| 02 Dec 2002 | Regular gym work the last two weeks, plus two log-drags and a 15-mile run. The run, unusually, was without the pack, and felt effortless. I am crankingout toe-ups (at least 300 a day, in the shower, on a streetcar, wherever...) and heavy squats (at the gym). I also stretch a lot, and work on balance, and quick reactions....e.g. when walking downtown, I might suddnly take a leap over a park bench, or run along its' top edge for a few pace, or hop on top of a fire hydrant with arms outspread, or jump to a low tree limb and start climbing as quickly as possible. On expeditions you often find yourself having to make such unexpected actions accurately, and it's easy to lose confidence in such dynamic movements if you don't practice them. A lack of confidence to perform such moves can kill; the moment of hesitation, because I'm not sure that I can 'do that', could land me in the bottom of a crevasse. It is often easy to tell whether a person is 'on' while outdoors by watching how well they deal with steep slopes, drop-offs, the need to crab sideways along a log or step quickly through a strea...People who are 'on' do these swiftly, people out of practice hesitate and have to think it through a bit more. So, I practice. Of course, I look like a madman, but I don't care. |
| 23 Nov 2002 | A few days off. NOw three weeks out from the expedition, I will do one and a half weeks heavy work before resting up before the trek. Last time I arrived so exhausted from everyday life, and training, that I was somewhat underpowered at the start. This time I will try to be a bit more subtle. I am strong and confident. |
| 18 Nov 2002 | A heavy 44 minutes on legs, mainly squates and calves. I feel my uppe rbody just needs maintenence now, but my lower body still needs some power. I weigh 180lb (20lb more than usual), about 10lb of that is fat put on over the last month, specifically for Iceland and Alaska; the other 10lb is muscle put on since June. |
| 16 Nov 2002 | Ran four miles with the pack on, then dragged Mr. Log 1.4 miles. |
| 14 Nov 2002 | One hour at the gym, upper body. This weekend I aim drag 'Mr. Log' three miles. |
| 11 Nov 2002 | Ran three miles with a heavy pack (25kg? or about 50lb) and then heavy weights at the gym. |
| 09 Nov 2002 | An hour at the gym late today, though I can barely afford the time off from my dissertation work...I will do upper arms and back, but need soon to shift to doing mainly legs; that's where you have the largest and most powerful muscles, and as in climbing, I always seek a way to use them rather than arms if possible. An exciting development: behold the mighty Sled-Hut! |
| 06 Nov 2002 | An hour at the gym, and a 5-mile run (no backpack this time). At the gym I went so far down on one squat (with 150lb on my shoulders) that I....almost didn't get back up. Have to be more careful. |
| 03 Nov 2002 | To celebrate cracking a mental block on my dissertation, I took a few hours off for a run and a mile-long log-dragging session. Had to take some training days off, to get this dissertation under control, but I stil feel strong and limber. |
| 29 Oct 2002 | An hour at the gym, working shoulders and calves. |
| 28 Oct 2002 | An hour at the gym. Four days off was not bad, but not too good, either. Today I did squats for my legs and all sorts of mid-torso work. I am now putting on more fat; I want to have about 15lb of excess to lose and putting them on (lots of butter, ice cream and so on) is fun, though a little hard with the exercise I am doing, which consumes a lot of calories. Soon I'll be locking in my flight dates and I'll start making food purchases. Fall is here, leaves are falling, it's cool and damp outside, and I imagine to feel the approach of winter. Most spare minutes not spent on my teaching or dissertation are engaged with thoughts of Iceland. |
| 23 Oct 2002 | Hate to do it, but I have to skip any workout today and perhaps tomorrow...I'm on the verge of a breakthrough on my dissertation analysis, and have to focus on that for about the next 48 hours. |
22 Oct 2002 |
45-minute swim; I am starting with backstroke, my old stroke from High School: I used to specialize in 100m backstroke and the 200m 'Individual Medley" sprinting four 50m laps, first butterfly, then backstroke, then breaststroke and finally blasting away the last shred of energy in the freestyle dash for the finish. |
| 21 Oct 2002 | An hour ar the gym, heavy work on legs. I need to get back into the log-dragging habit, but I'm very short on time and it's hard to find two hours a day to put into it, even at 4am... |
| 18 Oct 2002 | Took yesterday off. During meditation I can feel my fish dinners rebuilding my muscles...or at least I imagine that I can feel it. Today: half hour weights, half hour swim. |
| 16 Oct 2002 | One hour in the gym, very heavy upper and lower back work followed by jump-rope and the sauna. |
| 15 Oct 2002 | Swam for 15 minutes...since high school I've avoided indoor water, haunted by memories of endless watery days on the swimming and water polo teams...I seem to be over that, and enjoyed it, the smells and taste of chlorine and sounds and view of the cement ceiling as I did my backstroke brought back a lot of memories. Years pass so quickly! Essential to extract as much from each day as I can. I need to get outdoors more, and spend less time in the lab. When I take my last breath, will I wish to have spent more time climbing, and outdoors, or peering down my microscope? The answer seems clear, the solution also. Heavy workout on the inner thighs, doing 'eggbeaters' as I did in water polo. |
| 14 Oct 2002 | An hour at the gym; lower back, thighs, obliques, biceps. Major strength improvements over this time two months ago. I've lost some fat weight, but replaced it with muscle and am now 170lb (c77kg) which is about 10lb (5kg) more than my usual weight. By the beginning of the expedition I'll put a few pounds of fat back on; they will be gone when I get back. Don Whillans, the legendary English climber, started his climbs with a good belly, figuring that 'If I lose this belly on the climb, I'm still coming back alive, but those guys,' he said, pointing to very lean climbers, '...will be invisible. Know what I mean?' I sure do. On one three-day desert climb I lost 14lb (7kg) and it wasn't all in water. |
| 11 Oct 2002 | An hour at the gym, upper back and then calves and foot-arch. |
| 10 Oct 2002 | Ran five miles, pack weight 9kg or about 20lb. Heavy uphill work today left me gasping after a final uphill sprint. A little weak in the arch of my right foot; have to work on that. |
| 09 Oct 2002 | An hour at the gym; did something 'extraordinary' to my obliques and must be careful not to get an injury before the expedition. |
| 08 Oct 2002 | Ran five miles, pack weight 10kg or just over 20lb. I will take ski poles up to 'Mr. Log' next time and pull him down to a better location for tri-weekly drags. |
| 07 Oct 2002 | An hour at the gym (arms and upper back) followed by the ressurecting SAUNA. |
| 06 Oct 2002 | Ran five miles, pack weight 9kg or about 20lb. |
| 04 Oct 2002 | An hour at the gym, working on lower body. |
| 02 Oct 2002 | Ran five miles. It's hard not to go further, but I must pace myself. |
| 01 Oct 2002 | Fifty minutes at the gym; upper body. Considerably stronger than a month ago at this time. Still, I must eat more fish! |
| 30 Sept 2002 | Fifty minutes at the gym; lower body. |
29 Sept 2002 | Ran 6 miles with the pack. I have to re-work my running / workout schedule. However much I like running long distances, I don't have the time to do it, and also can't do it daily! I have to run shorter distances, mix the log-pulling in again, and keep up the gym work. At some point before the expedition I will run my marathon, but now is not the correct time. |
24 Sept 2002 | No run today: I'll swim for half an hour instead. I am saving energy for Thursday, when I'll try to run a marathon, 26.6 miles or 42.78km, with the pack. |
23 Sept 2002 | An hour at the gym, obliques, upper back and chest. In the sauna afterwards I started a meditation...didn't quite 'get there' but I'm working on it. What will I run tomorow? Hard to say. Now, fish and lemon-water. |
| 19 Sept 2002 | Did not run, am saving energy for next week, when I will try to do a marathon (26 miles or so) on Tuesday or Thursday. I might go to the gym today, or might skip it. |
| 18 Sept 2002 | Did 44 minutes at the gym, upper body and calves. |
| 17 Sept 2002 | Ran twenty miles, pack weight 10kg or about 20lb, no food, no water, no stops. I'd planned on doing 15, then pushed on a bit...then planned to do 17, but pushed on a bit more. At 19.3 miles I pushed through some pain. I will be hurting this afternoon, but one does not dance without paying the piper! | Update: 5pm, spent the day preparing lectures and working on a publication...was sore earlier, now just tired, but not hurting too much. I wonder what I'll be wable to run on Thursday? |
| 16 Sept 2002 | Fifty minutes at the gym, upper and mid-body, lots on the torso and lower back again. In the sauna I thought about the Inuit people I watched the other night on TV, living on and with the sea ice in the high Arctic. In winter 2003 I will be taking a trip to Northern Alaska to learn sea-ice travel on foot from native hunters. What an exciting thought! | |
| 13 Sept 2002 | Heavy lower-back workout, about 55 minutes, at the gym. I think I have perhaps the strongest lower back in the Pacific Northwest! Partly because my Dad slipped a disc once, and I do not want to do that out on the ice...So I am particularly attentive to that part of the old bod. | |
| 12 Sept 2002 | Ran 13 miles, the pack weighing 6kg or 12lb. Still haven't bought another pair of ski poles, so I have to wait till next week to drag the log again. | |
| 10 Sept 2002 | Reached 'Mr. Log' today at the 5 mile mark, but couldn't find my ski poles (had been stashed in a bush), so I did another half mile, then turned around for the run home, 11 miles total today. Pack weight 6kg/12 lb. | |
| 09 Sept 2002 | Upper body and some squats for an hour. Hope to reach Mr. Log tomorrow (at 5 mile mark) before dragging it a while and then making the 5 miles back home. Famished and looking forward to a fish feast in about 30 minutes! | |
| 06 Sept 2002 | Still didn't get up to 'Mr. Log', but a good 9-mile run. Again I woke an hour before the alarm, and tried to think of reasons not to go this AM...but still, at 6:00am I was up and three minutes later, ou the door. Pack weight 5kg/10lb. Next time, I'll increase the pack weight, and tack on another mile or so. I may be doing a climb in the Sierras in about three weeks, and I want to bust my hump for a while to be absolutely whipped up for it! | |
| 05 Sept 2002 | Front levers and upper body today, 45 minutes. At the gym it was 'Metallica Day' according to the music-controlling desk attendant! | |
| 04 Sept 2002 | Good to be out and running again...the swear pours off my limbs...Pack weight 10lb/5kg for a 5-mile run. Did not go all the way up to Mr. Log today, I'll do that Friday morning. Took a pretty good header onto the pavement as I tried leaping from the top of one small brick wall I was running on, to another.. a four foot header down to the asphalt...wearing a pack always makes that worse! I did my best duck-n-roll and kept on. I woke at 5am thinking of all sorts of excuses to skip today's run, but when the alarm went off at 6am, I got up and did it. | |
| 04 Sept 2002 | RESTARTING training program. | |
