It is hard to describe my hike to UNP6010 today without first giving a quick summary of a new (to me) fitness tracking software program I am using called Training Peaks. I heard of Training Peaks years ago; however, at the time, I was using a general fitness application called Endomondo, which closed the door permanently in December 2020. I had five years of data go with it. I've kept my journal entries and workout summaries, but I enjoyed Endomondo and how it presented multiple sport use cases. I've fumbled along with the Whoop strap since November 2017, but other than HRV (Heart Rate Variability), it has been a problematic application to put into practice. Whoop Recovery will tell you when your recovery is sufficient to take on high strain, and it provides a target for that strain. Still, it just seemed to be missing something, and until I started playing around with Training Peaks, I never could quite put my finger on it.

When I first reviewed Training Peaks, the fitness tracking application was essentially a bike cycling application or other endurance-type sports such as marathon running. I was pleased to find other sports such as Swimming, Crosstraining, Strength, Skiing, and Rowing in my current software review. Add to that the Performance Management chart, and I was sold.

I'll explain why, but only briefly as I am still learning the software, and I am just scratching the surface of this fantastic program. First, TP has a Fitness Line. That's right. The minute I understood that the "Chronic Training Load (CTL)" represents my current level of fitness (the amount of training load I can manage), it seemed apparent that "why doesn't Whoop have an indicator of my current fitness level?" Granted, an increasing HRV indicates increased fitness, but Training Peaks offers a number to peg to my current fitness level too. Better still, that fitness number decreases when I choose to sit on my butt after an arduous climb. Second, TP gives me a solid indicator of how much Training Stress comes from each workout (including strength work) that will add or subtract from the Chronic Training Load or my total fitness. I backloaded my past three months' exercises, and it is easy to see why I was not making any progress in April; my activities were not challenging enough. Add several massive climbs in May plus some consistent work, and my fitness trendline had been increasing and now, with understanding and effort, has been holding steady. I can now see (literally in the graphic illustration) how critical consistency is to my fitness. Still, more importantly, I can see that my effort with each workout needs to increase to maintain the level of CTL I'm currently enjoying.

Enjoying the shade of UNP6010 on my ascent.

Enter UNP6010. I wanted to hit a total strain for the day of between one-hundred and one-hundred-eighty. Knowing today would be hot, I woke early and completed a 20-minute warmup walk on the treadmill (13 tTSS). Next, a short bike ride with Linda (2nd ride on my new bike). Linda is far more advanced and completed a much longer circuit; mine, however, was 30-minutes and 21 tTSS. I arrived at UNP6010 at 9:15 am. UNP6010 is the southern mountain of the Parowan Gap. A wind gap divides the southern mountain UNP6010 from the northern section, and it is this wedge that precisely aligns with the Summer Solstice.

Entering the sun at the top of a rock banded gully. Fj parked below.

At 9:15 am, the temperature was already rising, and I couldn't resist parking on the western side of UNP6010 in the shade. I decided I could do most of the hike in the mountain's shadow, and although steeper with several cliff bands to negotiate, I figured it was worth avoiding the sun. I arrived at the top of the ridge and entered the sun near the summit just after Ten o'clock. A pleasant breeze was blowing, but I could feel the sweat running down my back as I placed a rock on the meager summit cairn. Enjoying the breeze and view, I take a few minutes to drink some water and follow the Gap road (12800 North) through the canyon toward Parowan. Several motorhomes dot the surrounding flatlands, and I make a mental note of the dinosaur tracks I want to visit someday.

Summit view east. The Gap road (12800 North)

The summit stands back away from the wind gap, so I decide not to traverse the rocky slope to the center. Instead, I follow the eastern ridgeline, dropping lower with each game trail I encounter. Finally, the ravine turns west and empties over a cliff face and is probably pretty impressive during a rainstorm. I search and find a short scramble section just north of the cliff and work my way down to the road. It is hot hiking back to my jeep, and the temperature gauge confirms the 91 degrees at 11:00 am. I close my hiking applications and heart rate monitor, knowing that I exceeded my goal for today's strain. However, I'm convinced that Training Peaks will be a game-changer for me going forward as I build my hikes around what I need to do to keep improving my fitness without overdoing it as I have done so often in the past.