Day 3 and Will Cross

Today was my third day of my intensive training schedule. On day one, I began with 15 minutes of warmup, followed by 30 minutes of 100% incline on a treadmill with a 20-lb. pack, and ending with 15 minutes of cool-down.



For today, I took an introductory rock climbing class at the world-class rock gym Earth Treks with the masterful instructor Ryan (you're the man!). I learned the basics of belaying and top-roping, such as tying in, anchoring, and all that good stuff. I now have a 15-foot rope to practice my knots on, and I will be taking the belay test very shortly to qualify as a belayer. Also, for the next 15 days, I will be focusing my training on rock climbing to jump-start my upper body's development, as that is my weak spot. After Day 1's training, I felt I could do another 30 minutes with a pack that was twice as heavy. Clearly, my legs are strong, but my arms are in dire need of attention.

And attention they will get, because typing is a bit of a chore for me presently. I am a little disappointed in my performance climbing today, because I was hoping to have more endurance. My grip died first, then my wrists and forearms, and lastly my reserve. Here, I was immensely helped along by the encouragement of my climbing partner (my brother) and the direction of my awesome instructor Ryan.

Day 3 total: two 5.6 climbs, not bad.
Week so far: 30 minutes, 100% treadmill incline, 20-lb. pack

Off to a great start! But I have a LOT of work to do. As I like to say, I am going to climb many mountains before I even set foot on one. I wouldn't have it any other way! I look forward to kicking my own butt, and having you come after me as well. Feel free to comment if you have any suggestions for my training plan, and I will be happy to take your ideas into consideration. I'm going to do whatever it takes to prepare myself for Rainier.




On another note, I had the incredible honor and pleasure of speaking with world-class mountaineer Will Cross on the phone today. I wrote him and asked him a lot of questions about blood sugar and altitude, sponsorship and even insulin pumps. He gave me a call and inspired me a great deal. It's so validating to hear a true pro tell you that you can do it! He is on the Animas 2020, which I have all but decided to use myself. I've contacted Animas, and I should be hearing about that shortly. Will said it was very durable, and the Animas customer service is rock-solid. Sounds good to me!

Good news with the pump, in general, though! My insurance company is going to cover me 100%. No out of pocket expenses! I couldn't be more stoked to be with an insurance company. It is almost too good to be true. I've spent one and a half years wishing I could be on the pump, and I've been through about 4 different insurance companies. Finally, the Heaven-sent news I needed to hear!

As for my blood sugar so far - I checked before and after my day 1 exercise, and also before I started climbing today and after I came down. The only notable issue was that my sugar was 89 before my class today, so I had a granola bar (30g carbs) and I was at 98 two climbs later! Obviously, my body used up a lot of energy and tore into that snack. This helps me gauge pre-climbing snacking in the future. I also made sure to stay very hydrated.

After all is said and done, I'm doing pretty well for my third day. I rewarded myself with a junior whopper this evening:) I'm pretty darn proud, but I'm going to work even harder next time. Which will be tomorrow. Wish me luck on my belay test!