Jack of All Trades

I don't want to be that guy who can't stay with one thing and has a new sport every couple of years. It is a pretty common thing in my family. Sorry Bre and Dad, but its true. I look back over the last couple of years and between soccer, mountain biking, and peak bagging I feel like I've bounced around a bit. Climbing doesn't count. It has been on one constant for more than 13 years now.
While soccer was mainly an opportunity to hang out with my brother and sister it was a sport a have grown to love. I would continue playing if I didn't have to drive 40 minutes to do so, pay $45 to play, and then show up just to play half of a game. Maybe as my life slows down in a couple of years it will be something I can start up again. As for now it has to be put on the very far back-burner.
I won't speak to mountain biking. Over the last many years it has been something I've just done when invited by someone else.
Peak bagging has been a hobby of mine for several years now and something I don't plan to quit any time soon.
Last year my wife started pushing me to jog as a means of keep my cardio up and staying healthy. She doesn't want me to have a heart attack. After pushing through the first excruciating weeks of miserable outings things got better and I really began to enjoy myself. Now running has turned into a full-grown passion. I am running 5 days a week, with a minimum workout of 4+ miles a day and long days above 6 miles. I have already booked my registration for my first 10k and plan to run a half marathon later this year.
All of this is in preparation for getting back in the mountains. This summer I plan to run 2 - 3 days a week in the mountains, linking peaks and hitting the trails. By next year I want to sign up for my first mountain race and maybe someday do an ultra-marathon, such as the Wasatch Back. I also have a goal to jog King's Peak with a longterm goal of getting the record for the Triple Crown, car to car (currently just over 13 hours).

What's my point? I want running to be a life-long activity. I have made an effort to surround myself with people who will motivate and inspire me. I really believe that I can be successful at this and continue doing it when I'm old.

Lost in Translation

I have been really busy with work and even busier at home with the Kids and Em going to school full time.
Then, a couple of days ago I had to travel to Plano, TX, where I am currently working for the next two weeks. So basically, I haven't been climbing much lately and won't be touching anything climbing related until after the 14th.

I have been running more and more lately though. I have caught the bug, that is for sure. While I am stuck running on the road instead of the trails I'm enjoying being out there and pushing my limits.

I have been working on pushing my distance. My regular routine is about 4.5 miles. After a 4.2 mile day yesterday here in Plano I found an extended route that would allow me a 6.2 mile day. Leaving the hotel at about 6:15am I took off on the new course. The first mile and a half you have to run almost solely on the grass as there was no shoulder or sidewalks. As it was my second day I was a bit more used to it, so I didn't have to work as hard to get through it. Beyond that point I found I was able to run on the sidewalk the rest of the course. Phew.

I was able to complete the course in just over 50 minutes, pretty good considering I've never run that far before. I'm hoping that within the next 30 days 6 miles will become my regular workout and my long days will be 8 - 10.

While its not sending projects in LCC, it is a lot of fun and I feel great!

I record my running sessions on jun.fastrunningblog.com

Here are the pictures I promised to upload.

We are just finishing the slog to the steep slog.

Nearing the resting point and start of the technical section. Our end for the day.

It's not too hard to see how bad I feel.

South Ridge of Mt. Superior

I had made plans to attempt the South Ridge of Mt. Superior this morning. Unfortunately, I woke up very ill this morning. I had body aches like i've never felt in my life; almost unbearable.

I still met eRik at the park n ride at 6am and we drove up in my car. After getting there and suiting up eRik realized he left his ice axe in his car, so we had to drive back down and get it.

We finally started hiking around 7am under a beautiful dark sky. From our first steps we were post-holing and moving very slow. There were only a few very limited segments where the snow firmed up and allowed us to front point.

We got to the notch and start of the technical section by 9:15, much later than we had hoped. I was fighting everything in me not to pass out and the aches and pains I had in my lower back, shoulder, and hips had gotten to such a point that I knew we were going to have to turn back.

Descending, we stepped down into the open shoulder and hopped on our shovels. I was so happy to have them because they allowed us to slide down nearly all of the mountain. I almost collapsed when we got back to the car and drove to work in excruciating pain.

Now, on Lortab and two Ibuprofen I'm able to sit at work in semi-comfort and a complete fog.

My apologies to eRik. Normally I am solid in the mountains, very confident on snow, and a goat when it comes to scrambling. There are several people who can validate that.Today (and the last few days) hasjust been a low point for me physically . We'll make another attempt in a week or two.

Pictures coming soon.

Gym Climbing

While the snow is sitting on the ground and the chances of me being able to travel anywhere are out of the question I have been spending more and more time in the gym. It makes sense considering I do a lot of my climbing during my lunch hour or on a cold Thursday night.

Within the last month I've started focusing more on routes. While in my heart I am still a boulderer, I don't particularly enjoy it in the gym. I'm not very good at it and I haven't seen any real progression in the last year and a half or so. Thus, I've turned my focus to clipping bolts. Not only is it fun and helping me with endurance (which I have little of), but it's really nice to watch myself make significant steps forward, something I haven't seen in my climbing life in quite some time.

In just under a month I've gone from redpointing mid-11s to now where I've redpointed two 12Bs and on-sighted several 12- climbs. I hope to hit 13a by the time its warm enough to get back outside.

We'll see.

Skiing, Finally

I was able to go skiing a couple of times the last week or so, once with Tyler and my family and once at the Alta free ski with some friends. Here are a couple of pictures from the time out with the family.

New Video

Here is a new video I made about some local climbers around SLC.