was only her 5th time climbing outdoors, and the first time on granite. Being back on the ground she said:"Ok, higher!" This left me with the questions where to next?
Our choice fell on Stately Pleasure Dome, where we wanted to to The Great White Book, but a party was just starting in front of us, since there was no one on West Country, so we hopped on that. I had a really good climb there! The crux on the second pitch was no problem at all. I actually ran that pitch out quite a bit...
The descent was hideous as usual.
After five pitches of climbing and 4 hours of driving, it was definitely time for dinner at the Mobil Station. YUM!
Back at the campsite around 7pm, we decided to watch the sunset from the Meadows with a beer. Tuolumne Meadows is my favorite place ever! The light last night was perfect! I will have a really hard time leaving this place!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Wunderlich Park & Skyline
Today I went for a run at Wunderlich Park off of HW84. I hiked there a few days ago, and thought it would be a nice loop for a trail run... I started out on the Bear Gulch Trail, going up to The Meadows, from there I followed a wider trail downhill back to the parking lot. The loop was 4.4 miles, where the first half was constantly uphill. My diet during the last few days hasn't been that great (mostly potato chips :-(), and I haven't slept that much, so I didn't feel that great on the run.
On top of that I did the run at the hottest time of the day from approx. 12:45 to 1:30pm.
I will definitely go back though.
After completing the loop I drove up to Skyline Open Space Preserve and hung out and read for about an hour before I headed back home.
On top of that I did the run at the hottest time of the day from approx. 12:45 to 1:30pm.
I will definitely go back though.
After completing the loop I drove up to Skyline Open Space Preserve and hung out and read for about an hour before I headed back home.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A good start...
...into the second half of the year!
Just came back from the climbing gym, where I had a rather good session.
I tried a new approach to things: start of with lead climbs right away, and then go to the hard top-ropes afterwards. This has several advantages:
All in all a nice workout! Tuolumne on Friday!!!
Just came back from the climbing gym, where I had a rather good session.
I tried a new approach to things: start of with lead climbs right away, and then go to the hard top-ropes afterwards. This has several advantages:
- I am still rested
- I am not used to a TR
- Since I lead on a lower level than I TR, I safe the 'easy' TRs for warming up.
All in all a nice workout! Tuolumne on Friday!!!
Half a year...gone
If anyone actually reads this blog, people might have asked themselves what happened to me during the last few months. I had all these ambitious plans...Washington Coloumn, Half Dome, Mt. Shasta. I've been raving about going to Tuolumne since late April, but haven't been yet... So what's wrong?
I guess where it all started was the unexpected trip to Germany for my grandmothers funeral. From there it all went downhill. My relationship started falling apart, my motivation at work took a nose dive. On the weekends I felt just drained...Mostly because of my relationship issues. There were days (and not only on weekends) when I watched ten or more episodes of 'House'. And I am not even a big fan of TV!
Well all that ended today I guess...No more relationship issues...Although I really thought that Wendy was THE ONE...but it seems as if I have been holding on to an idea I had of us from earlier. The reality had become very different from that though, being far from a supportive relationship.
So the first half, or at least the second quarter (after a promising startin January and February) of 2008 was definitely worse than last year, although I never though that that would be possible.
But hey, today is the start of the second half of the year... It's my B-day in two days...
Onward & upward!
I guess where it all started was the unexpected trip to Germany for my grandmothers funeral. From there it all went downhill. My relationship started falling apart, my motivation at work took a nose dive. On the weekends I felt just drained...Mostly because of my relationship issues. There were days (and not only on weekends) when I watched ten or more episodes of 'House'. And I am not even a big fan of TV!
Well all that ended today I guess...No more relationship issues...Although I really thought that Wendy was THE ONE...but it seems as if I have been holding on to an idea I had of us from earlier. The reality had become very different from that though, being far from a supportive relationship.
So the first half, or at least the second quarter (after a promising startin January and February) of 2008 was definitely worse than last year, although I never though that that would be possible.
But hey, today is the start of the second half of the year... It's my B-day in two days...
Onward & upward!
Monday, June 30, 2008
So much for the rest day!
Alright!
After the crossfit class yesterday I spent pretty much the whole afternoon vegging on a couch or in bed... First watching the finals of the Euro 08, then a Bruce Lee movie and in the evening the Track & Field and Swimming trials. Despite good refueling I was slightly sore today. But during the work day I got more and more restless. Upon coming home I decided to go for a run...
It turned out to be quite good! 4.55 miles in 36:49. A 8:05 pace. Not quite where I like to be but definitely a step in the right direction. Today the problem was endurance. I was not able to sustain a higher pace over long times. So I guess I need to get longer runs in. Perhaps that's something I should do in the mornings, when I am not able to run fast anyway :-/
I think my speed will benefit from crossfit. A lot of the class reminded me of my Track & Field workouts through high school and college. And back then I was able to run sub 5min 1500m at the end of a decathlon without specifically training for it.
During my run I thought that I should come up with a few goals I want to achieve in running, climbing, etc...
Something to think about more!
After the crossfit class yesterday I spent pretty much the whole afternoon vegging on a couch or in bed... First watching the finals of the Euro 08, then a Bruce Lee movie and in the evening the Track & Field and Swimming trials. Despite good refueling I was slightly sore today. But during the work day I got more and more restless. Upon coming home I decided to go for a run...
It turned out to be quite good! 4.55 miles in 36:49. A 8:05 pace. Not quite where I like to be but definitely a step in the right direction. Today the problem was endurance. I was not able to sustain a higher pace over long times. So I guess I need to get longer runs in. Perhaps that's something I should do in the mornings, when I am not able to run fast anyway :-/
I think my speed will benefit from crossfit. A lot of the class reminded me of my Track & Field workouts through high school and college. And back then I was able to run sub 5min 1500m at the end of a decathlon without specifically training for it.
During my run I thought that I should come up with a few goals I want to achieve in running, climbing, etc...
Something to think about more!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
CrossFit class
OK, after plenty of talk I took the 'Intensive Weekend CrossFit Fundamentals'-Class at my climbing gym this weekend.
The class entailed two 4-hour sessions on Saturday and Sunday morning.
On Saturday we started out be learning about the movements in some basic exercises like the squat, the shoulder press, the push press, the push jerk, the overhead squat, and the kipping pull-up. This was followed by a short jog around the neighboring building and a round of 'burpees' and a round of '(forgot the name)'. Back at the gym we went into a 'Fran' WOD. 'Fran' consits of three series 21-15-9 of thrusters and pull-ups for time. It was pretty intense! Just what I was looking for :-) It took me 6:16 to finish.
Gosh! My pull-ups suck!
The class continued At 8AM on Sunday morning. The basics covered on the second day included the deadlift, kettleball swings, Sumo Deadlift High Pull, the snatch and the clean & jerk. The class finished with another tough WOD. 'Fight Gone Bad' was on the schedule. The workout is a circuit of Wall Ball, Kettleball Swings, Box Jumps, Push Presses and rowing. All the exercises are done of one minute without a break in between. After one round there is a one minute break. Repeat 3 times. In the end the total reps are added up. I managed 286. I am quite happy about this :-)
Tomorrow will be a rest day... or perhaps I'll do an easy run.
The class entailed two 4-hour sessions on Saturday and Sunday morning.
On Saturday we started out be learning about the movements in some basic exercises like the squat, the shoulder press, the push press, the push jerk, the overhead squat, and the kipping pull-up. This was followed by a short jog around the neighboring building and a round of 'burpees' and a round of '(forgot the name)'. Back at the gym we went into a 'Fran' WOD. 'Fran' consits of three series 21-15-9 of thrusters and pull-ups for time. It was pretty intense! Just what I was looking for :-) It took me 6:16 to finish.
Gosh! My pull-ups suck!
The class continued At 8AM on Sunday morning. The basics covered on the second day included the deadlift, kettleball swings, Sumo Deadlift High Pull, the snatch and the clean & jerk. The class finished with another tough WOD. 'Fight Gone Bad' was on the schedule. The workout is a circuit of Wall Ball, Kettleball Swings, Box Jumps, Push Presses and rowing. All the exercises are done of one minute without a break in between. After one round there is a one minute break. Repeat 3 times. In the end the total reps are added up. I managed 286. I am quite happy about this :-)
Tomorrow will be a rest day... or perhaps I'll do an easy run.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The last week in workouts
Last Friday I started to realize my plan of getting up earlier and get some workouts in before work. A quick and easy run would be a good start. I had planned on getting up at 6:30 and hit the trail at 7, but Lesley, who wanted to come along had an early morning meeting and wanted to go earlier. Ah well... 6:30 it was. The 3 miles on the Stevens Creek trail felt pretty hard, and were quite slow that morning. Perhaps it was related to the climbing session I had the night before, which was pretty good, and which had taken quite a bit out of me.
On Saturday I hit the climbing gym with Daniela, after a hilly 5 mile hike. The gym session was good again! We did several lead climbs, as well as some hard top-rope climbs.
Sunday I was back on my mountain bike in El Corte de Madera Open Space Preserve.
GOSH! The descent down Resolution Trail was scary! I need to practice on technical sections a lot! The climb bach up to Skeggs Point via the Methusalah trail was long, steep and fun...Bring on more climbing :-)
Monday was a rest day before hitting the climbing gym again on Tuesday. Here it was mostly hard top-ropes, a few cracks and a chimney. The chimney, rated at 5.8, took it out of me at the end of the day.
This morning I went for my second early morning run...4.5 miles this time. Again it felt hard and slow...Well, looking at the time...It was slow :-( Both nights I slept plenty before the runs, but they just don't feel like evening runs... Perhaps I have to change the snack I have before heading out.
Tomorrow I'll be in the climbing gym again. I'll also sign up for a intense crossfit class this coming weekend. I've been talking about this for quite a while now. So I am really excited to take the class!
In other news: I am excited to get to climb outside again! Yay! Tuolumne next weekend!
On Saturday I hit the climbing gym with Daniela, after a hilly 5 mile hike. The gym session was good again! We did several lead climbs, as well as some hard top-rope climbs.
Sunday I was back on my mountain bike in El Corte de Madera Open Space Preserve.
GOSH! The descent down Resolution Trail was scary! I need to practice on technical sections a lot! The climb bach up to Skeggs Point via the Methusalah trail was long, steep and fun...Bring on more climbing :-)
Monday was a rest day before hitting the climbing gym again on Tuesday. Here it was mostly hard top-ropes, a few cracks and a chimney. The chimney, rated at 5.8, took it out of me at the end of the day.
This morning I went for my second early morning run...4.5 miles this time. Again it felt hard and slow...Well, looking at the time...It was slow :-( Both nights I slept plenty before the runs, but they just don't feel like evening runs... Perhaps I have to change the snack I have before heading out.
Tomorrow I'll be in the climbing gym again. I'll also sign up for a intense crossfit class this coming weekend. I've been talking about this for quite a while now. So I am really excited to take the class!
In other news: I am excited to get to climb outside again! Yay! Tuolumne next weekend!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Dirt on the bike again
Yes! After not using my bike in pretty much exactly half a year, and cleaning it three weeks ago, I got it dirty again today. I rode a loop in Monte Bello Open Space Preserve. I have no idea on how long it was, but it was pretty fun. And although I had not been on a trail in a while I did not feel like a complete idiot :-)
The ride was also good to clear my head. After spending pretty much all of yesterday in a weird kind of delirium it was good to get out again. I also made the resolution to work out before going to work. I'll skip tomorrow though and start on Friday!
This was the third cool workout this week, after a long and good gym climbing session on Sunday and an amazing 4.5 mile run on Monday night. I hope to find a climbing buddy for tomorrow evening, or for the weekend to head to Tuolumne.
The ride was also good to clear my head. After spending pretty much all of yesterday in a weird kind of delirium it was good to get out again. I also made the resolution to work out before going to work. I'll skip tomorrow though and start on Friday!
This was the third cool workout this week, after a long and good gym climbing session on Sunday and an amazing 4.5 mile run on Monday night. I hope to find a climbing buddy for tomorrow evening, or for the weekend to head to Tuolumne.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Running...
Almost a week after the Diablo 25k I went for the first run today.
Since I realized that not running hills at all hurt me pretty bad last weekend, I decided to do a loop around the 'Dish', close to Stanford. My legs were still pretty tired, but I guess that not having slept much lately and not eating to well during the past week didn't help either. On the upside: I am definitely looking forward to get more miles in.
A possible race schedule for the rest of the year could be:
Jul 19 Sequoia 20k
Aug 23 Shoreline Park 10k
Sep 12 Palo Alto Moonlight 5k
Oct 05 San Jose Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon
Oct 26 Silly Valley Marathon
We'll see...
Since I realized that not running hills at all hurt me pretty bad last weekend, I decided to do a loop around the 'Dish', close to Stanford. My legs were still pretty tired, but I guess that not having slept much lately and not eating to well during the past week didn't help either. On the upside: I am definitely looking forward to get more miles in.
A possible race schedule for the rest of the year could be:
Jul 19 Sequoia 20k
Aug 23 Shoreline Park 10k
Sep 12 Palo Alto Moonlight 5k
Oct 05 San Jose Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon
Oct 26 Silly Valley Marathon
We'll see...
Restaurants in Moutain View
In an earlier post I announced the goal to eat myself through the restaurants on Castro Street in Mountain View, CA. So where am I in this project? As a start here's a list of all the restaurants in MV... Over time the I hope to get through the list:
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