Starting the 7500 foot climb: Nisqually BridgeI had been complaining of fatigue on earlier trips and how I didn't seem to be performing as I should be, but when you're 60 it's hard to tell if this is natural or if something is indeed impacting you physically. I went to the doctor last month checking on a lingering cough and got some bloodwork done just in case. Turns out I was impacted by an upper respiratory problem that has since cleared up....once I started treating for the cough and sinus congestion I noticed that crud was breaking up in the chest. Since then I have noticed an improvement in performance, especially on my last trip (Mt. Rainier Grand Tour Part 1). It took me about 4 hours to climb from Paradise to Camp Muir, but I had throttled back a bit, already having climbed from Longmire (2800') to Paradise (5400'). Anticipating the return trip from Muir (10,188') all the way to Maple Creek Camp (2800') my time and performance this time just about matched where I thought I should be, also factoring in that I was sleep deprived from an overseas trip. This is encouraging for me because on both my Mt. Adams trip and Wonderland trip I just had this feeling that I wasn't moving fast enough but there was nothing I could do about it.

I've kicked back a bit since my last sojourn, anticipating my daughter's return and our plans going forward where kicking back will not be an option. From a training perspective this brief rest period is in anticipation of ever challenging outings going all the way into September. I'm hoping to peak physically at that point and anticipate attempting something harder than what I've been doing recently.