Training days

Training days. Trying to make the most of time remaining before contending with the variables (think challenges) that a high altitude 3rd world expedition provides in itself! These last weeks have provided their own variables that make climbing sugar snow at altitude seem relatively safe..

Tinakori hill at 303m high is a perfect training hill for a climbing expedition. The hill provides approximately 280m of elevation gain in a matter of 15 minutes. However it is not the elevation gain that provides the challenge, it is the darkness of after work running over countless pine tree roots that merge and meander with the trail that provide the unanticipated proprioceptive progress I have been experiencing lately.

Running virtually blind under the canopy of 80 year old pines planted during the '30s depression means ankles generally roll with the roots while eyes seek out the silhouette of vague contours of erosion under the beam of the headlamp.

Yet no run has been flawless, about a week ago I took a mighty trip, falling rapidly. I think my toe caught one of said roots throwing my balance immediately. Yet while a tremendous face-plant seemed imminent I somehow managed to tuck myself into a foetal ball and roll with the fall. Commando style. Picking myself up and patting my self down (only superficial cuts and bruises) I proceeded, gingerly.

Not to mention I am still carrying my rib injury from 4 weeks ago. A slippery rock with a full pack during a recent Search and Rescue exercise saw me crashing down less gazelle like. No hands, no protection, ribs on rock, ouch. Though this fall did not prove painful immediately, the last four weeks of sudden movements, coughs and sneezes remind me of the fall. Alas, 2 more weeks and I should be right!