More Training & why one should train with a backpack

Sunday Training

Training never ends. As we used to say in Navy boot camp, "the only easy day was yesterday."

Good training sessions over the past two days. On Sunday, as predicted, rain swells cancelled out surfing. So, I took to pack training. This involves treadmill work while carrying a pack. An example will help underscore the importance of this type of training.

As we also said during my Navy days, "train like you fight." During my training class with AMS on the Ruth Glacier back in 2002, we practiced many of the skills necessary for the Denali expedition. One of the training days involved breaking camp at 6,000 feet and carrying all gear (except some supplies cached at base camp) up a few thousand feet to base camp. When I put on my pack, I instantly had a feeling of regret.

You see, back in Talkeetna, the town from which all expeditions depart, it seemed like a really good idea to carry some personal items to have on the glacier. Despite concern from one of the guides, I put in a hardcover journal and a 200 page book on Alaskan history. I pictured myself reading around the camp stove and reflecting on the days events in my journal. In case my total naivety was not completely clear, I also had amenities like a full tube of toothpaste, a large bottle of saline solution for my contacts, and other items whose weight I had not really considered.

Well, I should say, not really considered until I was about 1,000 feet above base camp, on back-country skis, carrying a 63 pound pack and dragging a 40ish pound sled. Being in a four-person rope team for maximum cravasse safety, travling at my own pace was not an option. To use another Navy term (probably not for the last time), I was the, "weak link in the anchor chain." I dragged the team as the others crept before and after me (I was second in the chain).

To give an example of the energy I put out to carry that pack, I was sweating profusely to the point where my entire capilene long sleeve short was soaked with sweat. My cap was completely wet. My Gortex shell was fully unzipped, the vents were wide, and my bib was unzipped down below my waist

The temperature was 17 degrees.

The team ground to a halt at around 8,000 feet and we set up camp well short of our goal. To top it all off, the history book was boring and, anyway, it was far too cold to lounge around camp to read. My pen would not work outside the tent, so I had to write the journal in my sleeping bag.

So, as a result, I walked the treadmill for 60 minutes at a 1.8 mph pace with a 20 pound weight stuffed into my day pack. I have to do this at the apartment gym, since 24 Hour Fitness officially frowns on this practice. I should be hiking outside anyway.

Monday Training

I moved my strength training from Tuesday to Monday to avoid travel plans tomorrow. My workout started with the standard cycle of 20 min, followed by stretches, then Bench, Bicep, Lats (standing and kneeling) and Military in that order.

Monday's Dinner

If you're still with me, then allow me to brag about this evening's meal. My caloric intake has caught my attention, since I do not seem to have lost much weight in this process. this fact was quite embarassing when I put down 185 pounds on my expedition application only to have my physcian weigh me in a 190 during my recent physical. But, I digress...

So, tonight I cooked up the type of meal that I wished I had the discipline to eat every evening. Dinner consisted of 9 ounces of turkey breast @ 225 calories; 8 ounces of broccoli @ 75 calories; 1 slice of whole wheat bread at 110 calories; A grand total of 410 calories. Oh, I also ate two bannanas and one orange, so add in whatever calories that makes.

I'm sure to be starving tomorrow morning when I get up!