I've mentioned my desire to get back into hiking shape after knee reconstruction surgery earlier this year and the frustration with trying to reverse months of atrophy leading up to the surgery.[^1] After Friday's hike, [^2] I figured I'd better get a little more scientific about the physical preparation process as winter training begins. I have a long way to go on my road back toward an entire hiking season.
In 2018 for my 60th birth year, I identified 60 mountain peaks that I wanted to climb; unfortunately, due to a debilitating issue with plantar fasciitis, I had to take almost the entire year off to get it under control. In addition, I'd had problems with the "nail in the heel" feeling before playing racquetball and other sports; however, this bout ended with shoe inserts and six months of acupuncture to get back to reasonable well-being on my feet.
I kept my original list of 60 peaks, which included dozens of repeats from my favorite climbs, including Lady Mountain, Mount Kinesava [^3], and Wheeler Peak. [^4] New peaks I've wanted to climb included Mount Timpanogos [^5] and Mount Nebo. [^6] All these peaks are massive endeavors and somewhere in the back of my mind is still the desire to complete a great list of mountain summits all in the same year. Next year I turn 65; 65 peaks for my 65th birth year might be just the ticket.
To accomplish even a good year of hiking, I'll need to be in much better shape than I am now, including a significant emphasis on aerobic conditioning. The hike on Friday of UNP4649 resulted in a TSS score of 178, roughly 10x my current fitness level, waking up Saturday morning with a Whoop Recovery score of 24% (Red) and elevated resting heart rate. I know this stuff, and I thought it might be worthwhile to document the physical preparations needed for a successful season of hiking and climbing in The Space Between the Lines.
My daily blog has focused Tuesdays and Fridays on outdoor adventures. I either report a current event or mine one of the dozens of unpublished trip reports for a backlog publication. I will continue to post current events; however, when I don't have a live account, I will focus on tools and actions that provide a meaningful return on investment. While reporting my winter training progress, I will first discuss the tools I am most familiar with, i.e., TrainingPeaks, Whoop, and Lumen. I've signed up for a short-term stent of Les Mills on demand to increase my "in-home" training and stretching. I also discovered "The Trip" as part of the Mills suite of activities, and I've enjoyed the immersive fictional landscape for bike rides versus the grueling "real" terrain of Rouvy. I'll report on these activities as well.
One caveat is that I need to have my right knee reconstructed at some time. The doctor assured me that my right knee is in as bad a shape as my left knee, although it doesn't hurt. The consensus is that as soon as my brain figures out my left knee no longer hurts, it will swing its focus to how poorly my right knee functions, and I'll be back to square one. My physical therapist recommends waiting until that time before considering surgery. I'll cross that bridge when it comes; however, it could come sooner rather than later. Until then, here's hoping for a productive winter season of skiing, hiking, and using all the tools.
Written November 27, 2022
Footnotes:
[^1]: [You're Still A Rockstar — Linda's Brick Barn (lindasbrickbarn.com)](https://lindasbrickbarn.com/steves-trip-reports/2022/10/4/youre-still-a-rockstar)
[^2]: [UNP4649. Castle Cliff - UT, quad — Linda's Brick Barn (lindasbrickbarn.com)](https://lindasbrickbarn.com/steves-trip-reports/2022/11/26/unp4649-castle-cliff-ut-quad)
[^3]: Lady Mountain and Mount Kinesava are both in Zion National Park.
[^4]: Great Basin National Park.
[^5]: Salt Lake City, UT area
[^6]: Nephi, UT area