So I was chatting with some of my buddies and we were telling old stories when I came to a thought. I have had WAY tougher days (weeks too) in the mountains than IM. Suddenly “racing” for 11 hours seemed kind of silly. I remember after my first IM thinking, “well that was not too bad”. Now I know why. I never thought of the alpine play that I have done as endurance events but that is exactly what it is, but WAY longer. Probably pretty good mental training for events I guess too.
It just got me to thinking, I bet there are a lot of climbers in long distance racing. How many of you climb? (no, I dont mean the sport climbing gym for some bouldering).
Approaching my first IM just a couple weeks ago, having never done a marathon before or even cracking 2 hours for my longest training run, I rationalized to myself several times that I was at least used to keeping my feet moving for several hours longer under more difficult conditions such as hauling a 35-40lb overnight pack up past 10,000ft over 6-8 hours of mostly loose scree and snow (starting at about 5000ft).
So I was chatting with some of my buddies and we were telling old stories when I came to a thought. I have had WAY tougher days (weeks too) in the mountains than IM. Suddenly “racing” for 11 hours seemed kind of silly. I remember after my first IM thinking, “well that was not too bad”. Now I know why. I never thought of the alpine play that I have done as endurance events but that is exactly what it is, but WAY longer. Probably pretty good mental training for events I guess too.
It just got me to thinking, I bet there are a lot of climbers in long distance racing. How many of you climb? (no, I dont mean the sport climbing gym for some bouldering).
Its hard to compare the 2. I train for long distance triathlon to keep me in shape for mountaineering. But nothing can train you for the weeks upon weeks in a tent, freezing temperatures, and the issues that come with extreme altitude.
But again, its hard to compare the 2. You cant just compare an ironman race day to a full on climbing expedition.
I think they complement each other nicely, and I just attemptedr Mt. Rainier (via emmons) with some buddies a few days after a so-so finish at IMC a few weeks ago. I was kind of hoping there would be full-on aid stations about every mile along the way like in the race!
Both are great hobbies!
It’s hard to be good at both mountaineering and triathlon at the same time in your life. Before I met my wife and got into triathlons, I was seriously into trad rock climbing (lead 5.9 on old-school trad, follow 5.10+), some big wall, and mountaineering (ice and snow). These sports are very demanding of your time, and it’s hard to stay on top of your game without going out to local crags every weekend to prepare for the big trips. Much like triathlon, but whereas you can go for a 2 hr run or a 5 hour ride leaving from your home, often times it takes that long (or longer) just to drive to where the rock/snow/ice is.
I think the mental aspect of mountaineering is more so than in triathlon, because bad decisions made when you (or your partner) can have some very bad consequences. In triathlon, a bad decision may mean a DNF (not so bad in the overall scheme of things). It’s tough (but very important!) to stay mentally sharp when you are cold/wet/tired/hungry after being on the go for 15+ hours on a mountain or rock face.
Mark
So I was chatting with some of my buddies and we were telling old stories when I came to a thought. I have had WAY tougher days (weeks too) in the mountains than IM. Suddenly “racing” for 11 hours seemed kind of silly. I remember after my first IM thinking, “well that was not too bad”. Now I know why. I never thought of the alpine play that I have done as endurance events but that is exactly what it is, but WAY longer. Probably pretty good mental training for events I guess too.
It just got me to thinking, I bet there are a lot of climbers in long distance racing. How many of you climb? (no, I dont mean the sport climbing gym for some bouldering).
Not climbing for me but backcountry skiing background. I think it is a great thing. Main reason is that there is NO QUITTING when it gets hard. You either solve the problem, whatever it is and get back or you die. Well maybe thats a little dramatic but not really.