Recovery, Ice, Compression, Elevation (But mostly Ice)

Taper week begins! This weeks marks the march toward the end. No more training should be done, and we focus on rest before the big climb. It's officially 9 more days until we begin the climb up Mt. Shasta for Climb against the Odds.

Up until today, the goal has been to mimic and challenge the environment as much as I can. As confirmed by the 7-day weather forecast, this includes snow. On the positive side, this means we'll have a healthy, firm foundation to hike up against. On the downside, conditions will mean that I will look like I did on week 2 of training -- an experience that was as uncomfortable as it looks.

In addition to our professional guides, we'll be equipped with mountaineering boots, an ice axe, and crampons (a.k.a. spikes you attach to your shoes) to make it to the summit. Courtesy of a crash course from my friends at Tahoe Mountain Sports, I learned that it takes a specific traction of snow to train in crampons. If the snow is too soft, your goal is to float on top of the snow, and snowshoes (larger surface area) will do the trick. If the snow is slightly melted and less thick, micro-spikes (smaller spikes) can be attached to the bottom of your shoes. Crampons sit in the middle of that spectrum, where snow is thick and packed enough to step on. See also the helpful infographic from Chasing ADVTR.

To acclimate to my new footwear, I tested out snow shoes and micro-spikes in Tahoe and North Cascades National Forest, respectively, this month. I learned a couple things:

1. I hate hiking in the snow: It is truly awful.
2. Post-holes are my new nightmare: Post-holing is when you step through what appears to be firm snow, but actually is melted snow. As a result, your foot will go straight through, and you are stuck at knee-to-hip level snow.
3. Pink or "watermelon" snow is not cute, but biology: We noticed on the way up an increasing amount of pink tracks in the snow, which turned out to be algae. The algae is actually an indication of melting glacier. Here's a cool article about it on Wired.
4. Snow sunburn and heat-stroke is real: A couple weeks ago, some friends remarked why I was wearing a tank-top while snow hiking. Funnily enough, the color white is the most reflective of all colors, and therefore, exposes you to the highest levels of UV radiation. Pack your SPF and prepare your layers, because snow sunburn is a real and painful thing.
5. GPS is your best friend, until it's not available: There are no such things as "trails" in snow hiking. All of the trails are covered in snow. If you lose signal, your only way to navigate is as the natives did: with people and animal tracks.
6. Turning back is not failure but a smart move.

To emphasize Lesson #6. I am not a hiking professional. Hiking up in the snow last weekend in the Cascades was the scariest experience of the last 4 months of training. At 6800 ft. in elevation, we lost GPS signal, lost a micro-spike to a post-hole, re-injured my right ankle, and were in dire need of snow-shoes to make it the rest of the way. While it was disappointing to turn back at mile 4 of a 7 mile hike, the safest decision was to get off the mountain.

As we wrap up training, I reflect that we didn't make every elevation goal. However, signing up for Climb Against the Odds stretched my limits further than I thought possible. For the next 7 days, my goal is now to shift from ICE to RICE -- Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.

Wish me luck, because my legs are already itching for the next adventure.

Lessons Learned:

• Your feet bones are some of the most moldable bones in your body. Depending on what shoes you wear, your feet will continue to adjust. As such, years of wearing 3-inch high heels are now showing. I highly recommend Super Feet inserts in your regular shoes if you need them.
• Pink snow!

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