Cross training and injuries!

Well I saw Dr. Tilley again on Monday. This time we did a cortisone injection into my shoulder. Looks like I will be suffering with a little bicep tendonitis for a while, maybe forever. So I can't climb for a few days. I took yesterday off as a rest day, and today I hit Pinnacle Mountain. I set a personal best for my Pinnacle traverse today. I start off on the East side, the "hard trail." I was 20 minutes to the summit and then 10 minutes down the west side to that trailhead. Then I turned right around and made the summit again in another 20 minutes. With no rest for the weary I headed back down the east trail to the car. I was hoping to make it down that side in 10 minutes as well, but picking your way through the boulder field on tired legs is a little slower. Once I got back to good trail I was able to pick-up the pace and a run the last portion for a final time of 1:05.

Now you may ask how is running up and down Pinnacle Mountain going to help with 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell? It's just a matter of time and strategy. Imagine that you are at the Confederate Cracks and at 10 p.m. and you need to hit the check in point and cross the valley to the Roman Wall. This can be quite a hike with all of year gear and it requires a fair amount of elevation loss and gain. You certainly don't want to be waiting 10 minutes to catch your breath when you reach your climb, do you?

If you haven't been checking up on things with the 24HHH website there's a few interesting things going on. Andy sent out the competitor list this year already. Looks like the crazy cannuck Sonny Trotter and his globe trotting partner Jonathan Thesenga got their fill of Hell last year. But in there place is a nine fingered man from Colorado, who will be climbing with semi-local Jeremy Collins. Pro-climber Brittany Griffith will be back for another year, as will the hard climbing dou of Leather and Lace, Dick Dower & Natalie Neal. Watching Dick pull Crimpy Scampi at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning was serios motivation for me to get moving! If you don't know Dick (pun intended) you got to met him. He's older than the rocks, and climbs harder than most of you! Also absent from this years roster is last year's winning team of Stark Ligon and Cole Fennel. What gives guys???