SHASTA in Ten Easy Steps, Part II.

When last we left our heroes, they were skinning toward tree line and shaking their heads in disbelief of the beauty of the Hotlum-Wintun Ridge . . .

Step 5: Keep skinning. Ignore the dark clouds.

Hmmm. Time to put my ski pants on. . .

Step 6: Make camp on a pile of pumice at about 9000'. Marvel at the fact that Shasta casts a shadow on the earth as the sun goes down.

Home for about seven hours.

Yep, that's the shadow of Mt. Shasta on Eastern California.

Step 7: Wake up at 2:30 a.m., drink a protein shake, and start walking uphill. Quickly ditch the idea of climbing without headlamps and just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Watch the sun rise and keep putting one foot in front of the other. Realize that your sense of distance and scale is totally fooked, 'cuz is everything is farther and higher than you think. And keep putting one foot in front of the other. Then, finally, top out at 14,162'.

Sunrise halfway up the Hottun snowfield.

About four feet to the left of this was a dead dog. On the summit of Mt. Shasta. I swear to God.

Step 8: Eat some ginger snaps and almonds, snap some dorky pictures, chat about the oddness of the dead dog, and then click into your skis. Ahhhhhh . . . now we're talking . . .

Steep sweetness on the headwall of the Wintun Glacier. Dr. Off the Couch in the gut.

The smooooov-ness of the Hottun snowfield. Soul-crushingly long to climb. Soul nourishing on the way down. Dr. Off the Couch is the speck just above the pumice fields, just left of center. Yeah, waaaaaaaay down there.

Step 9: After skiing 5000' of sweetness -- pure corn-like sweetness -- glide back into camp and pack up.

Dr. Off the Couch: 'nuff said.

Step 10: While descending below 9000', practice the lost art of back-seat skiing with a heavy pack on overcooked snow. Turn around, realize that you were on the summit less than two hours ago, and shake you head in disbelief of an unmitigated success.

Goddamn. We did it.

Progress.

The effing rain derailed my plan to run some intervals in Memory Grove. So I went to the gym, more or less on a whim.

Crossfit Total: Sum of the best of three attempts of . . .
Back squat: 205/225(M)/225(PR)
Shoulder press: 105/115(PR)/125(PR)
Deadlift: 225/255/275
625 (35 lbs better than last time)

Fall from grace . . .

The last few days have seen me go from the high of running most of The Steeplechase course to the low of nursing a nasty hangover with prescription drugs. Sometimes I wish I would keep things more moderate. Live in the middle, instead of at the edges.

Friday A.M.
Jason and I ran most of The Steeplechase course. I say "most" because we skipped the Memory Grove sections. It was a great training run, both mentally and physically. Jason bestowed some crucial wisdom about pacing and route finding on the way up, and then humbled me on the descent. All in all, it was about 14 miles and 4000' of vertical gain in slightly under four hours.

Friday P.M.
I went back to the gym for a recovery WOD. It was Jason's idea, and it worked like a charm.
Three rounds, not for time:
10 hip extensions
10 GHD sit ups
10 bench press @ 95lbs
10 pull ups
10 KB swings @ 53lbs

Saturday:
The fall from grace begins . . .
Wake up, rent jack hammer, run some other errands, lay on couch watching movies, attend the Salt Lake Art Center Gala. Which leads to after-hours at The Wild Grape. Which leads to after-after-hours at Laura's house. Which leads to . . .

Sunday:
Ugghhh. Wake up with a gnarly hangover. Take phenergan to quell the demons trying to crawl out of my gut. Use the jack hammer to remove the old sidewalk and concrete footings from my backyard. While hungover. Effing brilliant.

Let's get on with it.

I have no idea how to taper before an event. Frankly, I'm not sure that I've been training hard enough lately to gain any benefit from tapering. I'm just trying to keep my legs fresh and loose. To that end, I lifted arms with Jason this morning and tried one of The Scientists's creations.

WOD: Pick up a 95lb barbell, and without racking it, perform:
Strict presses to exhaustion
Push presses to exhaustion
Push jerks to exhaustion
5/5/2, 4/4/2, 2/3/2 (those numbers got mighty small mighty quick)

Tomorrow morning, Jason, Scooter, and I are running most of the course. After hearing Dr. Off the Couch's horror stories, I'm looking forward to seeing what the descent from Black Mountain is really like.

Just like Goldilocks.

I finally came to my senses and admitted that New Pair of Shoes #1 is too small. So back to REI they went.

And after a quick lap around Liberty Park this morning in New Pair of Shoes #2, I realized that they are too big. So back in the box they went, awaiting their return to Backountry.com.

Tonight I went to Salt Lake Running Co. -- which, let's be honest, is what I should have done in the first place -- and with minimal drama settled on New Pair of Shoes #3:
They're juuuust right.

SHASTA in Ten Easy Steps, Part I.

Step one: Begin driving . . .

Frickin' Wendover.

Step 2: After arriving at The Rock House, realize that the smoke detector that is beeping is stuck behind a locked door. Pry the door off the hinges with a whippet and tear the batteries out of the detector. Begin getting your gear organized. . .

Check out the decorations. Classic rock LP's. Awesome.


Carefully organized, well balanced, everything ready to rock. That didn't last.

Step 3: Awake the next morning, get maps and summit permits, and drive towards the trailhead. Park 5.8 miles and about 2000' below the trailhead. Damn. Turn your carefully balanced pack into a total junkshow.

A lesson in too much shit on too small of a pack.

Step 4: After walking up the road for a mile or so, find some consistent snow and begin skinning directly towards the route. Get your first good luck at the Hotlum-Wintun Ridge, and shake your head in disbelief. This is gonna be incredible. . .

To be continued. . .

Boring update: Strength Day.

Overhead squats: 7 sets of 2. The best I could manage was 125x2, and 135x1. I'm definitely losing strength and shoulder flexibility.

Weighted pull ups: 3x35lbs, 3X53lbs, 3x53lbs, 2x53lbs, 2x53lbs. Holding steady.

The Steeplechase is gonna be ugly. . .

but I think it'll go. I worked some downhill intervals tonight and my left foot went partially numb almost instantly. Other than that, I felt pretty good. If I can make it to the descent, I can gut out the rest.

If nothing else, my new shoes make me look fast. That said, if they continue tearing the skin off the tops of my toes, they're going back to Return Everything In sight.