101 things in 1001 days

Instead of new years resolutions I made a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days.

I wrote most of it down on Jan 3.
Just figured out that the end date is Oct. 1 2011.

I've aready taken care of a good chunk though :-)

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:

• 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

Huh, looking at this list, it's all things were either something went wrong and/or I was not prepared well enough.

• 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.

There's a lesson to be learned I guess...

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:

• do more races (5k - half marathon)
• improve PRs
• do trail races
  
• run an ultra (50k)
• increase weekly mileage (and run consistently)
  

Climbing:

• 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
  

Mountaineering:

• Mt. Shasta
• Mt. Lyell/Mt. Maclure
• Matterhorn Peak

Travel:

• 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

Also (and this is quite important!): More Urban Adventures! (like concerts, clubs, shows, restaurants, etc.) I've been missing that without even noticing!

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

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...

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:

Amarin	174 Castro St	Thai
Amici's	790 Castro St	Pizza
Bangkok Spoon	702 Villa St	Thai
Bean Scene Cafe	500 Castro St	Bakery/Cafe/Deli
Bella Vita	300 Castro St	Mediterranean
Cafe Baklava	341 Castro St	Mediterranean
Cafe Yulong	743 W Dana St	Chinese
Cantankerous Fish	440 Castro St	Seafood
Casa Lupe	459 Castro St	Mexican
Cascal	400 Castro St	Spanish
Chef Liu	236 Castro St	Chinese
Chez TJ	938 Villa St	French
Colonel Lee's	304 Castro St	Mongolian
Dana Street Roasting Co.	744 W Dana St	Coffee/Tea/Juice
Don Giovanni	235 Castro St	Italian
El Calderon	699 Calderon Ave	Salvadorian
Fiesta Del Mar Too	735 Villa St	Mexican
Flying Falafel	257 W Evelyn Ave	Mediterranean
Food Street	292 Castro St	Chinese
Frankie Johnnie & Luigi	939 W El Camino Real	Italian
Fu Lam Mum	155 Castro St	Chinese
Gelato Classico	241 Castro St	Ice Cream
Gelay Gusto	856 W El Camino Real	Ice Cream
Ginseng Korean BBQ	475 Castro St	Korean
Godavari	216 Castro St	Indian
Golden Wok	895 Villa St	Chinese
Gyro's House	212 Castro St	Mediterranean
Hangen Szechuan	134 Castro St	Chinese
Hong Kong Bakery	210 Castro St	Bakery/Cafe/Deli
Hong Kong Bistro	147 Castro St	Chinese
Hunan Chili	102 Castro St	Chinese
Kapp's	191 Castro St	Pizza
King of Krung Siam	194 Castro St	Thai
Kirin	485 Castro St	Chinese
La Fiesta	240 Villa St	Mexican
Le Boulanger	650 Castro St	Bakery/Cafe/Deli
Maru Ichi	368 Castro St	Japanese
Mediterranean Grill House	650 Castro St	Mediterranean
Minh's	246 Castro St	Vietnamese
Molly MaGee's	241 Castro St	Pub
Monte Carlo	228 Castro St	Mexican
Mtn. View Bakery & Cafe	301 Castro St	Bakery/Cafe/Deli
Nami Nami	240 Castro St	Japanese
Neto Caffe & Bakery	135 Castro St	Bakery/Cafe/Deli
Pasta?	160 Castro St	Italian
Peet's	1032 Castro St	Coffee/Tea/Juice
Pho Hoa	220 Castro St	Vietnamese
Pho To Chau	853 Villa St	Vietnamese
Posh Bagel	444 Castro St	Bakery/Cafe/Deli
Queen House	273 Castro St	Chinese
Red Rock	201 Castro St	Coffee/Tea/Juice
Rose Market	1060 Castro St	Persian
Ryowa	859 Villa St	Japanese
Shabuway	180 Castro St	Japanese
Shiva's	800 California St	Indian
Sono Sushi	357 Castro St	Japanese
Spica	650 Castro St	Coffee/Tea/Juice
Spice Islands	210 Hope St	Singaporean
St. Stephen's Green	223 Castro St	Pub
Starbucks	750 Castro St	Coffee/Tea/Juice
Sufi Coffee	815 W El Camino Real	Coffee/Tea/Juice
Sushi Tei	1036 Castro St	Japanese
Sushitomi	635 W Dana St	Japanese
Sweet Corner	650 Castro St	Ice Cream
Tapioca Express	740 Villa St	Coffee/Tea/Juice
Taqueria La Bamba	152 Castro St	Mexican
Taqueria Los Charros	854 W Dana St	Mexican
Tea Era	271 Castro St	Coffee/Tea/Juice
Temptations	288 Castro St	Indian
Tied House	954 Villa St	Pub
Tina's Kusina	698 W Dana St	Filipino
TK Noodle	375 Castro St	Vietnamese
Totoro	841 Villa St	Korean
Tsunami Sushi	209 Castro St	Japanese
Vaso Azzurro	108 Castro St	Italian
Verde Tea	852 Villa St	Coffee/Tea/Juice
W.g. Grinders	142 Castro St	Bakery/Cafe/Deli
Xanh	110 Castro St	Vietnamese
Yakko	975 W Dana St	Japanese
Zpizza	146 Castro St	Pizza
Zucca	186 Castro St	Mediterranean

As of June 05 '10: 34 out of 58 on Castro.

California 14ers

While we're at it...Here's a list of Calfornia's peaks over 14000ft:

• Mt. Whitney, 14497
• Mt. Williamson, 14375
• White Mountain Peak 14246
• North Palisade, 14242
  
• Starlight Peak, 14220
  
• Mt. Shasta, 14162
  
• Mt. Sill, 14153
  
• Polemonium Peak, 14100
  
• Mt. Russell, 14088
  
• Split Mountain, 14058
  
• Mt. Langley, 14026
  
• Mt. Tyndall, 14018
  
• Middle Palisade, 14012
  
• Mt. Muir, 14012
  
• Thunderbolt Peak, 14003
  

50 Classic Climbs of North America

On the way back from Lover's Leap this morning we had a discussion about the "50 Classics", meaning the climbs listed in Steck & Ropers 1979 guide book "Fifty Classic Climbs of North America".

This book is apparently legend! It has been out of print for quite a while, but the name keeps poping up. A look a Amazon.com shows that the hard cover 1st edition sells for over $120...

Well, anyway... Here's the list:

Alaska and the Yukon

• Mount Saint Elias Abruzzi Ridge
• Mount Fairweather Carpe Ridge
• Mount Hunter West Ridge
• Mount McKinley Cassin Ridge
• Moose's Tooth West Ridge
• Mount Huntington West Face
• Mount Logan Hummingbird Ridge
• Middle Triple Peak East Buttress

Western Canada

• Mount Sir Donald Northwest Arete
• Bugaboo Spire East Ridge
• South Howser Tower West Buttress
• Mount Robson Wishbone Arete
• Mount Edith Cavell North Face
• Mount Alberta Japanese Route
• Mount Temple East Ridge
• Mount Waddington South Face
• Devil's Thumb East Ridge
• Lotus Flower Tower

The Pacific Northwest

• Mount Rainier Liberty Ridge
• Forbidden Peak West Ridge
• Mount Shuksan Price Glacier
• Slesse Mountain Northeast Buttress
• Mount Stuart North Ridge
• Liberty Bell Mountain Liberty Crack

Wyoming

• Devil's Tower Durrance Route
• Grand Teton North Ridge
• Grand Teton Direct Exum Ridge
• Grand Teton North Face
• Mount Moran Direct South Buttress
• Pingora Northeast Face
• Wolf's Head East Ridge

Colorado

• Crestone Needle Ellingwood Ledges
• Hallett Peak Northcutt-Carter Route
• Petit Grepon South Face
• Longs Peak The Diamond

The Southwest

• Shiprock
• Castleton Tower Kor-Ingalls Route
• The Titan

California

• The Royal Arches
• Lost Arrow Spire
• Sentinel Rock Steck-Salathe Route
• Middle Cathedral Rock East Buttress
• Half Dome Northwest Face
• El Capitan Nose Route
• El Capitan Salathe Wall
• Mount Whitney East Face
• Fairview Dome North Face
• Clyde Minaret Southeast Face
• Charlotte Dome South Face
• Lover's Leap Traveler Buttress

J-Tree inventory (re-visited)

I spent a few days climbing at J-Tree after coming back from New Mexico.

Here's the addition to my inventory:
2008
February

• Men with cows heads
• Solar Technology
• The Swift
• Rainy Day Women
• RURP Romp
• Beaver Boulder Boltladder
• Fun Stuff
• Ain't nothing like a J-Tree thing
• Almost Vertical

The rest of the inventory can be found here.

A report about this amazing trip and an account of my second week at Carlsbad, NM will follow soon.

Plans for 2008

Here's a compilation of things I'd like to do in 2008:


Running

• run Kaiser Permanente 1/2 marathon
• run a 10k (signed up! Sep. 12)
  
• run San Jose Rock 'n' Roll 1/2
  
• full marathon late in the year

Climbing

• Braille Book
• EB of Middle Cathedral
• EB of El Cap
• Sons/Awahnee Buttress/Serenity
  
• South Face of Washington Coloumn
• RNW of Half Dome
• Royal Arches - Crest Jewel
• Regular on Higher Spire

• West Crack on Daff
• Blown Away
• Seconds to Darkness
  
• Regular on Fairview
• Aqua Knobby
• Shagadellic
• West Ridge of Conness
• Phobos
• Deimos
  

• East Buttress of Whitney
• East Face of Whitney
• Mountaineers Route

• Crimson Chrysalis
• Epinephrine

• More J-Tree stuff

Mountaineering

• Mt. Shasta
• Matterhorn Peak
• Mt. Lyell & Mt. Maclure
• Mt. Hood
  

I know...This tick list is ridiculous! As if I would ever be able to come up with the time necessary to complete all this!

Backpacking through the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne is on the list as well as the crazy idea Lesley came up with: R2R2R: Rim-to-Rim-to Rim in the Grand Canyon, preferably in under 24 hours...

Getting a road bike and practice for a triathlon would be fun too!
Well, I'd also like to eat in every restaurant on Castro in MV :-)

PRs

Having finished my first race in over ten years, and having added a new distance to my repertoire, I think I need to keep track of my PRs.

So here we go:

100m: 11,22s (May '96)
200m: 22, 44s (Oct '96)
400m: 51, 86s
1500m: 4:55min (Jun '96)

10km: 45:22 (Nov '09)
1/2 marathon: 1:44,45h (Oct '08)
marathon: 3:48,40 (Dec '09)

J-Tree inventory

Just coming back from Joshua Tree I sense a need to write down all the climbs I did down there.
This was my thrid trip and I already forgot which climbs I did two years ago...
So here's my J-Tree inventory:

2005

• Mike's Books
• Bat Crack

2006

• Lazy Day
• Nurn's Romp
• The Exorcist
• Gem
• Colorado Crack
• Beck's Bear
• Eff Eight
• Bambi meets Godzilla
• Mental Physics
• Dazed & Confused
• Life's a bitch and then you marry one
• Marital Sin
• Touch and Go
• Planet X
• Planet Y
• Sail Away

2007

• Overseer
• Dung Fu
• White Lighting
• Feltoneon Physics
• Toe Jam
• Buissionier
• Overhang Bypass
• Walk on the wilde side
• Mr. Misty Kiss
• Frozen Cone
  

Countries visited

Despite the blogs name there has not been much adventure here. And it was locally pretty confined to the trail close to my house and the climbing gym. But, hey, I have been out there...
Courtesy of world66.com: A map of all the countries I have visited so far...


I hope to color way more of this map in red in the not too far future!
South America (Peru, Chile, Argentina) and Asia (Japan, Thailand, Nepal) are high on the list.

To stay a little more local, here are the US states I visited:


High on the To-Go-List here: Hawaii, Alaska, Wyoming. Also I definitely need to go back to
Utah...skiing, climbing, mountain biking...seems to be a good playground!