BDC P1: Sometimes The Bear Eats You

Birthday Challenge ’12, part I. A man much wiser than myself once said, “sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you”. Today’s event falls under the latter category.

The weather had been a bit dicey and when I sent out my pre-challenge email hoping to wrangle support. I got a reply from Bob making fun of my optimism given the less-than-stellar conditions. Turns out he was right. Here’s the report I sent out after what turned into just another training day.

A bit too optimistic, yes. This failure falls under two categories:

1) November is always a crap shoot weather-wise.

2) It's always the unknown part of the challenge the gets you.

Taking the second part first, aware of the above possibility I started on the 3 routes I hadn't had time to rehearse, beginning with the hardest. Figured if I could do it things would be all downhill, so we warmed up in the garage (I did one of the easier practice 12s I'd set during training and felt good). It was also in the sun first thing in the morning, which seemed like a good idea with the chilly forecast.

Well, it turned out to be hard, but doable, so the logistics seemed right. The weather forecast, not so much. It was in the sun for about 2 minutes when we got there, followed by clouds, wind, and intermittent squawls. There was also a huge water streak, which had shown up since I put the draws on it two days early, and the trail had gotten worse, so the approach was more arduous, but that's nitpicking. The real issue was the weather.

Anyway, because this route was completely dry two days prior and it hadn't rained or snowed we didn't bring the torch up. So during the full upper section one foot was always on wet holds. I put the draws on it and sussed the moves. Dried it best I could. Then proceeded to fail at the 3rd to last move, then the 2nd to last move twice. Clearly because of a foot slip once but I was also pumped and couldn't feel the holds so it was hard to say. We had a heater so I'd start warm but on each go, post "crux" at a shake out jug, I couldn't feel anything, perhaps due to conditions akin to climbing in a car wash. The finishing moves didn’t feel too bad but the holds are very small and slopey, not great for numb fingers. Anyway, after the last failure it was really too late to complete everything else so I decided to hope the weather improved and reboot, turning the day into more training.

The positive takeaway here is that the route turned out great--far better than expected. Hard from start to finish. Probably "stand-up 12b" or soft c according to Ben.

Went home to drop off Romney, as there was no longer reason to keep her suffering with us, and the weather was perfect. Headed up to the Choss Garden, which had the other two routes I hadn't gotten on. Weather at the car was great. At the cliff (after a terrible approach post holing into talus--always good fun) the "car wash effect" had followed us. Howling wind, spitting rain, which we couldn't tell if it was coming from the sky of the wet streaks on the wall. It was so bad Ben didn't bother booting up.

First half of the lower part of the first route was wet and icy, which made it a little exciting. This "pitch" is only 5.10, leading to my extension, an easy/mid 11 that went really well.

Lowered down the new finish I'd bolted that was linking the cruxes of a 12a and 11d (which I'd done recently and it felt easy). I knew my section would be the crux but since you hit it after a big rest I didn't think it would change the grade. I was wrong. It was both wet and icy and the sky was wet, so it's kind of hard to say, but this section was far longer than I expected. 19 new moves after 24 moves off the previous 2 routes. I tried it quite a bit and didn't get it clean. Blaming it on an "insta-freeze" big flat hold in the middle of the crux that would render my hand useless after I grabbled it (maybe some Buddhist Palm effect). I'm sure it'll be easier in proper conditions but I think it's going to be solid b and maybe harder if the rest doesn't pan out on redpoint as good as I think it will.

Back in town weather was still nice. People were cycling in shorts. Most of the snow had melted. So we headed up Grandeaur to check out Hydrogen Psychosis, another of the perceived hardest routes. As soon as we get near the crag the weather that had been following us around all day returned. Blasting wind, freezing temps, all in all pretty awesome. I'd cleaned the top of this route of snow on Wed and it was completely wet. It was now dry so I lowered down it to re-chalk the holds, I was feeling absolutely cooked by this time but I went post-crux to the top in one go much easier than I expected then did the crux section and the crux clip without incident before calling it a day and turning the route over to Ben hoping he'd find some easier sequences. He didn't but he liked the route a lot, calling it super techie and "a powerful son-of-a-bitch" in the 12b/c range.

We were assessing all the routes on the way down and think that all of the 12s might be 12b (originally thought 2 would be a), plus another 11d or 12a and two mid 11s. This is harder than expected but still doable. I was absolutely cooked at the end but we'd also done the hardest approaches and probably as much volume as if I'd done all of the climbing and gotten it first try. Trail conditions were grim, definitely adding an element as there's probably more than 3,000' of ascent. Most importantly, all of the routes are quality; great local additions that I’ll continue to do for fun.

On the food/drink element: 5 fritters and 12 Olys - zero chance. Ben and I ate 3.5 fritters between us. Felt awful. Bob said he thought 5 fritters would be impossible in 12 hours and I think he's right. We had two boxes with 6 fritters in each and it felt like it weighted 20 pounds! Not sure what I’ll do for the food and drink element, which isn’t such a big deal when you plodding all day and burning calories but a real hindrance when you want to your body to perform a 100% anaerobic effort.

If I had good conditions and a great day I could pull it off (about how a birthday challenge should feel, like everything has to go perfect), and I'm going to try when I get the chance.

And try I did. Will post as soon as I get the chance...

Can You Taper And Gain Fitness Simultaneously?

ClimbTech Removable Bolts for Rock Climbing from ClimbTech on Vimeo.

I did a birthday challenge test run this weekend. It was, unfortunately, harder than expected. Now I need to start tapering for a performance peak but I still lack fitness in one physiological realm, beckoning the question: can I taper and still gain fitness?

Further complicating this issue is that I don’t have a date set for the challenge. Like an alpinist, I’ll be watching the weather and take my shot when I can. I need a weekend in the next two to four weeks. The forecast is calling for perfect conditions this weekend but that would seem suicidal if my test run was an indication. The longer I wait the more time I have to train but the chances also increase that I get completely shut out by winter.

Tapering is never simple. Basically, the less training you do over the last two weeks before an event the more your body recovers, which increases your reserves for race day. Two weeks is the magic number because that’s how long it takes for your fast twitch (emergency so far as your body is concerned) muscle fibers to fully recover. However, two weeks is enough time to wreak havoc on your system when you’re used to training hard. Primarily, your reduced training load can negatively affect your diet and sleep patterns, two things that can send your fitness level south quicker than anything else.

Luckily for me I’m lacking endurance, though it’s power-endurance, which is harder to gain than aerobic endurance. Still, it’s better than if I were lacking power, which would spell doom at this point. I could use more power (who can’t?) but since I’m getting all the moves on my routes and will get a recovery bump of a couple of percent through tapering, that bit of hay is in the barn.

With this in mind, here’s my training template for the next few weeks. For those confused by this lingo use this blog’s search function for “periodization” and you’ll get caught up pretty quickly, or maybe start with the 5 most important factors for race training.

Goals: To taper in all areas but make increases in power endurance, or resistance in climbing terms (the ability to hang on when pumped).

Variables: date for actual peak not set.

Logic: Since I know the event will happen on a weekend I will have a hard power endurance session early each week, and one more on each weekend that it doesn’t happen. All other training will be based around recovery and weight loss. The latter is super important because every pound you lose without sacrificing fitness is increases fitness by decreasing the load you need to push (think of it as taking weight off of a max set).

Specific focus: The challenge (click here) includes heavy volume of aerobic work so I’ll want to keep riding and hiking at an aerobic pace. I recently did a hundred-mile mtn bike ride so I think I’m okay here as long as I continually get some saddle time.

Finish the work on the routes. 4 of the 8 routes still need some work and it’s no small task. While not “training” it’s hard work (watch the vids) that’s, at least, good for caloric burn and weight loss.


Increase anaerobic endurance. This is the rub. In my test run I did 4 of the 8 planned routes and failed within the last 4 moves of the others. This sounds close but I was using routes in my garage that I HOPE are harder than the actual climbs. They might not be, however, and I was completely cooked. To have any confidence I need more cushion.

Schedule

Mon – Aerobic conditioning and active recovery: yoga, easy but long-ish ride and/or hike.

Tue – Hard anaerobic session. Redpoint burns at challenge intensity but—very important—nothing above challenge intensity. No 100% moves or powerful bouldering problems. No moves I might fail on due to anything but being pumped because it’s too much recruitment (of high threshold muscle cell motor units).

Wed – Aerobic training. Slight different than Monday, I’ll do some specific muscular work for climbing that works as active recovery. Some easy routes, rice bucket and stabilization work, a solid ride and/or hike at aerobic level, and yoga. This is a high volume but low-intensity day. Should not feel hard at all but burn calories.

Thurs-Fri – Active recovery only.

Sat – Test run, which is a lot like Tuesday.

Sun – Active recovery.

Birthday Challenge Is Set

So I might as well make it official and put the pressure on. I need something to kick my training to the next level so here it is. Since the year is ’12 and I’m 51 going on 52, 512 is going to be the theme for this year's challenge. What I have planned has high potential for an epic fail but, as the saying goes, if you know you can do it than it isn’t a challenge.

In one day:

8 first ascents
5 of them 5.12
on 5 different rock types
in 5 different canyons + 1 mountain done with 2 modes of self-propelled transport (biking/hiking) totaling at least 51 miles with 5,200’ of elevation gain
and, to keep it pure, I’ll add 51 ounces of beer and 2 King Pin fritters

This isn’t the kind of Herculean enduro fest I usually set-up. Volume isn’t the issue; it’s the ability to perform at a high level throughout. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. It could only work if I could find 5 hard routes in my local canyons that haven’t been done and, given SLC is one of the most popular climbing centers on earth, that was no picnic. But when I recently sorted this part out it had to be on. Most of these routes are right at my current limit, or a bit beyond—-perfect! So the key will be to both improve my top end game and the ability to maintain it all day long. A fine challenge indeed.

I like to make my challenges unique and this is another I’m sure has never been done. 5 X 5.12s probably narrows the field to a handful, maybe, but the opportunity of 5 different types of rock and canyons in one region is what sets this apart before even bothering to try and find someone who bike commutes to their climbs.

Of course, I haven’t done it either and there are so many places where this can go south it’s almost not worth discussing. The one thing I can control, fitness, is marginal to start. I’ve not done 5 pitches of 5.12 on anything I didn’t have super wired since, probably, 1996. So there’s that. Hey, it ain’t birthday pretty hard.

History and rules

I got this idea from Trent Baker, whom I supported on an attempt to self-support (ride/hike) to 5 different canyons and climb a 5.12 in each. My birthday challenge that year was doing 4 routes each in 8 different canyons. This sounds harder but hardest route I did was 11b and many were under 5.10. The climbing aspect was much, much easier. The riding was more involved but I’m pretty good at riding a bike around.

This challenge was only worth attempting if I could find first ascents that were meaningful to me and the local climbing community. Being busy, I climb locally most of the time so it’s worth investing time to clean scruff near my home if I’ll go back to it regularly for training. What I’m doing for this challenge is cleaning up some forgotten crags and modernizing them with new routes to make them worthy as local training destinations. I’m psyched on the routes I’m doing, otherwise I’d have found a different challenge.



I’m cleaning ahead of time. It would be impossible to make the routes good if I didn’t and, for routes to be worthy it takes a lot of time and elbow grease-—especially for things that have gone unclimbed until now, meaning a lot of people felt they weren’t worth any effort. Sport climbing Fa’s are a public service. If you’re not up to doing a solid job leave it for someone else. My rule is to simple: make routes that I’ll go back to climb over just for fun.

vids: above is a good look at what putting up routes is like, all in a very nice setting. below is a funnier take, me going overboard in order to add 15' of climbing to a traverse in a local canyon. oh, the things we do for sport!

Surviving Summit

The Straight Dope is a balance between work and play, indoor training, nutrition advice, and outdoor sports, and it’s got followers on every side that’d prefer it to be more of one and less of the other depending on their personal perspectives. So for all of you, today’s post has a bit of everything: training, diet, work, sports and even birthday challenges.

The Beachbody Coach Summit is always a challenge for me. My de-facto job is one of a walking FAQ and I spend my week basically roaming around answering questions, which usually leaves me drained of energy and an audible voice by its end. This year, with 5,000 attendees and 2 days of P90X Certification tacked on, it promised to be a colossal task. An impending race and training schedule heightened it, which I amped up slightly by decided to attempt a “birthday challenge” on my way home.

Vegas in June is no picnic when you’re trying to train. Rides would have to be early and, en route, I did an interval session on a dirt road outside of Mesquite as a test. Finishing just shy of 8am, with the thermometer already north of 90, I concluded that late nights would not be on the agenda—or planned agenda anyways.

Summit is actually quite fun. I don’t mind answering questions. In fact I love it. Helping people better understand fitness is something I can go on about endlessly. In the moment it’s not tedious or tiring and I wouldn’t mind spending my entire job doing it. I did my best to clean up my plate of projects so that I could be as available as possible all week long. The key was then staying ultra hydrated and fed, kind of like a race, to sustain my voice and keep my brain turned on (your brain runs on glycogen, making the entire event not so unlike a week-long ultra).

much easier to hear and converse in the latter setting

Thursday I had two presentations, which I actually found easier than my general schedule. It seemed efficient to speak with a group instead of one on one, I had a microphone that saved my voice, and, most importantly, I didn’t have to speak over music or a crowd or anything else. Made me think I should just have an area where I answered questions all day but that would negate some of the coolness of Summit, which is a social environment where anytime you might run into Carl or Tony or someone else you’ve seen on TV.

louder than a bird or a plane, it's super workout!

Things went more or less perfectly until Sat, when a screaming crowd interrupted a perfectly peaceful dream at 5am. At first I thought it was partiers but looking out my window I saw that there were already hundreds of people gathered for the Super Workout that wasn’t starting until 6:30. Did some yoga and made my way down, which was the start of a long, long day punctuated by a “business” dinner with Dr. Marcus Elliott sometime after 2am.

with super coach and X2 cast member monica and super trainer and long-time friend marcus

The Finale

After sleeping far too little I rolled out of Vegas early. I was now hammered. Training is not just about recovering from muscle breakdown but hormonal and nervous system balance and the latter two were clearly in distress. Still, I was keen to keep to my schedule and I had a hard ride planned that day, which you can read about here:

Tiger Funk’s Birthday Challenge

I figured that a good long ride, especially if I could keep it somewhat aerobic, would bring things back towards homeostasis. I’d planned on over 5,000’ of climbing but given it was a 13-mile climb it seemed reasonable. However, Tiger’s challenge was, well, challenging. It ain’t birthday pretty hard.

On Utah Mountain Biking Dark Hollow is listed as a downhill trail. There isn’t a single mention of it being ridden uphill. This would have kept me off it if not for Tiger’s account. In fact, while he said it was hard his report didn’t sound too bad. Since it’s also a “must ride classic” I was expecting gentle meandering single track, perhaps tightly wound around Aspens. Instead, I was greeted with steep, loose rocks and dirt with big wide tire tracks, at least when it wasn’t mud or trees draped over the trail, or both.

Dark Hollow’s a big bike trail. While rideable on anything its forte is clearly for those who like to point it down and let er rip. Tiger’d ridden it on a light Moots hard tail, similar to what I was on, which while way less fun for the descent was crucial on the ascent since it’s easier to carry, and there was no shortage of bike portaging.

I spent most of the last 5 miles carrying my bike. If it weren’t for my Nepal race I would have bagged it. Not knowing how far I had to the summit, or if the trail would ever be more rideable, I wanted to turn around the entire time but was simply too intrigued about Tiger’s adventure not to keep going. “who would do this for fun?” I kept thinking over and over. It was the kind of shit they add to adventure races to make you hate them.

Near the end I finally hit some proper trail. It was beautiful, making me glad I’d persisted. And while the little adventure added to my overall fatigue it did kick me back into my default mode and out of the bizarre reality that comes from any trip to Vegas. And while I survived another Summit in reasonable fashion, one of this years I'm going to nail it and finish stronger than when I started.

Birthday Pretty Hard

There are many sayings we use to describe Birthday Challenge. Perhaps the most popular is one coined by David Brainard during the abyss of my 40th 40-day adventure when things we going decidedly un-well. I think I had a nasty cold and was complaining about the prospect of spending yet another day outside in the rain when DB riffed off the theme from Mission Impossible. “It’s not birthday pretty hard,” he stated with his best Anthony Hopkins impression. “It’s birthday challenge.” It not only got me outside in a good mood that day, it’s become my measuring stick for challenges ever since.

Well, at least until this year. A challenge, by definition, requires an element of the unknown and a seed of doubt. Knowing that I’ll finish if I simply continue is not enough and I gauge the worth of my year’s quest by how many people tell me I’m crazy. This year, however, was never meant to be one of those epics and that lack of focus allowed it to unravel as soon as conditions went south, which is an ever-present issue for me since my parents decided to give birth during a shoulder season.

“Number one, I don’t want to get injured,” was Bob’s objective for our first duo challenge. No stranger to big suffering, he’d spent most of the year in rehab and didn’t want to go back. And since I, too, am coming off injury it became out theme, which is not exactly the devil-may-care attitude needed for success when you go big. Still, we carved out an aesthetic little epic on the eastside flank of the Sierra—a point to point adventure featuring road and mountain biking along with more climbing than 99% would ever consider in a day. But as soon as the weather altered our original line our lack of commitment began to show. We started late, never recovered, and ended up with what was, for us, little more than a big day of exercise; the definition of birthday pretty hard.

The 50/40 challenge

50 kilometers of road biking – the only thing that could be considered cruxy was the cold. It was very very cold.

40 kilometers of mountain biking – With our original line snowed in we deviated to one of the more mundane rides I’ve ever done on a hippie rig. Pretty though.

50 routes on sight (combined total, so 25 each) – This was supposed to be 40 each but, frankly, we were bored as the climbing area we chose was not exactly inspiring. Most of the routes we did wouldn’t get a star elsewhere (though the guidebook seemed to love em). We thought the place was so bad we’re not going to mention where it was lest we damper your enthusiasm should you venture there. Climbing is an individual sport. Maybe you’ll love it.

We were supposed to do 50 boulder problems but those, too, were under snow meaning that we’d have to do this at a place we’d been to many times. This sounded very boring as there was no question of success so, again, we left it at pretty hard.

So basically we did what amounts to a grade V big wall climb on sight and rode 90k on our bikes. 12 hours of exercise; a hard day but nothing that will make to annals of birthday challenge.

it was, however, a proper bd challenge for finn who ran 40k averaging more than 10mph.

PS – It was my third 12-hour training day in a three-week period, which is worth an assessment. I’ll reflect on this in another post.

Train Hard. Go Big.

November is Go Big month, and you can win some money by playing along and you don’t even need to bother with the go big part. On 11/11/11 Beachbody is having a contest where if you’re working out in the Supergym at 11:11 you could win $1,111. Actually you can be logged in at any time during the hour and you’ll be qualified. It’s free so why wouldn’t you? Your odds are pretty good. And I’ll be there, most of the day, since 11/11/11 is going to be an eleven-hour epic; one of three big days on the calendar this November.

2011 has been one of the more consistent training years of my life. I’ve logged everything and missed almost nothing that I’d planned. Unfortunately it’s been one of the worst for big days and challenges as my schedule has forced my training/events around small windows of opportunity. Now I’m about to test a train short/go long theory on something that is always advised against even for those who train long: three big days in a month (technically closer to 3 weeks). Let’s see what an hour of daily training can do for you when pushed into survival mode.

These are:

The 25 hours of Frog Hollow – I’ll be doing this as a duo, making it a 12.5 hour interval challenge

11/11/11 – The tradition continues 8/8/8, 9/9/9, 10/10/10

11/22 (or thereabouts) – Birthday Challenge

It’s actually not a theory but rather an experiment to see how (if is probably a better word) it works. Long days absolutely get easier when you’re used to them. Chalk this November up to lab rat syndrome; as Beachbody’s white mouse is once again placed into the maze of uncertainty in the name of science.

title of this post is what the anne-marie, title character in blue crush, has written on her mirror in lipstick in the first scene after she trains on the beach. i couldn’t find it so you get highlights of the film; basically gratuitious shots of hot chicks surfing with a lot of good wipeouts, which somehow seemed appropriate still as I’m about to get crushed.

It’s Not Birthday Pretty Hard...

...It’s Birthday Challenge.

Training for my challenge has commenced and it’s not pretty. Even though I have good base fitness, and very good particular fitness for, say, running and biking fast, I’m nowhere close to where I need to be in order to have a shot and what we’re planning on doing. I’d better shape up or it’s going to be down right ugly.

On Sunday Mick, who’d just come in 5th in a 100-mile trail race, and I decided to test our climbing fitness on the longest route in the Wasatch, Squawstruck, a 22-pitch, 2,000’ climb just down the road in Rock Canyon. Because neither of had climbed “enough” we knew it would be an eye opener of sorts. But we’ve both ton a lot of long stuff and figured that our historical prep would be enough. Not so much.

This blog spends a lot of time discussing training that you can apply to sports but not so much about sports specific training. And while getting the body prepped is vital, if you’ve gotta play if you want to win. No matter how fit you are if you don’t practice your intended activity it’s always much much harder, if not impossible. Not due to lack of fitness but specificity. Climbing, like most sports, creates specific breakdown that you need to prepare for. Hands, feet, elbows, shoulders, forearms, and back take the brunt of the work, along with the skin. Oh, yes, the skin. Un-prepped skin is the path of least resistance to pain in the off-the-couch challenger. Our body’s personal Maginot Line in the war of specificity.

Our goal was not just to finish the route, mind you, but to finish in comfort. We were pretty certain we’d get up the sucker. And we did; easily if the summit’s all that counts. But we got beat down. The four and a half mile descent wasn’t exactly a death march but we weren’t enjoying the fall scenery as much as we should have. Lots of things hurt; the above list, along with my hips and legs. And our skin, of course, which was totally cooked. At the car I lamented that we’d forgotten to put a couple of beers in a cooler and Mick said, “If I drank a beer I might not make it home.” Did I mention Mick just did a hundred? Cooked, I tell ya.

It was a good, little adventure day lasting about 10 hours in total. But it’s an ominous sign for a birthday challenge, given we’re planning to nearly triple the amount of climbing, quadruple the amount of hiking, and do a bunch of bike riding and exercises as well. I’m a month away from staring down the barrel at a major fail.

There’s a Birthday Challenge saying that goes, “If you know you can do it then it’s not a challenge.” And even though we’ve not announced exactly what we’ll be attempting (Bob is also slightly injured and Josh is in China) it’s going to be a frick load harder than what happened on Sunday. I’m not nearly prepared. But as the other saying goes, “it’s not birthday pretty hard...”.

50 To 50, Plus One

“From now on, we train all day. Every day.”
- In God’s Hands

I tried this last year but all hell broke loose and, hence, my big plans got put on the backburner. Luckily—amazingly is more like it—Romney convinced more than 70 of my friends to take up the cause for me. The result was a fantastic birthday present with more than enough suffering and creativity to make up for my lacking fortitude. So what in God’s name am I blathering about, you ask?

A birthday challenge, man. You gotta feed the monkey. Man.

So today I realized that, once again, I’m 50 days from 50...um...one. Just like last year. Until that realization I was considering, given my injuries (which have yet to be announced ), that I’d do something last minute but the serendipity of my revelation means, to me, that I’m meant to both train and rehab and fire off something epic.

So today was day one of my official 50 day training program. It was modest. An hour on the hippie rig followed by Upper Body Balance from the P90X One on One series. But nothing hurt too bad and I’m fairly confident that my injuries will heal up in time. It will test my rehab knowledge, which is part of the challenge.

Nothing is set as of yet. Only that there will be a challenge, and that it looks like it will be set in and around Mammoth Lakes/Bishop and involve Bob and Josh. Boys, you know what an epiphany is? A line has been drawn in the sand.

“So, the challenge is out there and we hope to see you some day on a big jump.”
- License to Thrill

We will return after a message from our sponsors...





The Big Lebowski - They Peed on My Rug!

For Mountain Biking "This Is The Place"

The Park City Point to Point race is going on right now. I’m not racing because I don’t have to. I can ride this terrain, without a crowd, any day I want to. Okay, in reality I’m more likely not racing because it filled up so fast that I didn’t have a chance (6 minutes) but, still, I don’t have to go out of my way to make a trip because I live here, which is absolutely awesome.

I’m adding a second psyche post this weekend because I leave for Europe soon and may not blog as much, so I’m stockpiling so you regulars will have stuff to read. Anyway, if you like riding dirt and haven’t been to Park City you’ve got to plan a trip. And if you’re type who likes mixing it up on hard terrain plan to register the second next year’s Point to Point race opens because there’s not another event on the circuit like it. Here’s what racer Sonya Looney, who’s done most of the “best” races, has to say.

80 miles, 14,000′ of elevation gain and almost ALL singletrack… and not just any singletrack, the kind that makes the butterflies in your stomach swirl to the point where you feel like you’re going to explode from happiness and you can do nothing by smile ear to ear and giggle out loud. Of course, it’s a race and it’ll also hurt like a mofo.

When I first moved here it was great, so much so that one of Google’s founders, who could live anywhere in the world, chose it specifically because “it’s my favorite place to mountain bike”. This included all the famous places I rattled off: Moab, Whistler, St. George, Durango, Flagstaff, Ketchum, Fruita, etc. For some reason, however, it wasn’t on the radar as a major biking destination.

This could have been because back then we had plenty of pristine single track but lacked a lot of the terrain some of my more adolescent friends enjoy, like rocks and jumps and such. Now we’ve got that too. A lot of it and more, it seems, every day. Yesterday I stumbled on another “grommet trail” as I call them, which are packed with “trail furniture”. It seems like every time I go out I find another.

sam on something i'll never ride

some grommet hucking a 20'step up. there's plenty more where this came from

there's plenty of XC-style furniture as well

Officially there are around 400 miles of single track in the mountains around Park City. Unofficially you’ll find a few hundred more, which doesn’t include the trails systems one the entire west side of the Wasatch drainage, which include many locals’ favorite trails. You’ve absolutely got to check it out.

everything you see is covered with single track


You don’t need a race as an excuse to visit. It’s easy to make up your own adventure, like my friend Ben’s recent birthday challenge; a 10-hour ride that was supposed to feature part of every trail system circling Park City—essentially closing the loop of the Point to Point race to make it a circle (a much longer version of Sedona’s Big Friggin’ Loop). An injury kept us from finishing the circuit as planned but another beautiful thing about PC is that at almost any point, should you get hurt, hungry, thirsty, or just plain tired, you can point your bike down hill and be in a bar, restaurant, bike shop or hospital in a matter of minutes.

you needn't descend, hydration options exist on the trails, too

finnegan is pretty sure this is the place

When I ride here I can’t help think that Brigham Young was right about one thing;” this is the place,” at least to ride a mountain bike.

Train With Steve Edwards In The South Of France

Want to train with me in an idyllic setting? My friends Bruce and Alisa, avid outdoor athletes and professional guides who hold summer retreats near their home in France, have asked me to lead a week of adventure and fitness, focused on training for outdoor sports. More than just getting a lot of exercise, I’ll be conducting daily seminars based on the interests of the group, we’ll be experiencing the local culture, the food will be gourmet (since eating is like their religion) and simply having a lot of fun (since fun is like my religion). If you’ve ever wondered what doing one of my crazy adventures might be like, here’s your chance to find out; all in a region of the world that’s not so unlike Camelot. Click the links below to learn more and hope to see you in France!

From Raison d'Art:

FITNESS AND ADVENTURE IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE
September 10-17th, 2011

Want to take your fitness to the next level? Raison d'Art is excited to announce a week of cycling, climbing, trail running, hiking and training in beautiful southern France with renowned outdoor athlete and fitness trainer Steve Edwards!

During this action-filled week you’ll not only get in fantastic shape, you’ll also learn the keys to fitness and nutrition to keep your body aging gracefully from Beachbody’s head of fitness and nutrition development, the company behind P90X, Insanity, Turbo Fire, and many other life-changing exercise programs.

Though Steve designs home fitness programs his passion is outdoor sports. He’s an expert rock climber and guide, bike racer, adventure racer, ultra marathoner and currently training for the Duathlon World Championships. His own personal mega-endurance events and birthday challenges, are a thing of legend. During your stay you’ll not only learn how to eat and stay in shape, but how you can fit an adventure sports lifestyle into your hectic life. Arm yourself with the tools and knowledge to live your life to its fullest!

Click here for a slide show showing some of the area from a trip we took during the spring.

The Retreat
To see a bit more about what you’ll be getting into, check out the Raison d'Art web site here. Make sure and check out the entire site, especially the gallery.

Your Hosts
Here is a great story about your Alisa and Bruce. If this resonates with you as it does me, I guarantee you’re going to have a fantastic time.

The Region
This area of France is one of my favorite places on the planet. It’s probably a lot like the Province region was before it became trendy. Check out the town where Bruce and Alisa live by clicking here. And as great as it is, my favorite thing about this area is not the beauty or the history, but the local vibe. Nothing about the place gives the impression that you’re in a tourist region and, in fact, you really aren’t (at least not yet).

The Cost
When I heard how inexpensively we could pull this off I said that it was a great deal even without the retreat! Again, this isn’t Paris or the Côte d'azur where prices have been inflated to accommodate the world’s hoi polloi. It’s provincial France, where life is lived as it should be: slow, relaxed, friendly, local, and priced to keep it that way.

Click here to join us!

And btw, sorry about the Bob Dole-esque third person reference in the title. It's apparently better for the interweb.

Suffering In The Elements

This week’s Psyche post goes to Bob Banks for the birthday challenge he did in celebration of my last birthday. This monumental bit of suffering during terrible weather is going to help me get through the next month, training straight through what are generally bad spring conditions, to get ready for a race I’ve done nothing for so far. Any day the weather blows (chance of rain everyday in the extended forecast) and I’m not in the mood to get outside I’ll reference this gem of an epic. Bravo, Bob.

To start, bike ride to Romero from house. Got up at 5:45a and it was pretty bad looking outside. The weather report said rain wasn’t supposed to start until Friday night and I was hoping to get the climbing done right after the bike ride. After some coffee, pullups/etc, I got on the bike at 6:45a and within 10 minutes I was completely wet. No climbing during this challenge. The bike ride hyper sucked. It was long, cold, painful and windy, and cold and wet and cold. The Pukester had planned on meeting me Friday afternoon. For some climbing, and when I got to the top of Romero at around 9ish, I checked my phone to see a message from him saying, “Pretty wet out there.” I sent him the attached picture of me at the summit area, soaking and miserable..."

Banks, are most readers here are probably aware, is the guy who’s always supported my birthday challenges and done plenty of grueling ones himself (check here and here). According to his report this one ranks up there in grimness factor. Oh, yeah, here’s the set up:

Bob’s “50th Manny Challenge” Report:
• 50 miles running
• 50 miles SS mountain biking (over 50% on trail)
• 500 pullups / 500 pushups / 500 ab exercise
• 50 boulder problems (10 V5 or harder)
• 10 mile ocean paddle
• 5 Olys
• 5 glasses wine
• 5 hard boiled eggs
• 1 fritter

Ok, let ‘s get logistics out of the way first.

The idea of this Challenge was supposed to be incredibly difficult, maybe too difficult (by design), and I prepared very well for it. After some specific training, which was mainly starting to go bouldering again, I thought I had a decent shot. The weekend before the event I planned a high-altitude test run of a shitload of exercise at the cabin and I did better than I expected. Bitchin. Figured I was ready to take on the challenge after some much needed rest days.

Manny is one of my nicknames. The Pukester is another of our friends. Click through to read the rest, then get outside no matter what it’s like out there.

30k On Crutches

30th Birthday Challenge from Micah Elconin on Vimeo.

This week’s psyche goes to Micah Elconin for surviving one of the grimmer days of suffering I’ve seen. When an injury forced him to change his original birthday challenge he went big--maybe a little too big but that's all the better for the viewer. His blog reports:

I’m a sucker for physical challenges, and a new idea was rising to the surface - could I cover 30km of trail on crutches in a single push?

It seemed possible, but given that I’d never covered that much ground with 2 healthy legs, I knew there would be significant suffering involved in an attempt. Perfect.

Yep, he said crutches. Micah nearly lost his foot in a climbing accident a while back and his one of his appendages is covered with something called a fixator. The video is quite entertaining should answer any questions.

The Romney/Edwards 08 Challenge

The Challenge

100% house to house self-propelled:

Climb 4 routes in 8 different canyons
“Run” 4,000’ up to 8,000’ and then back home

Ride at least 48 miles with 4,800’ of elevation gain
Carry all of my gear for 32 of those miles (until Lisa shows up)
Climb 32 routes (Lisa’s age in Feb)
At least 4 5.11s and 8 5.10s
Run/hike 4,000’ of elevation gain and 8,000 of elevation change in 8 miles
On-sight at least 4/8ths of the routes
Eat 4 pieces of birthday cake (Romney’s idea)
Drink 8 cocktails (Edwards’ idea)
Do the challenge supports only by the immediate family
Get to the restaurant by 8:48


Theme was an issue. All of my recent challenges have had a theme, and this one was beginning to seem contrived. Okay, so maybe the entire idea of a birthday challenge is contrived in the first place, but I digress. The old alpine theme didn’t seem appropriate given our long stretch of nearly perfect November weather and nothing else was coming to mind. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I’d be doing a challenge until a few days before it actually happened. So, in the end, I settled on what’s been the theme for my entire year: Romney and Edwards (and our family).

Training for one of my challenges I ran in Jason and Tiffany Campbell, who had been married that year. When I asked if they were doing a challenge Tiffany replied, “We’re doing the marriage challenge.” Given pretty much no one I know ever thought I’d be attempting that one, it would seem to be enough to suffice for 08. And while our marriage isn’t particularly challenging, life transformations have kept us pretty busy. For this reason I’ve planned a big year ahead and written it down. It was going to be my entire challenge but, as my birthday approached, I found myself with a bit of fitness, no injuries, and unusually nice weather. It seemed like a cop out not to find a way to suffer for a day. The theme became the same as ours is together: style over statistics.

We care little for the contrivances of the normal world. We didn’t get married to impress anybody, shock anybody, for tax purposes or certainly not to legally start a family. We did it only because we felt like it. It seemed like a good idea to explore life together. And as long as we can do it in good style, we’ll continue. And if we can’t, we’re both in agreement that we won’t let ego keep us together. We’ll be good together, or apart.

Now I just needed a stylish challenge. I really liked Trent’s self supported canyon challenge. With a little research I found that there were at least 4 routes in 8 canyons that I could ride to. Furthermore, there was an 8,000’ plus peak protruding around 4,000’ above our house. Knowing that with enough time I could finish, which contradicted the birthday challenge ideal that if you know you can do it than it’s not a challenge, Lisa added a speed element: I needed to get to our restaurant of choice by 8:48 (in hindsight, I should have started at 4am.) Kind of like our relationship, it was serendipitously falling into place. That didn’t mean it was all going to be easy.

Corner Canyon: Red Rock

Leaving just after 5am (4 would have sounded better and I’m remiss it wasn’t thought through) I left the house with all the stuff I’d need for the day and rode south. It was 28 degrees and still—as perfect as I could expect for Nov 22. The ride was chilly, uneventful, but a tad hillier than I’d remembered and I was 15 minutes behind schedule when I got to Red Rock.

I chose the 4 best looking routes: a 5.8 and three 5.10s, and did them self belaying on TR. The rock, supposedly quartzite, felt exactly like my old haunt Red Rock near Santa Barbara. I did this alone to let Lisa sleep as the ride to the next area was going to take a while. It seemed quite un-stylish drag her out here to belay me in the dark on four easy routes, and then make here wait while I rode up Little Cottonwood. Self belaying did prove to be slightly slower, and I was further behind schedule upon leaving.


Little Cottonwood Canyon: Lisa Falls


I’d actually chosen Lisa Falls prior to coming up with a challenge theme because it was high in the canyon and I thought I wanted more elevation gain. Turns out I didn’t need it, nor the miles (I’d be 10-15 over), but it themed out well in the end. It also provided a climbing challenge.

From the topo it looked like I could get four routes from one belay station. As slabby granite goes, it can be confusing to sort out if you’ve never been to the cliff. I few minutes after beginning I was hanging from a bolt looking around and trying to figure out where the routes actually went. I un-stylishly made it to the anchors (an ascent that wouldn’t count) and then spent some time trying to figure out where the lines were.

I finally figured out the puzzle of roofs, slabs, and corners and tr’d four routes: 5.7, 10d, 10b, 8+. We were now WAY behind schedule. My hope was that I could start making up time as the canyons were now closer together. Actually, I thought my chance was ruined but, to paraphrase a line from last year, “I don’t think we’ll make it. But we will continue on in style.”

Deaf Smith Canyon: Hornet’s Nest

I found this cool little canyon on Mountainproject.com. I’d scoped it out and the routes didn’t look bad, though all were supposed to be 5.11. It was a weird type of quartzite/granite-ish mix that reminded me of some of the routes I’d established in the Southern Sierra. I liked it.

Unfortunately, it gave me trouble right off. Half way up the first route; an arête that was steeper than it looked, I was pumped. I nearly lost it high above the last bolt and had to re-focus in order not to fall. This mindset shift was exactly what I needed, because the next route looked a lot harder.

Lisa suggested I take a rest, rationalizing that if I didn’t and fell, it would end up taking longer and we couldn’t get further behind schedule. This turned out as sage advice. I felt great on my next go. The final two routes were done in about 10 minutes.

Ferguson Canyon: The Cathedral

A quick ride made up some time but another long approach lost it. At this point I was worried about the last 5.11 on the list because it looked like a slab. It turned out not to be and, in fact, much easier than the Deaf Smith climbs. I probably climbed these four routes in about 15 minutes. I ran ahead of Lisa on the trail, figuring she would catch me as I rode up Big.

Big Cottonwood: Dogwood

She didn’t. Beata’s no Tuco when it comes to directions and, somehow (though she’s been in Ferguson at least 10 times) she led Romney astray on the way out. It only cost us 5 minutes or so but it seemed ridiculous. At times B can be a perfect mountain companion but, occasionally, she behaves like a six-year old on a sugar high. At least she’s always cute.

I’d never been on the Dogwood slabs but the first one was anything but a mindless romp. The rock was as polished as glass, longer than it looked from the road (causing me to skip some bolts), and the routes didn’t go quickly.

I got faster, made up some more time, but we then hit another snag. Romney was bonking and I was getting pretty spacey. Support duty is not picnic (Bob’s chronic “I’m tired” from 03 comes to mind). We’d already done a lot of hiking and the pace of everything was much quicker than a day at the crags. Lisa hadn’t eaten and needed fuel. So she headed off to get some bagels for us while I rode off towards Mount Olympus.

Tolcat Canyon: Pete’s Rock


Originally I was going to the Sport Utility Crag but, with no approach, I thought Pete’s might be quicker if I could figure it out. This turned out to be a great decision. I hiked to the top and threw a rope down the longest and steepest section of rock. The four routes I did were, amazingly, excellent. Quartzite often hides the nature of its climbing. Most of Big looks nothing like a climbing area but, in my mind, climbs beautifully. Pete’s is historically significant but I’ve always thought that was out of convenience only. It looks like a giant pile of rubble. But I would say the four climbs I did (two were at least 5.10) would get 2 or 3 stars on the Wasatch scale. Climbing in the sun was fun, quick, and I was thinking there was now a chance that I could make it.

Mill Creek Canyon: The Itchy Stitches Wall


I’d been here once before—on No Star Tuesdays—and hoped to never be back. It was, however, the only current choice when one needed to climb four routes in Mill Creek. Perhaps revived by some calories, I felt good riding up the canyon. Then, luckily, the death scree ascent was frozen into place and went fairly easily. The climbs were sharp and nasty but went without a hitch. Soon I was flying down Mill Creek, amazed that we’d get to the final area before it was dark.

Parley’s Canyon: Iron Maiden Wall

These routes had a lot of stars in the guide but my friend Greg had described them as “slick and horrible.” They looked cool from the ground but the rock undulated, making it very hard to see the bolts in the fading light. By the time I was on route one, a headlamp was leading my way.

These were bad—BAD—routes to do in the dark. They weren’t exactly slabs, so you couldn’t just paste your feet, and finding holds was a ridiculous proposition. You’d have to fish around for a rough spot in a sea of dimpled marble. Getting to the anchors on the first route took a long time and, unfortunately, I’d have to lead two in order to climb four routes.

It was even worse for Lisa. Not only did she have to worry about me plunging out of the darkness, but the freeway was a steady stream of noise (too loud to allow communication), and it was propelling a consistent frigid wind into her face. How bad was it? Besides Beata whining up into the darkness at me (she never does this), Romney added, “This makes the Itchy Stitches place seem like paradise.”

The Final Push…

…For the summit was a sufferfest. Romney n’ Ratso took off to get ready for dinner and Beata and I headed up, away from home, onto the well lit slopes of Grandeur Peak. At night, Salt Lake lights up this mountain like a full moon making for a surreal alpine setting. My legs were cooked and the trail on the west ridge is like a stairmaster on the hardest setting.

Near the lower summit we had a dilemma. We were out of time. I called Romney for a strategy session. In order to make it to the restaurant in time, I could either tag the summit and have her pick me up at the trailhead, or turn around and try and get all the way home. As home is a good two miles or more from the trailhead, I wasn’t sure I could even do the latter anyway. I began headed up when sense got the better of me. Style. Wasn’t’ that the order of the day? To get a ride would be like descending K2 in a helicopter—might as well just go up that way. It would be far better to get back to the house under my own power. Given my approaches, I probably had the numbers I needed anyway. But the main point was to get back home the way I began, using my feet.

The descent hurt more than the climb. But the lower we got the clearer it became that there was a chance to make it. We sped up at the trailhead and ran home. I walked into the restaurant with 2 minutes to spare.

The restaurant was an epilog. After not eating much all day the beers (and some bourbon) and the cake were hungrily absorbed for their nutrients. It did include more themed serendipity. Among our friends was Marti, who’d introduced us, Erica, who house sat Tuco while we were eloping, and Lynn, who (and her husband Ben) were a big part of how I chose to move to Salt Lake. The place was also called East West and, now that I’m thinking about it, our relationship heightened while I was in Asia last year. So I guess it’s a challenge that all just fell into place. And the coolest thing is that it's only the beginning.

What I'm Doing Tomorrow

For those of you who've asked, here's a quick update on what I'm going to try tomorrow. This week's been busy. In fact, the year's been busy. As late as yesterday this was on the verge of not happening. But the weather seems to be cooperating so, what the hell; might as well get out there and suffer a bit. It's not nearly as ambitious as last year, but challenges are about where you're at right now anyway.

So here's the deal:

Climb 4 routes in 8 different canyons (so 32 routes), using my bike as transport.
Then run up a mountain, gaining at least 4,000' over at least 8 miles, and finish at my house.

So the entire challenge is non-motorized, save for the dinner part (hmm, maybe re-think dinner but it's hard to accomodate a bunch of people on a Sat night).

I must ride at least 48 miles and gain at least 4,800'. I need to on-sight 4/8th of the routes. All of these should be well eclipsed.

Then I need to eat 4 pieces of birthday cake (Romney's idea) and finish 8 drinks. Somehow, I fear the cake more, but the drinks have gotten me before.

So that's about it. If anyone reads this and is in town we're planning dinner at 8:48 at East/West. Call me if you'd like to join us. We have a very small group and they said they can accomodate more. Sorry about the bad planning but this is an off-the-couch challenge of sorts. The suffering, however, could be just as bad as ever.

My wife (B and Tuc where possible) is the only person joining me during the challenge this year. This year's been pretty much about us anyway, so that seems fitting. She'll drive, belay, and climb whenever she feels like it. So I'll be self motorized but not my support crew. This is a bit different from Trent's challenge a few weeks back but I thought this would be sort of boring for him, since my hardest climb is probably 11b or so.

I'd better try and get some sleep. Thanks for your interest. Louie, give a shout out to everyone at Hangar 18.

What Could be Cooler Than A...

Birthday Challenge?

The more I see others doing them the more I can answer "nothing". Micah's challenge this weekend was epic. But more than that--because many things qualify as epic these days--it was cool. And fun. And, I'll bet if you ask him, he'd tell you that it was rather meaningful and life altering also.

Here is a slide show from Bob's web site.

Because they're so personal, birthday challenges seem to enable each participant to break through barriers and sort out some meaning about how we amble through life like little else I've seen. Unlike sports, classes, books or self-help seminars, all of which are designed for mass participation, the personal nature of these challenges gives them a uniqueness like little else. They may be ridiculous, serious, silly or extreme but one thing they all share is that they are a reflection of the personality and dreams of an individual. And what could be cooler than that?

Here are two challenge blogs that I posted today.

Micah

Catra

above pic: Catra and friends during 43 hours of running.