I wrecked myself for two hours on Saturday morning with Joe Decker and his World's Fittest Man outdoor fitness class. Immediately following class, I went for a nine-mile run with a 7:30 pace in an effort to increase the volume of my training heading into the holiday season. I felt very strong through both workouts but ended up sleeping for three hours right after the run to recover. I took this as a sign that I still have a long way to go to condition myself for the Avalon 50, but the good news came on Sunday morning when I wasn't the least bit sore from my back-to-back training sessions.
I took a day-trip to Malibu Creek State Park on Sunday with a group of my climbing friends from San Diego. We climbed for a few hours, but at the end of the day, we ended up spending significantly more time driving than actually climbing. I'll spare you the details of the ordeal that ended up costing upwards of $200 and, worse yet, almost four-hours of our time, but it involved running over a screw and having to buy a new tire. This was increasingly dispiriting because I hadn't planned on driving but volunteered when our ride didn't show up. Not to be deterred, we still had fun climbing in a beautiful area of California that I hope to return to for further exploration.
Tomorrow I leave for Thanksgiving in Grand Canyon National Park. I'm really excited for this trip, mainly because my best friend from home is flying in to join me for this adventure. John arrives in San Diego at 1:15 a.m. tomorrow morning--his first trip to the west coast. John is in charge of the rental car and my duties this evening include preparing backpacking set-ups for both of us as well as food for our road trip. We're heading straight for the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and hope to be on the road no later than 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday. We should be at the Grand Canyon just after the ranger station opens where we hope to secure a backcountry permit. If we get authorized to camp at the bottom of the canyon, we'll take on the rim-to-rim-to-rim hike with an overnight or two by the Colorado River. If we are not able to get permits due to the heavy holiday traffic, our next option is to do the rim-to-river-to-rim hike in a day. We'll be ready for anything.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all--have a safe and pleasant holiday. Be sure to take lots of photos and check back next week to share with the community.
All the best, Active Toby
Here is my favorite photograph from the weekend:
