In 'Quest For Everest' Steve Whittington is sharing his training experience with us as he prepares for a big challenge: climbing Mount Everest in March. Make sure to check out the other blog posts in this series.
The week of training after a week on the road and a climbing weekend was not fun. On Monday morning the yoga hurt and the noon hour cardio was terrible. Fast forward to Tuesday – the morning and noon workouts were exercises in mental will more than body and the Tuesday night climbing session was a lack luster showing at best. By Wednesday things turned around and life goes on.
A week later, just when I thought I was getting back into the swing of things, old friends started popping up.
My tendons in my arms ached a couple of nights. Over a year ago from mixed climbing (climbing on rock to get to ice) I started to get tendonitis. Was the tendonitis coming back?
I also noticed my right hamstring was tight and beginning to throb a bit, just a bit during some of my longer cardio sessions. What is going on there? In 2008 training for Aconguaga, I over trained and as a result rolled into that climb hurt and too heavy...it has been my most physically taxing climb to date just due to the poor shape I was in. Is this injury coming back? I thought I put it behind me two years ago.
Just two days ago I started limping around a bit because my left foot was tender. I put 20 km on my elliptical Wednesday as a light long distance cardio session. Did I put too much pressure on my foot? This August after summiting Mt Resplendent as a consolidation prize for a foiled Mt Robson attempt, my partner and I marched out 28 km with heavy packs and mountaineering boots on. The ball of my left foot swelled to a point in which I could barely walk on it for the next few days. It took a week and half until I could run again, and the return to full training did not occur until mid October. Now it hurts in the same spot. What's going on?
The trials of training is what's going on. I have been here before, I just need to listen to my body and adjust and react to what is occurring, otherwise I will injure myself. With each new (well old) pain I adjust my training: more yoga and time on the vibration trainer, change the cardio to the bike for a few days, and leave the climbing wall and ice tools alone for week. I am happy to report I seem to have worked past the first two pains and the last one seems to be going away.
Saturday my wife and I climbed at the local gym for two hours. It was a great session for both of us working on projects we have. My foot hurt in the climbing shoes but not bad. Today I have a hybrid training workout I am looking forward to working through. It includes: Bosu ball, skipping rope, Ripp 60 suspension trainer, stationary bike and my bouldering workout on my boulder wall. Should be fun! I have another crazy week of work coming up with time on the road. But the road trip is headed west so I will end up back in the mountains for another training weekend of climbing and that is never a bad thing.