One of the keys to performance in endurance events such as distance running, cycling, swimming, or mountaineering, is to be able to put in a hard burst in the middle of your effort and then recover. We see Tour de France cyclists do this all the time, racing a full out sprint in the middle of a stage, then recovering for the final sprint 60 miles later. Runners do it when they make a break up a hill to get away from the field, and mountaineers need to be able to do it when getting through a tough stretch of Disappointment Cleaver or clambering over the bergschrund on the fixed lines on Denali. The ability to put on a burst AND recover while you maintain your activity is developed through interval training.
There are lots of different intervals that can be tailored to accomplish different goals, from natural rolling intervals (Fartlek Intervals), to the 4x4 interval workout. Another useful set of intervals are ladder intervals.
Ladder intervals are sets of increasing and/or decreasing intervals. Ladder intervals can be done in a variety of terrain, from flats, to rolling hills, to a hill climb. A common ladder set might be to do a 1-minute interval, then recover, then do a 2-minute interval, followed by a 4-minute effort, followed by a 6-minute interval. Once you reach your peak (you’ve worked your way up the ladder), start working your way back down, reversing the pattern. After the 6-minute interval, do a 4-minute interval, then a 2-minute interval, and then finish with a last 1-minute interval. As with all interval training, the goal is to complete each one at a similar pace. The 1-minute interval might naturally be a bit faster, but you want to avoid blowing yourself out in the first couple of intervals so that you are just surviving through the remainder.
Another important component to interval training is the recovery time. Recover for between 50-100 percent of the duration of the previous effort. For shorter intervals, recovery time might be closer to 100 percent (you might recover for 1 minute after a 1-minute interval) while longer intervals may be closer to 50 percent (for the 4 and 6-minute intervals). Recover for long enough that your heart rate has dropped and you feel ready for the next set, but not so long that your heart rate returns to a very low zone 1 or 2 effort level. Recovery is best accomplished actively, at a very slow jog, walk, or spin; after all, the ability to recover while moving is what we are trying to develop.
As with all training tools, the ladder intervals can be adjusted to fit your needs. Using longer sets (at a slower pace) will help to build your lactate threshold, while shorter (and faster) sets will help to build your anaerobic threshold and recovery. These can also be done over distances rather than time, such as on a track. An example might be a 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 400m, 200m, 100m. Remember that interval training requires a quality warm up and cool down, both to prevent injury, and allow you to perform and get the most out of the workout.
Dave Hahn calling in from Mount Everest. All is well. We had a pretty nice weather day here. Not terribly cold and pretty clear for most of the day. The whole group is doing fine. Everybody is healthy, everybody had a good first night at 17 and a half thousand feet, and to help with that acclimatization today, was just an easy day. Catching up, resting, drinking water and taking it easy. Neat to be up here at the foot of the Khumbu Icefall, with giant mountains towering all around us. So far we have pretty much got base camp to ourselves. There's not a whole lot of other groups yet. They will be coming in in the next few days or in the next week or so. Things are good here, and we'll let you know what's going on tomorrow. Bye now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls in from Day 1 at Everest Base Camp.
the power of reptar (n royal pug june) compells u…
Posted by: Eric Pipkin on 4/7/2014 at 12:09 pm
Hi Kara!
Thinking about you every day. Started working on the story and will send you a link soon. Be safe and have an awesome time! Can’t wait to hear all about it! You are such a ROCK STAR!! Love, Mo
Namaste!
The team got a great night sleep and was up early for time in the gardens and the workout room. No joke, Kim felt the need for some exercise after 35 plus hours on planes over the last few days. After a nice leisurely breakfast we discussed logistics and did a gear check to ensure we would be ready for an early morning departure. It's exciting to think that after all of our training, planning and traveling, we're finally ready to hit the trail.
With details all sorted out we headed out to visit some of the World Heritage sites that Kathmandu is home to. The adventure began as soon as we left the hotel. To describe the traffic in Kathmandu as thinly veiled bedlam would be charitable. It's amazing how many cars, truck, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians - all vying for the same small piece of road - can manage to avoid catastrophe. But they do. It's makes for an interesting ride as a passenger to say the least.
Our first stop was Swayambhunath; also know as the "Monkey Temple" because of the mobs of monkeys that call it home. It occupies the highest ground in Kathmandu and the views of the valley from the top are fantastic - but they aren't free either. For the views and to walk around the stupa we first had to walk up 365 steps to the top. At last, all our training paid off and we made it up with no problem. Though Mark did make sure and remind us to use it as an opportunity to practice the rest step!
Next we headed to Pashupatinath. It was quite a contrast to our first stop. Not only is it Nepal's most important Hindu temple, but the banks of the river are lined with open-air cremation ghats. While there were a number of cremations in site the team was sensitive to the occasion and moved through the area quickly and quietly. We wandered through the rest of the complex getting to see a large number of shrines and temples.
We headed back into the the city and had lunch in a delightful rooftop restaurant overlooking the Stupa at Bodhnath. The view was awesome and it was nice to be able to relax as a team away from the crowds. Though after lunch we did dive into them and wander around the streets for a while before heading back to the hotel for any last minute preparations and a good night's sleep before our early morning wake up.
A special shout out to Katie from Dad and Kim!
A good day indeed.
John G.
Oddly enough, we had great weather today, but we couldn't really put it to good use. We stayed in our 14,200' camp. Forecasts called for dire weather and a couple of our gang were under the weather, dealing with minor colds, so we decided to give everything and everyone a day in which to get better. In fact, none of the other teams on the mountain moved either. We know of four, one other guided group at 14 Camp and three teams up at 17,200'. The National Park Service team packed up their camp and flew out of 14 today by helicopter, their season finished. To take advantage of the fine sunshine and to stretch legs, most of our team roped up and took a short walk to the "edge of the world" on the rim of Genet Basin. It offers magnificent views nearly straight down to the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier and also a good look at the lower portions of the West Rib climbing route. Obviously, if we have the opportunity tomorrow, we want to get back to work on the West Buttress route.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
have been following your progress on the blog and praying for a summit and safe return for you and all the team members, can’t wait to hear all the stories when you return, take lots of pics and hope you will give presentation at the medical society mtg when you return
Hello, this is Dave Hahn checking in from 7,200' on Mt. McKinley.
Sure enough, we lucked out yesterday morning and flew onto the mountain first thing. By 10 AM, our K2 Aviation pilots, Randy and Tony, had the team unloading the big red ski-equipped Otters at 7200 ft on the Kahiltna Glacier. There was plenty to do for the duration of the day in establishing a camp and reviewing glacier travel techniques. We did take breaks from our labors in order to gaze up at the gargantuan flanks of the surrounding mountains. Denali itself even made a few appearances, shaking off low clouds from time to time and attempting to give us the big stare-down from long distance.
Our intention was to get to sleep early and to wake at 1 AM in the hopes of traveling through the heavily crevassed sections of the Kahiltna while the snow surface was frozen up solid. But due to low clouds rolling in, the surface never came close to freezing. In fact, throughout the night there were persistent rain and wet snow showers that convinced us to postpone our travel plans for a day. So today we are resting and casually sorting gear at basecamp. There is only one other team in base today, camped a few hundred feet away and presumably sharing our hopes for better weather tonight. We've got a mountain to climb.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Stay safe and warm. That mountain has no problem making you a permanent resident. Seem to be making good time though, I been in that area my self. Stunning!
After a near perfect climb, complete with a very bright full moon and excellent sunrise casting a conical mountain shadow over the plateau below, our team made it safely back to Piedra Grande. There we broke camp and loaded the trucks for our cruise back to Tlachichuca. On our drive down we were able to see our day's work with remarkable clarity. Back in town we got cleaned up and packed before a celebratory dinner at Doctor Reyes' house. Everyone enjoyed a well-deserved rest in the converted factory before one last breakfast in Mexico. Then it was off to Mexico City with views of La Malinche, Ixta and Orizaba along the way. Thanks for a great trip everyone and great job!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Antarctica didn't let us go easily. It was 1:00 AM when we saw the definitively-Russian Ilyushin lumbering through the Antarctic sky. The temperature was some 20 below, and the 30 knot winds made it feel much, much colder, ripping heat from exposed flesh with efficiency. But, for a huge jet landing on a strip of blue ice, a strong headwind is a nice thing, helping to slow the giant bird down.
With a delicate landing that defied its massive bulk, the Ilyushin touched down to many a camera-shutter click and loud cheer. After days of delay, strikes, broken parts, and other issues, we were all ready to move onward. After unloading many tons of Jet A aviation fuel in 55 gallon drums, the ALE team called us all to board. A few moments later, doors were closed, engines spun up, and the pilots lifted us off the runway as smoothly as they had landed; it was hard to tell we had even gone airborne. While on the flight down we all were wired with excitement and slept but little, this flight was the inverse: tired from days of climbing, we all quickly succumbed to the late hour and fell asleep. In hindsight, the bit of wine and beer we had at Union before leaving might have helped a wee bit, too.
At 7:00 AM, another masterful landing thumped us down on the tarmac in Punta Arenas. As we exited the hulking Ilyushin, we could all smell it and see it: Green things. Trees, plants, animals. Life. After 3 weeks on the ice - in a land of intense beauty, but almost completely devoid of life - it was a welcome sight. The idea of a bed rather than a Thermarest, and walls instead of nylon, wasn't bad either. So, we quickly headed to to the hotel.
It always amazes me how quickly we transition in these modern times. It wasn't that long ago that expeditions wound down slowly, and reintegration into "normal" life took time. The body, and more importantly the mind, was granted simply through logistics the luxury of moving from the stark mental and physical environment of the expedition back to the frenetic pace of life in a slow manner. Today, it's anything but slow. Just hours ago we sat on a glacier on the bottom of the world, climbing mountains and routes which had never seen humans. And, now, just hours later, I'm on the internet in a hotel amidst a bustling city, and the rest of my team is on an airplane, well on their way to home, family, life. Amazing, and hard to digest.
Like the departure, the return home is something of a bittersweet affair. Certainly, in the words of Big Head Todd, "more sweet than bitter", but still a challenge. We who go to the mountains generally do so for a reason. It feeds us. It grounds us. It makes us thrive. The simplicity of the mountain life is wholly engaging, and leaving it is tough. But, to simply remain would be avoidance, escapism. And, perhaps, make the love of the mountains moot, for without black we cannot have white. It is only by leaving home that we realize how fortunate we are, and for some of us it is only by living the mountain life - and then leaving it for a time - that we remember to value it and apply its lessons and teachings to our lives back home.
As I sit here in Punta, backing up gigabytes of images, listening to CNN, and watching ships bob in the nearby harbor, this all rushes through my mind. I am excited beyond words to get home. It's been far too long since I've hugged my children and my wife, and patted my dog's head. I long to answer my daughter's questions, to hear about her day, and listen to my son say her name - a new trick he developed during my absence. But, I also know that, before long, the flood of emails and deadlines and bills and housework and the frenetic pace of modern life will threaten to overwhelm. It is then, I hope, that my mind will harken back to the austere simplicity of Antarctic life. I hope I will be able to conjure up the invigorating lessons of the high peaks, my mountain mind speaking to me through the fog of modern life: "You're but a small part of a big machine. Be humble. Hug your family. Be thankful. Smile.
Relax...Focus on what's important in life, the fundamentals, for soon you'll be back again in the mountains.
-Jake Norton
I know I sound like a broken record but our Aconcagua team is both rocking and rolling! Today we woke up early and laced up our mountaineering boots. With hefty packs in hand we slowly made our way up to Camp 1 at 16,360 feet...officially.
For Geoff and I today gave us an opportunity to visibly see how each climber is doing. And it was obvious that everyone has climbed before. And climbed well. The team was in sync with breaks, rest stepping, good footwork and most importantly everyone was having fun.
We spent a half an hour at Camp 1 and we left quite a bit of gear that we will need for the upper mountain. So we are now officially ready to move up the mountain. But first we will take another rest day here at base camp. There's no need to rush. The tortoise always wins the race.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
are the two pictures from the archive or actually from the current trip?
Posted by: Ryan Junell on 12/11/2012 at 9:47 am
Good work Barrel I-you are awesome and glad to hear all is well. PETER- I have 12 copies of Mountains of the Mind for XMAS gifts for my Kilimanjaro girls and Linden. Loved the book but I know you were luke warm on MacFarlane. Thanks for the copy on Elbrus. Rob- Charlie is changing jobs. West Virginia vs Richmond? Love to you all.
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Joe Hoch reached the 14,410' summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Joe Hoch reported a beautiful day of climbing with 20 mph breeze from the southwest. The team is on the descent making their way back to Camp Muir.
Yesterday we raced to set up our tents under the Araucaria trees as a fast moving thunderstorm approached. This morning we awoke in a thick snowy cloud. After an hour of skinning up an ever narrowing ridge, we rose above into glowing morning light and blue skies.
Last time we came to ski Sierra Nevada was five years ago and we got 95% of the way there, but ran out of time. Today, snow conditions were perfect for skinning all the way to the summit. On top we had impressive views of our neighbors, Lonquimay and Llaima. And crystal clear radio communication with Sergio at his lodge way down in the valley. Three hours later, after a highly enjoyable skiing experience, he picked us up in his Land Rover (it’s a gnarly road) with cold cervezas.
Some photos...
RMI Guide Tyler Reid
very impressive post for mountain climber like me.i am very excited to do my next expedition after reading your article.
Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Rajendra Timalsina on 5/14/2019 at 8:18 am
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