I'm Rich!

Ten of us assembled at White Wolf off of Tioga Pass in Yosemite National Park to start our birthday journey with an ambitious feast. Ambitious enough that we offered up the mega extras to neighboring campers while we laughed through some fun introductions. For what would prove to be an epic journey, I had brought together some of my most favorite friends—triathletes, ultra runners, adventure racers, hikers and all around quality folks—several of whom go back 15-20 years in my lifetime.

While two would drive up to Tuolumne Meadows and hike the several miles to meet us at Glen Aulin High Camp, eight of us would take off the next morning from White Wolf for 25 miles of a pretty serious ass kicking.

"Ass kicked gang", morning of Day 1.

Our route took us up and over Ten Lakes Pass where due to lingering snow conditions route finding became tenuous at best.Closing in on Ten Lakes Pass.Including some significant climbing, a bear and several marmot sightings, about 2 hours of trying to stay found, and a few folks surely wondering why they had signed up, we ended up at Glen Aulin 11 hours later just in time for a dinner which we devoured.

approaching the pass

Looking down on Ten Lakes

Four of our group would sleep in the tent cabins in camp while the rest of us ‘dirt chicks’ slept out on small sleeping pads with light bags. Our minimal gear hauling and ability to eat dinner and breakfast at the camp allowed us to run/hike light and quick over some of the toughest terrain in CA.

For the gear freaks out there and those aspiring to fast packing – below was our gear list for two days (my choices are in parenthesis). Total pack weight at beginning approx. 12-15 lbs:
Clothes on our backs:
- Shorts (Patagonia)
- Shirt (Mountain Hardwear)
- Socks (Sole)
- Hat (Montrail)
– sunglasses (Smith)
- Trail running shoes (Montrail Streaks)
- Buff
- Watch w/ altimeter (HighGear)

Camp clothes:
- Thermal top and bottoms (Patagonia wool 2)
- Ultra light windbreaker (Montbell UL)
- Insulating Layer – (Montbell UL Down inner jacket – 6.9 oz, packs ridiculously small, one of my favorite pieces of insulation)
- fleece hat (Outdoor Research)
- fleece gloves (Outdoor Research)
- light camp shoes (cheezy flip flops I got at a pedicure place)

Pack – approx. 1500 cu in with room for a bladder and/or bottles and easy-to-grab-food pockets. (Gregory ISO – I use this pack for my desert races as well)

Sleeping bag with compression sack – 20-30 degree or lighter (Montbell UL. SS Down Hugger #3, 30 degree/1 lb. 7 oz. Packs ridiculously small. Outdoor Research compression sack helps that process)

Sleeping pad – Ultra light ¾ length Thermarest

Misc.
- Tooth brush (chopped in half)
- lip stuff
- Camera (optional)
- Earplugs (optional)
- Ibuprophen (optional)
- Electrolyte tabs (optional)
- space blanket
- whistle
- toilet paper
- cheesy drug store purchased plastic poncho

Food:
- 2 bottles and/or bladder
- Sports drink powder or other powders if desired
- Running/hiking food – approx. 1600 cal/day give or take

Team Gear:
- Toothpaste
- 2 water filters
- sunscreen
- bug spray
- a few good jokes

"run" crew for Day 2

On day two, four hiked back out to Tuolumne while the main group which had dwindled to six carried on through one of the most impressive canyons I’ve experienced to date—Tuolumne Canyon which follows the Tuolumne River toward Hetch Hetchy. We’d follow the torrents down through several eco-systems, water falls, and narrow gorges all the while being flanked by the ever famous Yosemite granite walls.

the canyon

We then earned our finish-line for the day with a 3500 foot gut wrenching climb out of the canyon and back to White Wolf. This second day would prove to be the toughest foot section a few of our group had ever encountered—character building stuff.Tuolumne CanyonI came away with a couple less toe nails, 79 mosquito bites, some smoke inhalation from the many Nor CA fires, a deep hunger that left me marginally comatose prior to dinner that night, and an increase of a couple of notches in fitness. All in all—satisfaction.

One of the several eco-systems we moved through

A few of us continued the birthday celebration the next day in the Valley with drinks, dinner at the Ahwahnee and enough laughter to land a few more wrinkles on my cheeks. What a lucky gal I am for having such a diverse and hearty array of friends willing to take on an intellectually, emotionally and physically paramount experience with such grace. I am rich indeed. I'll see what I can do next year to up the ante.
Terri

Romancing Yosemite… Revisited

Four sets of friends from all over CA are converging in Yosemite for some birthday fun next week. We’ll be running/fast packing for a couple days into the high country and yet more trails I have not explored, then heading down to the Valley for a lovely dinner at the Ahwanhee, some climbing and wine drinking. A perfect way to cap off another year.

I suspect I’ll be writing more when I return next week and prior to my leaving for Ecuador, but in the meantime I thought I’d share a post from a couple years ago about this relationship I must revisit a few times a year—with Yosemite. Enjoy.

terri

Romancing Yosemite
October 2006

After some much needed time off of concentrated training post Russia/France travel extravaganza, I followed a yearning to visit my first love - the romance of my youth. So I headed out for a strong dose of heady granite visuals and tough hike/running in the Yosemite high country.

Hanging out for a portion of each youthful summer in Yosemite taught me early on about the possibilities of a long term, healthy, fiery, relationship - with nature. Heading back a few times each year connects me with that romance I year for. And there’s nothing like getting up into the high country for an honest measure of ass kicking and a reality check on ones lack of fitness. Various relationships may come and go in life, but Yosemite holds a constant spell of beauty, reality and truth to all who experience, and this weekend in particular would prove to be auspicious at minimum.

After a brief night at the notorious Camp 4, a couple friends and I took off from Yosemite Valley on a Friday morning for a tough 18+ mile hike/run up into the Yosemite high country. Getting off the Valley floor is a breathtaking 3000 foot climb but with the season winding down, the crowds sparse, and the weather spectacular, it was well worth the effort.

The "high country" is a vast sea of pristine granite mixed with evergreens of various types, and mountain lakes - unlike anything I have seen or will ever see in all my travels on this earth. We hiked over Clouds Rest - a narrow edge of granite with views of the backside of Half Dome and everything else in a 20 mile radius.

Experiencing the granite in Yosemite first hand, is having a deep knowing why athletes and climbers, fall in love here. The rock has an affirmative feel. You perceive its sure grip when just treading on it, yet experience its sharp harshness if you fall. Yosemite granite is like the lover who is sure to support and nurture when needed but at the same time asks you to step up and shine even brighter when the going gets tough. “Risk knowing me and you’ll emerge strong and sure,” it says. “You game?”

Nestled in the granite walls and trees we ended our day at Sunset Lakes at about 10K feet. We made a fire, sipped some tea, and laughed a lot while watching the sinking sun cleanse the granite walls and mirror that softness on our lake.

Next morning we hit the John Muir trail for a tough but satisfying 17 mile trot through the high country with a gradual, then steep, descent back into the valley via the backside of Half Dome. My ultimate pleasure in the backcountry is to go light and fast and try and run as much as possible if the terrain allows. To experience my first love in this fashion is such an incredible "groove on". He never disappoints.

But the best of the weekend was yet to come. After hitting up some food and a couple of Yosemite Pale Ale's in the historic and romantic Ahwahnee Lodge we caught a presentation of the 1966, ascent of the Salate’ Wall on El Capitan, by Allen Steck, a pioneer of big wall climbing.

The American Alpine Club was hosting a celebration in the Valley this week commemorating the history of climbing in Yosemite. Steck’s program was one of many pieces to this celebration and we were privileged to have been in the Valley on this auspicious weekend.

Even in the 60’s and big wall climbing’s infancy, Allen et. al. had the foresight to bring a video camera along and film their climb, which was at pure minimum - EPIC. At 80 years today, Steck explained, “I remember standing at the base of the climb that morning and each of us taking turns reading the directions to the camera while organizing gear…”

With no sound on his KMART camera, Allen Steck, as humble as he is authentic, narrated their novel climb. After a couple days of pushing in the high country, body satisfied, I felt warm and content to sit among the trees and listen to his rambling 80 year old chatter about this historic experience.

Meeting and chatting with this sweet gentleman the next morning in our campsite, I tried to imagine the heart and courage it took to endeavor such an epic feat at such a mysterious time for big wall climbing in the world.

Like a virtuous first love, Yosemite continues to offer memories of ignited passion, while constantly teasing the prospects of what is to come. I suspect I’ll be back again to visit this satisfaction some time very soon.

Reflection on the Internal Switch

After the 2000 Eco Challenge in Borneo, Malaysia I landed in the hospital for a week with leptospirosis and a fever of 105. Despite my delirium and inability to venture past my hospital room for 4 days, when my teammate David called to find out if I’d be able to do a scheduled race in a couple weeks, I said casually, “Yeah I’ll be fine.”

In a sport like adventure racing we have to train our minds to step up when we are physically beaten down and 6 days sleep deprived. Sometimes the only way to accomplish this is to numb out the pain and switch on autopilot. My initial life as an individual hard core endurance athlete taught me to turn on this switch as needed and adventure racing just expanded the number of switches I had available at any given time. Lepto turned off a few of my bodily switches. My mind said – turn them back on and keep going. It all seems quite natural when it happens.

This is either a valuable warrior-like trait to be nurtured in ones endurance life or, its really stupid. In the case with Lepto taking over, the switching on attempt was futile as the infection left my body weak and depleted – no races for me for a couple months. Thank Buddha that even stupidity gets a solid reality check now and then.

As I get a bit wiser as I gain years I realize that the switch turning can be a chosen reflection of a situation rather than instinct (or stupidity), and that has proven to be the case these last couple of weeks. I didn’t just turn the switch of training back on after dealing with this heart issue, I’ve been easing it back up slowly – kinda like those wall switches that allow you moderate the brightness of the light in the room. I’m paying attention, checking in every day and noticing what types of behavior or foods cause reactions. Thus far with positive results.

this map (of South America) is for those of you who used to cut geography class

But recently when my training switch got close to the brightest option I figured it was time for some drastic action (stupidity or just continuing to suck the blood out of life?). I guess you can’t keep a switch turner down for too long. So I’m going to Ecuador for a bit of adventure.

After a couple days of birthday running in the Yosemite high country, I’ll head to Quito, Ecuador in July to climb a few volcanoes over 8 days. Elevations on these mountains range from about 14,000 feet up to 20,701 feet on the highest – Chimborazo. We’ll then travel from Quito deep into the Amazon jungle near the border of Ecuador and Peru and the Kapawi Eco-lodge and Reserve. The lodge is owned and operated by the Achuar people who live in one of the most remote and well protected parts of the Ecuadorian Amazon. We’re please to give them our business as we explore this fascinating part of our planet.

kapawi lodge

My main switch is apparently back on. Planning for a trip like this is hugely life giving to me as I thrive in planning the intricate details of such a venture. I’ll be back at you with more details of these exciting adventures as they get closer…
Terri

The Double Edged Sword of Endurance Training

I hate that my body has been tweaking this last month since I severely overtrained a couple weeks before my last race. I love the challenge of this puzzle as it grows larger and more blurred each day. I despise that the fear of cardiovascular systems threatening to shut down took me out of a race. I dig that fear slaps us in the face in the ultimate tests we face as athletes. Humbles us. Tests us constantly. I abhor that my body continues to throw me lessons of which I am ignorant. I am thankful that these lessons remind me that there is only continued growth in being an endurance athlete. Those lessons may not be the same as they were 10 years ago but they are lessons just the same and I must learn them or - game over.

Since my episode with overtraining pre-Auburn Triathlon and the resultant heart/physiology issues I’ve experienced, I have been in ‘pondering’ mode - as my brother so aptly says. They say men go into their cave when they mull over life’s challenges or are in a funk – I apparently have that male trait when I get tossed some tough stuff. So – thanks to all of you for your compassionate emails and calls. I was not ignoring you or disappreciative of your concern. I was deep in my cave pondering my next move. That act was not a reflection on your efforts to console (something women should remember when your spouse does the same).

Other than my sports medicine doc reinforcing what I found out about 15 years ago – that I have Athlete Heart Syndrome – thus far ‘they’ have found nothing wrong with me. Exams, Echo Cardiograms, ECG monitors, glucose and blood tests have confirmed that I have a ‘young’, ‘borderline-abnormally-strong’, heart and off the charts injection fraction, cholesterol and HDL levels. I like to think that the ladder helps rule out artery blockage, and that I have a yummy healthy diet including a lot of red wine :). We are still looking at a few more things but leaning toward my overtraining causing my Athlete Heart Syndrome to freak out for a period of time.

Athlete Heart Syndrome is an enlargement of the heart due to prolonged training, resulting in an abnormally strong heart with a low resting heart rate. A friend of mine commented recently that she could see my heart beating through my shirt – that’s Athlete Heart Syndrome strutting its stuff. In athletes this can be ‘normal’ but it can also cause electrical problems because the heart can become confused with such a low resting heart rate (30-40’s).

If the initiator of the heart beat doesn’t fire in a timely manner the other aspects of the heart get nervous, “Hey what’s up! SA node isn’t doing its job – somebody has to do something! Start the heart – lets get things moving here!!” As a result, beats can be skipped, missed, or the impulse will fire from another place in the heart leaving the appearance of malfunction on an EKG.

When I have this kind of an ‘episode’, I get a feeling like my heart will stop beating, or that it is doing flips in my chest. It can also show as a flutter or a couple of quick beats followed by an abnormal slowing. I usually take a deep breath to get things moving down there but it is most likely disconcerting. Normal disconcertation of this type is random and occasional and I’ve dealt with it for 15 years. When I overtrained a few weeks ago it was daily and frequent and caused my pulmonary capacity to diminish as a result. This type of electrical issue can cause immense fatigue as well since the heart isn’t pumping consistent and adequate O2 to the body. I have been waking up in the morning feeling heavy in my chest with extreme fatigue and lack any desire to roust myself from bed. Coming from a woman who normally can rise, dress and be out the door running in 15 minutes - that’s quite unnatural.

Bottom line (at this point): Recovery is ‘different’ at 46 than it is at 35 – so I have to change up my training to accommodate so I don’t throw my heart into a tizzy. I was training the way I used to 15 years ago and have learned in a severe way that that doesn’t work any more. I can train as hard as I used to but not as often and need more recovery between hard bouts. What 10 years ago would have been a 2 day recovery, took me a month to bounce back from and a malfunction of several body systems.

I loved to believe I had lived it all and figured out most of what needed to be figured as an endurance athlete. I despise and am so completely stoked to know that I was so wrong indeed. That we don’t ever ‘arrive’ in what we can learn from our bodies. There are always more lessons to gather in life this time around. I’ll keep you posted on mine as I work to increase my training – ever so carefully…
Terri