The Voice of Chaos

2010/06/03

Goals – Random thoughts.

Filed under: The Road to The Nose — Tags: — admin @ 10:02 pm

I set out to achieve a goal – of biking this summer. I already acknowledge the things that got in the way.

I want to climb the nose but that is 5 years away. Right now I have smaller things I need to achieve things that impact me daily.

I need to complete my school work for this semester. I need to start classes for next semester.

Those are outward things. Inwardly I need to start taking better care of myself. It is to easy for me still to fall back on old eating habits and to easy for me to fall into a depression.  Self care is one of the 4 S’s I fail at frequently. I have in the last year gained 15lbs.  I know I know ” freshmen 15″ every one gains weight when they go back to school. Every one has a hard time coping with the time in front of a computer and the stress. Most of us turn to food. Yes some of that can be attributed to muscle but not enough. Yes I acknowledge that I am STILL with in the healthy weight outlined by my doctor.  I would like to go back to being on the LOWER end of that healthy weight not the higher end.

I have always found for me that I need to control my food intake. This sounds ridiculous but I do. Given free range I would eat a package of Bacon ( ok maybe any one would) an entire box of cookies and about 3 cans of mushroom soup with crackers.

Eating out is terrible because I want my monies worth – most food for my $ and unless I have some one willing to split the plate with me I will eat the whole thing. Hungry or not.

I know from personal experience I can lose 3lbs a week JUST by increasing how much vegetables I eat and decreasing the amount of crap I eat.

I am working on learning how to deal with nutrition when I am exercising sporadically but I think before I do that I need to place myself back on track for eating correctly when I am not. Once I have that dialed in I can try again to work out eating correctly with any level of exercise.

I have used weightwatchers in the past as a handy tool to learn about food and to learn about portion control.  I tried to start it again with a friend this winter but sadly not enough stability to even think straight.

I think the key will be tracking and thinking about my food when not on a climbing trip – and sticking with the removal of chocolate and candy from my diet even when I am on a climbing trip.

I have increased my carb intake as suggested by a nutritionist. I have worked to increase healthy carbs ( whole wheat pasta over white – making my own whole wheat bread which contains NO SUGAR :) I have increased the number of meals eaten at home and attempted to plan as much as possible for late nights ( having a casserole ready to go home to after climbing)

These are good steps and I am going to keep them up as well as once again tracking my food intake and weight with weight watchers. 15 pounds should take me 5 weeks to loose.

I have a feeling as this happens my climbing will improve and I will lesson the increased strain on my tendons from overhanging routes and over gripping. I think I will also decrease the level of stress on my knees that is occurring when doing long hikes and approaches.

The key will be to ensure that I eat enough carbs and am conscious of my energy levels.  The other struggle I will have is school is starting soon with regular classes which means packing lunches will be required. Something that is very very easy to not do.

I always attribute life lessons to horse training – so here is another one. If you are training a horse and you move up a step and it reacts unexpectedly its time to go back and look at the foundation and find out what you missed. I failed at my goal so going with this mentality – its time for me to go back and look at what foundation I did not give myself.

I am sure I wrote this post primarily to convince myself.

2010/02/09

Ok so how did I fair In week 1.

Filed under: Life,School,The Road to The Nose — admin @ 12:15 am

Here is an update on my goals posted last week.

1) I went for a bike ride but not to Golden Gate park- just around the new neighborhood.

2) I did Climb ! AND I climbed a 5.11a OVERHANG. I climbed twice actually.

3) All our stuff is moved into our apartment.

4) CMIS 311 assignment – DNC

5) MSG 305 – Complete lesson 1 – Completed Feb 8 – 2010.  I also started on the first assignment. I need to read more chapters to get further then the one question I have completed.

6) Comp 268 and Acct 250 objectives met for last week ( Week 1 of second semester )

Week 2 of semester 2.

This week school goals.

CMIS 311 – Assignment 1.

CMIS 214 – Unit 1

Comp 268 – Unit 2

MGSC 301 – Unit 2

Acct 250 – Unit 2 and Quiz 1

This weeks house goals:

1) Unpack and set up house ( Saturday)

This weeks self care goals:

1) Climb at least once during the week.

2) go for one bike ride.

2010/01/22

Climbing “The Nose”

Filed under: The Road to The Nose — admin @ 1:32 am

This summer I came face to face with El Capitan. Known as El Cap.

El Cap is 3,000 feet of vertical rock face. It is surrounded by the complete beauty of Yosemite National park. I had never really desired a multi-day climbing experience. Sleeping on a ledge, or a portal-edge. Figuring out the logistics of something as simple as peeing 2,000 feet up with a harness on—just did not appeal to me.

There I was standing face to face with El Cap. I was taken by surprise and in complete awe of its majestic beauty.  All I could think about is how I wanted to climb it. This rock face represents a new personal obsession for me. I am going to climb it. More specifically I am going to climb it before I turn 34. I have stared at it through binoculars and now poured over pages and pages of topos. The route I want to climb is “The Nose”

I am 28 years old and will be 29 this year. 2015 I will be 34 years old.

There is a book called  “The road to the Nose”

It goes into great detail the climbs and training you should do to successfully climb The Nose in a terrify, exhausting, and  satisfy 5 days. The alternative seems to be a terrifying, exhausting,  and frustrating 8 days.

I think I am at the Pre-Road to the Nose stage.

Here is the list of things I need to try and accomplish before the end of 2010 and how I HOPE to accomplish them.

1) The ability to do a day long multi-pitch climb with my climbing partner with no words exchange for the entire day that are not about safety checks and climbing.

  • You might think this is odd but its not. Efficiency is key when you are on a big wall. 10-15 minutes lost to chatter at a belay station can turn into not making your ledge by night fall. It can even add up to an entire extra day —you may not have enough food or water for that extra day.
  • This is a particular challenge for me as the chatter of my mind can at times be to much to handle.
  • The climb can be an easy climb. It can be a sport climb. This is a baby step to a much bigger goal.
  • I am going to spend a week at the Zen center and take up meditation. I need to find a way to calm my own mind and I feel this would be a good start.

2) Lead a 5.10a Successfully after not sleeping for 24 hours.

  • Ok maybe you think this is odd. I do not. I want to practice climbing in a sleep deprived state. I would rather know what I CAN do on little to know sleep then not.
  • When on a Big wall anything could happen. You can not count on a full solid wonderful 8 hours of sleep in a comfy bed. Your skill level should be as such that you with out sleep can still do the very minimal required to get up the wall. I want to know what my body can do on no sleep and how far I can push myself.
  • How I plan to achieve this is picking a day in March to not sleep for 24 hours and then climb. See where I am at. Create a plan from there.

3) Take a wilderness first aid course.

  • Over the next 5 years I want to make sure that I have all the technical skills required to prevent loss of life on the face of El Cap. Things can happen. The better prepared you are for them the better. This year will be basic first aid. Eventually a full self rescue course is what I am after.

4) Lead a 5.9 sport climb outside.

  • I can lead 5.9 in the gym. I can barely climb a 5.9 on top rope outside. This is going to take a lot of practice and a lot of climbing.
  • I plan to climb old routes that I attempted in 2009. Routes I couldn’t do or failed at.
  • This will require a level of strength and fitness found from climbing on a regular schedule.
  • 3 times a week of climbing at the gym is the goal. I like mornings but afternoons work too. As mentioned I Have to learn to climb tired hungry, angry, sick and weak.

5) Bike the penisila 5 days in a row.

  • Endurance on a big wall  is really important. The start of it is going to come from biking. its a fair distance and to get up 5 days straight and do the ride is going to take a lot of dedication and it’s own level of training.
  • To achieve this I plan to do it this twice  in Feb – not in a row. 4 times in March. 5 Times in April. 6 times in May -. 6 Times in June. 6 times in July. 6 times in August. 6 times in September. 8 times in October. November, December will see me experiment with attempting each week 5 times in a row until I get it.
  • The time commitment for February and March is ok – I can bike there on a Saturday  and do school work at SSN all day and train home.  April and May will see me doing this trip at least once on a weekday. I can train home and read course material on the train.
  • June ,July , August, September  are  tricky. I will loose my weekends. This is due to prime climbing season.  This means 1-2 weekdays every week I will be up at 6 am and riding down the peninsula hoping a train and coming home for noon.  Reading on the train.

6) Stronger immune system.

  • I get stressed I get sick. Its pretty much guaranteed. Learning to support my body with healthy eating habits and vitamins has ALWAYS been a challenge.
  • Improving cardiovascular health is shown to improve your immune system.
  • Ensuring you get enough fruits and vegetables in your diet as well as vitamins helps as well.

7) Left knee stabilizers close to balanced with right knee stabilizers.

  • Every time I am at the gym. Warm my knee up. Do exercises I know are strengthening it. Be mindful that what the right can do will at this time injure the left. Give the left time to catch up.

This is for 2010 my baby-steps to The Nose. My personal road  start with over coming some personal issues. Starting to get a better understanding of safety and building up a level of endurance and confidence. These are called stretch goals. They are not easy to obtain and I may miss the mark on a few. My road to The Nose I am sure will be paved with ups and downs, me pushing myself and failing but get up to push again.

Most importantly I want to write this down because its one thing to say I am going to climb El Cap. Its another to start forming a plan and writing about it. I plan to take a long hard look at myself over the next year and find areas I feel need improvement. Areas that will be weaknesses not in my knowledge and personal coping skills and working to improve them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Capitan

Powered by WordPress