Friday, July 5, 2019

Training update plus Blodgett Peak on a Friday morning

This week my ankle feels so much better than it has in a long time. I've been working with my physical therapist Kiersten and it's really come a long way since my injury last year. 

On Tuesday, first I went hiking with Alex and Felix at Ute Valley Park. We did the 3 mile loop around the PiƱon Valley canal and through the park at sunset. What a nice evening hike!



And then after that, I went to the gym with my friend Haanzs! We used the glider for 10 minutes first, which felt like snowshoeing or cross country skiing to me. Then we did a lot of compound and bodyweight exercises: overhead press, plate squats, curls, pushups, pullups, medicine ball twists, and leg raises.

On Thursday, I decided I wanted to do some swimming for cardio, as it was super killer hot outside. Getting in the pool sounded relaxing. But first, I did some bench presses, deadlifts, wrist curls for forearm strength, triangle pushups, and more ab work: declined situps and hanging leg raises. Then I swam for 30 minutes. 

Then today, (Friday), after a morning PT session I wanted to do a run. Our hike on Tuesday at Ute Valley had great views of Blodgett Peak. I decided that I really wanted a climb/scramble instead of just a flat run today. 

I made it to the saddle just below the Blodgett summit in a little more than an hour. Then I climbed out on the flat outcropping to the west of the true summit, so I could get some nice photos. 



Blodgett is such a nice little challenge for a short day. I decided to go back down on the rock field, downclimbing and scrambling. This ended up being the right choice for me. I had a great time scrambling down and enjoying the full body moves required by the boulderfield.




I am really getting more and more confidence with respect to downclimbing steep rocky slopes. I'd like to try another 14er besides Pikes this season. Many 14ers require more scrambling and climbing rather than just hiking, and my training is trending towards that. The primary downside of other 14ers, for me, is the drive time rather than the route or what's required for the summit.

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