It’s been a long time since I’ve checked in via blog form so here we go. Training in SF is going great! I’ve moved to almost exclusively training out of Diakadi as I like the layout, setup and people there so much. I recently put on a clinic at Diakadi called “Run Healthy” that was well-attended and well-received. http://diakadibody.com/-/924-run-healthy/#/gallery/605
Personally I’ve been climbing a lot. Hit Yosemite and Bishop three times last month. The last trip I came so close to sending my first V8 at Bishop with Flyboy SDS, but was shut down, bouncing off the 15ft high lip. A little bummed I didn’t get it, we left for Yosemite Valley that evening and the next day I send Torque Spanner, for my first outdoor (aka real) V8!!! I felt like this was a long time coming, and put in a ton of work in the climbing gyms this year so it felt good to finally get some validation. As you can see by the end of the video I was slightly (and embarrassingly) excited. I’ll be cool after the next send, I promise. This video is clearer then the one I posted on FB.
The other awesome thing about that trip is that after working Torque Spanner for a while I was taking a break and watching friends work other problems in the Camp 4 area when a HUGE bobcat decided to stroll right by. I’ve seen bobcats before and this one was about twice the size. After following him around a bit taking pictures (he didn’t seem to care as long as I didn’t get too close) my adrenaline was really high and I just had a good feeling I was going to send. Anybody who knows me well knows I’m a big fan of big cats (hence my tattoo/logo).
Since I can’t post something without giving some fitness tips let me talk about the Lyon Street Steps. San Francisco has many, many, many awesome hills and staircases and by this point I’ve run most of them. I’d heard about the Lyon Street steps from multiple people, mostly about how hard they are, but I hadn’t made it over yet myself. Usually when lots of people tell me how hard something is I secretly think “well, it can’t be that hard or lots of people wouldn’t be doing it”. These stairs are pretty damn hard. Like anything it comes down to the effort you put into them, but if you want a great workout with stunning views without leaving the city then Lyon Street Steps are a good bet. I suppose that’s why so many bootcamps meet there. I stopped by in the middle of a long, hilly bike ride and sprinted the steps three times and carried my bike up once. The second time up I decided to film it using my iphone. I got a few funny looks running with one arm pumping furiously and the other trying to steadily hold my iphone out in front of me. If you want to get a first person view of what running up a bunch of stairs looks like, rewarded with a nice view up top and some of my currently favorite pump-up music check out this video.
Running stairs hard gets the heart rate extremely high in a very short amount of time. Add in an upperbody exercise like Pushups in between flights and you can do a total body, high intensity workout in just a few minutes. If you’re training for a long hike these stairs would be great, just put some weight in a pack (water works well) and walk up and down for a while.
All the best,
Sean
