3 Mountains 1 Day Part 5

Unpacking the Day

I was ecstatic about how we did as a team. We had fun, and both maintained the energy and presence of mind to share responsibilities like pacing and route finding.

There are a lot of details you can toggle to improve your training and performance. I like to start with the ones that are within my control and the ones that make this kind of recreation more fun.

That was my longest day out in a few months, and I'm a little surprised at how energetic I felt throughout the day. I credit that to a background involving many long days in the mountains.

I've spent more than 200 days a year in the mountains for the past 20 years. There are a lot of tradeoffs to such a life, I can promise, but good aerobic fitness is not one of them. Neither is the ability to move on steep and loose terrain.

I largely credit the ease with which I made it through the day to my background, but I don't want to rely on auto-pilot for days like this.

So here's an ego check for myself; a solid aerobic base needs maintenance with a lot of long easy efforts, so before I get too proud, I have to remind myself that single efforts like this don't build lasting fitness. Guides develop an excellent aerobic base with a high volume of long, low-intensity hiking up and down in the mountains with guests. Since I do much less of that these days, I can't expect my aerobic system to be as strong without those long easy miles in steep terrain. I must keep getting out there often for long efforts in the mountains to be fully prepared for significant objectives and to keep my sanity.

I'm still slightly surprised I felt as strong as I did on the day's final climb. My legs never felt overloaded. The ME workout I've been doing is a secret weapon from the Uphill Athlete playbook. This workout has proven itself time and time again. I happened to have used it for the seven weeks leading up to our traverse, and I am glad I did. I'm sure it's a big reason I felt so good moving uphill all day. I'll use it for the next month or so when I can't get outside for actual hill work.

I experienced very few aches, pains, or missteps all day. Core and general strength training are helpful to healthy movement patterns and protecting joints. Focusing attention on strength training is the finishing touch on a great training plan because it's all about gaining the strength that supports hard training and long days. A good program prepares the body so that downhill travel is safe and efficient and doesn't feel like beating. Overall I'm happy with my strength program; however, I noticed my back and core fatiguing towards the end of the day. I think finding time for a little more core work would be wise.

The decision to wear mountain runners was a good one for us. Other parties might choose differently. The terrain and conditions ideally suited our footwear. Traction devices would have been helpful if we had spent more time on snow and ice, but we didn't need them in the conditions we experienced. Earlier in the year, mountain boots and crampons would be the better choice.

It was glaringly evident that wearing scree gaiters would have been wise. We spent a lot of time emptying our shoes between bouts of up or downhill scree travel.

Our clothing choices worked very well with the warm and calm weather. We were stoked about not bringing much, but a storm would have changed that quickly.

The helmets were a good idea. Helmets are rarely a bad idea. We felt safer with them on in the steepest and loosest sections. Deadly rockfall occurs nearly as often as fatal avalanches. When I think of all my close calls with rockfall, wearing a helmet is an easy decision.

Water and food both worked out well. We found Water flowing high on the Colier Glacier and topped off, and I didn't have to go into my secret stash of gummies and chocolate. Here's my total intake from the time I woke up to the time we finished:

• 16 ounces of Water early am

• 2 cups of coffee early am

• 12 ounces of greens powder drink

• 1 Cliff Chocolate Brownie ZBar 

• 2 Honey Stinger Waffles

• 2 Packs of Honey Stinger Energy Chews

• 1 Pack of Bolt Organic Energy Chews

• 1200 Ml of Skratch Labs Hydration Drink

• 1200 Ml of Clear, Cool, High-Quality H2O

I feel like my lower-volume of training was sufficient to carry me through the day comfortably and that certainly my background contributed.

There are details that would provide significant and marginal gains in performance; With our track and the route fresh in our minds we could save time and we could afford to speed up the approach.

I’m not so sure a harder effort for a faster time would have made this day more fun but I’m sure scree gaiters would have.

Thanks to Joe Vogel for driving north for a big day. It was type 1 fun start to finish. I'm grateful we could comfortably experience three summits, 21 miles, and 10050 vertical feet together!

Thanks for reading!