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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 7, 2009 - 01:02pm PT
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It's been a solid week since I got home from Yosemite but I am still beat and weak!
I just counted the pitches I did in my three week trip and came up with 114, counting the jugging and hauling to the pitch above Mammoth on the Shield.
We didn't do a bunch of hard climbing, there is probably less than 14 pitches of mid range 5.11 in there, much 5.10 and 17 pitches of jugging, hauling and aid climbing. Since we rapped off the Shield from under the roof, there is that many pitches of rapping and lowering the bag, we also climbed to Dolt and rapped off, and then to Mammoth on the Freeblast and rapped off and did the East Ledges rappels twice (we were getting pretty good at rapping off!).
All in all, 12 routes including the Shield attempt and the NIAD where I led the whole route.
I trained for this trip pretty much from February till the week before I left. Mt Biking, lifting weights for endurance and 45 minute laps on my local, boring, sport club wall were my regime, 3 days a week. After every workout I drank 16 ounces of a protein mix that really seemed to help me recover. When I arrived in Yosemite I felt rested and strong. I felt I was as fit and any 54 year old could be. I was easily down to my BITD weight and was feeling very confident and PSYCHED.
After the Nose, I climbed the Braille Book with my wife and then the East Butt of El Cap and the Nabisco Wall with my partner, John, each time mentioning that I was dead tired and couldn't climb another pitch.
I expect that I'll be this way for maybe the next month. I'm sleeping a lot, not doing much of anything but am still drinking my protein drink and daily Advil to reduce swelling in my joints (my knees and elbows are aching for the first time in my life).
My one regret is that I didn't train for power as much as I did endurance.
Anyway, I'm just sayin'. It's interesting
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Srbphoto
Trad climber
Kennewick wa
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No offense - you're old :) You are not 25 anymore. You just are not going to recover as well. All the training you did helped. But remember, you only worked out 3 days a week. You went home, slept in your bed, ate normally, probably got a lot more rest while at home. You didn't have to contend with the weather as much, etc, etc, etc. Plus you kept pushing it even when you were already whooped.
I think doing endurance training was fine, what you didn't do was rest enough while in the Valley.
This is actually very common, you will feel better. Just take it easy, do some easy exercising and relax. It may take a month or so to feel normal.
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 7, 2009 - 01:25pm PT
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Yes, not resting enough while in the Valley, and yes again, I ain't young anymore. I expected to be beat, just not this beat. I can't say I'll do too much different for my next trip though, maybe try to work in a little more power training.
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Srbphoto
Trad climber
Kennewick wa
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You know this happens a lot to people who do their first marathon. They put months of training toward a goal and go out and do it. Then they have trouble even going out for short runs for a month (or more). They talk about how everything hurts and they don't feel very motivated. Even getting a mile or two can be a chore.
I wonder if any of our world travelers have similar experiences when traveling for a big climb, succeeding, and then feeling similar to you once home.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Mark, don't sweat it man. You did great.
I did 110 pitches in three weeks there once, including an El Cap route,also the Harding route on Conness in a day......in 1985! And I was beat for weeks after it seemed.
I'm 48, and when we did 60 pitches in 3 weeks in RMNP I was tired too.
Of course I didn't train as much as you, but hey, it's a sure sign that you're still in there kickin'!! That's the main thing man.
Just feel good about it.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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You kicked ass for anyone, and especially for someone our age. I need a cup of coffee just to read this.
What's next?
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 7, 2009 - 02:49pm PT
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No, I'm not complaining at all, just making an observation. I knew it was going to happen and I'd do almost the exact same thing next time.
I want to get up on Freerider next spring and the only thing I'll do differently is to train more for power. A NIAD ascent, this time sharing the leading, might also happen.
I ain't dead yet so I'm going to keep doing this sh#t as long as I can.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there mark... say, rest up and revel in the wonders of what you've done...
thanks for the shares, and even more so---as to how your body fared, and how you prepared....
say i have been very busy of late, trying to write my stories, so i am missing some very great trip reports here (due to the fact that i can't wait for the pics, to download)... so:
my question is... do you have a link you can post for this trip report... (hhhm i dont THINK i've seen it, anyway?)..
thanks so very much... will then try to get to see all the glory that was earnestly worked for... :)
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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inspirational for sure! I have a hella bit of work cut out for me, at 55... Mark's NIAD and Mike's 5.14 in Maple Canyon...
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 7, 2009 - 03:06pm PT
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The trip report for the NIAD will probably be trip report for the whole trip, since it involves all the work, climbing and emotional ups and downs. It might be a while. I have photos of the rest of the trip but only Tom's photos of us on the Nose for the NIAD.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there say, mark.. thanks for posting... :)
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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what she said!
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 7, 2009 - 03:13pm PT
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Okay, okay, I'll start working on the NIAD trip report.
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
Oh, you know.....Here & there
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Excellent! I look forward to it.
Props.
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Age; it gets the best of us. Hell, even when I was young I needed a week to recover from a wall. Now its more like a month.
And by the way, I don't think I've done 100 plus pitches in the last ten years COMBINED. you're killing it.
But I can say that I notice, the older I get (55 now) the harder I have to work just to stay even. Its pretty discouraging. At this point I pretty much know I'm not going to get better. But it takes hours and hours of working out each week just to maintain general fitness. Sometimes (like the last 3 or 4 months in particular) it hardly seems worth it. I'm up 20 lbs in the last 8 years or so, but I find it really hard to get motivated to go out and run or ride everyday, which is what I need to keep the weight off. And in the end I'm going to die. duh
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rotten johnny
Social climber
mammoth lakes, ca
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at 54 i have maintained my endurance and virility by drinking a quart of tamalax once a day.....try it on your next wall...the stuff works....
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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I feel your ache. The last time I got off El Cap I was so sore, it took days before the total pain subsided enough for me to realize I completely ruptured my achilles tendon.
Our bodies know how to go as far as we demand them to. When that's over, the body submits the bill.
Pay up!
Karl
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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"Pay up!"
That's perfect Karl....it really is.
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 7, 2009 - 07:07pm PT
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Dang though, I'll pay this price again and again as long as I can keep doing it, eh?
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micronut
Trad climber
fresno, ca
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You probably have Bird Flu or SARS.
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