Like most sports, mountaineering has an off-season. After a spring and summer full of training and climbing, it's time to let the body recover from the abuse of hundreds of miles of running, hiking and the StairMaster, thousands of miles of biking, and, of course, completing the actual climbs.
Enjoying the off-season in mountaineering, however, doesn’t mean you completely take off, as maintaining a solid base of fitness is critical to ensuring a strong start to the training schedule that begins in mid-February. Plus, like I’ve said in previous posts, working out is an outlet for me. I still need to blow off some steam after a long day, as I’m a better person for it, and I've found that my body doesn't hurt as much if I stay active.
As many guides and mountaineers say, “Mountaineers don’t have to work out, they get to work out!” Training and being outside is just part of what you do. The off-season is the time to mix it up. Yeah, you still hit the trail, as it’s the perfect time of year for a hike, but the great thing is you can do it without dumbbells in your pack, and you don’t have to do the steepest, most miserable trail in record-breaking time. You can wind it down from the demanding training schedule and simply enjoy the outdoors, giving the body time to recover physically as well as mentally.
One of the ways Lauren and I have been able to do that is by hiking or kayaking every weekend at the local state and county parks. I also threw in some thrills and frills such as skydiving. Yeah...I guess I still need my adrenaline rush when I’m not hanging off of the side of a mountain, which I definitely got jumping out of a plane. The funny thing my brother Jay reminded me of was that when I jumped out of the plane at 10,000+ feet, I was still 4,000 feet lower than some of the mountains that I've climbed. I guess the real difference is it took me 40 seconds to drop from 10,000 to 5,000 feet, where on the mountain, that woud have taken hours...and free falling is a lot easier on the knees!
When I'm not jumping out of planes, or hiking and kayaking with Lauren in the off-season, I truly enjoy just sitting on our back deck around our fire pit and downing a few brewskis. It's a great time of the year to chill and spend time with Lauren, Winston and friends, not having to worry about training for hours each day in prep for the 15+ hour days on the mountain.
Regardless, the fall is when I get to relax, recover and mix in some different activities to keep things fresh, while staying strong in anticipation of hitting the ski slopes and beginning my next round of training in the winter. So far, I'd say this off-season is off to a great start!
Climb On!
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