The ramp-down

The hike is close. Only 9 days away. The past weekend was my first ramp-down weekend in 5 months. I hiked 12 miles with someone I met after he read this blog and contacted me. (Thanks Matt for the email message.) It was nice to take a shorter hike. I'm pretty tired of walking :)

The last 2 training weekends in June were my toughest.

I backpacked two 15 mile days with Ken which wasn't too bad. (Though I think Ken was slightly abused.) We hiked from Alpine road up to Skyline and then down into Portola State Park where we spent the night. Sunday morning we hiked back.

The previous weekend I hiked the last 60 miles of the JMT with Aaron. We drove up Saturday morning, hiked 30 miles, slept 3 hours, from 3:30am. - 6:30am., hiked 30 miles, then drove home. I finally went to sleep at 5:30am. Monday morning. It was one of the hardest hikes I've ever done. The trail was more technical than I remember (more large rocks in the trail). It makes running tough and requires a lot of lateral motion.

I have new respect for the trail. It makes me nervous. Even getting close to the record is possibly out of reach. (It is a record after all ;) ) Whatever happens, if I finish and I give it my all, I'll be happy.

It's a date

It's final. I'm starting my attempt on Thursday July 19th. Ken and I fly down to LA on Wed. July 18th and meet up with Nate. The three of us then drive up to Lone Pine and spend Wednesday night at a hotel. Early Thursday morning (3am or 4am) we start up Mt. Whitney. I expect us to summit around noon, where we'll have a nice meal and I'll try to nap. Following that, the three of us will start back down and my clock begins. At the pass, I'll head down the back side of Whitney and Nate and Ken continue back to Whitney Portal where they start the drive back to LA. If all goes according to plan I arrive at Happy Isle in Yosemite Valley on the evening of Tuesday July 24.

Six Weeks or less ...

I haven't written in a while ... sorry ... to much working and walking.



I recently met with Gillian and Don, the owners from ZombieRunner.com. They offer a coaching service for ultra-distance runners and while I don't run much I figured they might offer some sage advice, considering their combined 280 distance races. I was right. They were great. (I'll be meeting with them again.) They helped refine my pacing and sleep strategies for the actual attempt as well as helped me think through my final 6 weeks of training.

Speaking of which...

I'm planning my attempt some time between July 19th and July 23rd. (I'm getting closer to a specific date.)

My last 3 weeks will be a ramp down, probably 20 miles, 10 miles, and then none. I'll be combining this with some heat training to help my body conserve salts.

My next 3 weeks will be intense. I've been hiking about 40 - 50 miles-a-week for a month and I need to step it up. This last Friday was my first official sleep deprived hike. I slept 5 -6 hours on Wed. and Thurs. then slept 2 hours Friday. (Actually Sat. morning 1am - 3am) After waking I headed out and hiked 27 miles from my house to Rancho San Antonio Park in Cupertino. It was 22 miles to the park where I met Mike and we did a 5 mile loop before heading to Chili's for lunch. It was also my first trial with all (at least 95%) of my gear. I finished alert and strong. Next, I need to camp out with my gear. Maybe this weekend or next.