Backpacking Is My Sport

I like running. Especially now that I'm starting to get faster, I enjoy running. It helps keep my legs ready to go, and provides the main aerobic component of my exercise routine.

But running serves backpacking.

I like lifting weights. It's an activity that my husband and I do together, and it's fun to figure out new routines or tweak old ones. It's nice to go spend time in the hot tub afterwards.

But lifting weights serves backpacking.

I really like CrossFit. It's a challenging workout that introduces me to new things that I would otherwise have never thought to try, like box jumps, rope climbs and double-unders. It makes me push myself.

And it serves backpacking.

Running builds my aerobic capacity and helps train my legs; lifting weights helps me carry my pack; CrossFit helps with functional movement and mental toughness.

Each exercise I do in the off season is meant to make next year's backpacking season better. And so far, I have gotten better every year. Last week, I had a realization. Backpacking is my sport, and if I am going to get better at that sport, if I am going to succeed in my goal of consecutive 20 mile days next season, then I need to practice that sport.

On Christmas day, I went on an 11.14 mile hike in the foothills, with 1850 feet of gain. And on 12/28 I did 15.79 miles with 2400 feet of gain.

I only carried a light pack, but had the added complication of snowy weather to contend with. I know I still have a ways to go before stringing together 20 mile days with a loaded pack, but I'm getting an idea of exactly how far I have to go by doing this. I'm learning how to push myself in this sport. I'm learning how much my feet can hurt without stopping me.

This off-season, for the first time, I'm focused on practicing and perfecting my sport.

Holiday Cheer

Well, my husband and I stayed up late last night watching movies, and I was so very tempted not to run today, but my running partner from work and I made a date. And we kept it.

So I totally earned any and all holiday cheer splurges by going on a nearly 3 mile run today in weather colder than 40 degrees while it was raining.

Also, we saw a heron when we were done. Pretty cool.

And our average pace was 9:34 minute miles. I'm pretty happy about that pace considering I'm still feeling like I've got some sinus infection going on. . . 

Making the Cut

 Or not, as the case may be.

Here are a few photos that didn't make the cut for my latest book:

This is the back of the wilderness permit. Don't forget to respect the "quite" that the wilderness offers!

I have no idea how I managed to convince myself that the lens smear on this picture was because of the high humidity. 

I do so love the animal pictures, but not all of them turned out well enough to print. 

The highest zoom introduces a good deal of motion to the frame... 

I stopped trying for a better shot after this one, and scared the poor guy off as I walked toward him. 

I so wanted a good picture of this bird, but it wasn't to be. It spooked before I could get close enough. 

Weakness and Strength

The other day I went to Crossfit. I'm still going. I haven't quite kept up with twice a week, but I go on a regular kind of basis. And, in order to fit it into my schedule, I go to the 5:30am class. I can't think of the last time I went to one later in the day.

There was a fairly typical turnout of five athletes that morning, and the coach was one that I hadn't met before. He introduced himself when I arrived, and introduced himself to another woman who I knew, but he didn't.

The six of us were milling around near the board where the workouts are written as we waited for it to be time to start. And, I forget what precipitated the remark, but the woman said something about being weak. And I smiled in agreement, because I knew that both she and I lifted weights that are, to put it kindly, less than impressive.

I mean, I can't even squat my body weight. Which I feel like I should be able to do. Or at least that that would be a strong thing to do.

But the coach's reply to the claim of weakness was, "No one up at 5 in the morning is weak. Especially when they've come to the gym to work out."

Which might not be an exact quote. Because that statement happened before I busted my ass doing the workout. But it's close.

It's a good reminder for me that strength isn't entirely about how much weight you can lift.

Solo Hike Book Progress Report

I've ordered my proof copy of my next volume of Hike with Me. I spent the Thanksgiving long weekend working on one of the most important components - the photos.

I took over 2000 photos over the course of that solo trip, but it would be impossible to include them all. I enlisted my husband as a helper and, together, we looked at every single one and chose about 200 for inclusion in the book.

That was the easy part.

The hard part was the process of placing the photos. First, I had to open a Gimp file, chosen based on whether I was doing a single vertical picture, a single horizontal or a double horizontal. Then, in that file, I opened the image files as layers, re-sized, scaled or cropped them depending on the picture. Next, I inserted a text box in the file for captions for each image. Next, I saved the file, and then exported the image to a jpg file. And then, at last, I could insert the photo into the Word document where I wanted it to live.

Pictures for a blog are so much easier!

So easy, here's a pika!

After completing that process for every scenery picture, I then tracked down my new equipment for this year and took portraits of that. Those photos were cropped out of their backgrounds, and then inserted as a layer into a smaller Gimp file where I added a caption. This is a departure from last year, when I inserted equipment pictures into their own full pages with reference markers rather than captions.

I did take some time off from this intensive labor to go to the gym. I rode a stationary bike on Friday, went climbing and running on Sunday. Managing stress with exercise is important. But I probably could have used more.

It is a wonderful feeling to relive my solo trip through reading what I've written and looking at the pictures that I took. But in creating this book, I want everything to be the best that I can make it. I want to provide an experience that gives readers some of the same senses of awe and fear and humor that I felt out there. And I put a lot of pressure on myself not only to do that, but to work to a deadline of having my book ready for Christmas.

And, barring something going horribly wrong, it will be. And it will be my best.