Wed Skyline Hike Report

[magikwalt]

Went very well...I left out at 4:45am from the parking lot and within 20 minutes knew I'd probably never do it again. The Ramon Rd start seems so much better given the darkness and warming up. Damn all those stair master cutoff trails. The hike was great both temperature and trail conditions. I did notice the orange spots tended to be put right over the top of old white spots. The new training using a heart rate monitor has paid off. Thanks to both Zippety and Perry for the chats. I cut an additional 1:20 off my best and posted 6:28 to the concrete.

The orange spots did help after the traverses. I tend to lose the trail up there and they made it easy although in some areas it looked like they missed the trail as well. I guess if the orange is unsightly and someone is going to clean it off then it begs the question about all the white markings. Certainly all those words on the rock leaving the picnic tables didn't roll down from San Jacinto that way.

The wife and I met Perry above Mesquite recently. He went by us on the way up just as Stan described him...fast. He looked to be holding a 5 minute mile pace through the steepest section. So far we have met 4 people from this site and its been pretty remarkable. Not a single one of them has fit the picture I've drawn yet I have liked everyone of them immediately.

Thanks again Perry for an exceptional site.

[cynthia23]

Congratulations on a great time, MW! What is the heart rate book that you've been reading?

Will my times improve if I just read the book?

[magikwalt]

No book yet since ZDude won't release the title of his HR Bible. I have been working on the following routine given I'm old and have a Max Heart Rate somewhere around 171 (220 - age. So now its out:). Use the treadmill and Lykken Trail above Mesquite and attempt to stay fulltime above a HR of 140. Murray Peak hike stays above 140 for the approach and from the Clara B sign up to the top stay between 135 and 155. Anytime I hit 155 I have to drop the pace.

On Skyline I used 148 as my high alert and tried to not have any significant stop time at all. The monitor was great for keeping me from pushing too hard early in the hike. I still finished with over about an hour of stop time as tracked by the GPS. About 15 minutes above flat rock I just feel like a wounded moose.

Since Oct 2006 I have dropped from 308lbs to 262lbs and the hike time went from 8:40 to 6:28. I still need to drop another 30lbs off the frame so I'm a work in progress. Zippety and I are similar in one regard. He doesn't look like an ultramarathoner and I don't look like I should be on the trail heading for the tram.

[zippetydude]

Walt: The name of the book is "The Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius.

Cynthia23: Not really, just trying to keep Walt busy. The real name is "Total Heart Rate Training" by Joe Friel.

Both and anyone else: I've been using a heart monitor for about 4 years, using various strategies.

I got this book about 6 weeks ago, and suddenly my training is much more effective. For example, I had done Skyline a few times in the autumn of 06, then again in January of this year. Similar times, similar heart rates, similar total number of heart beats.

I got the book, then found my heart rate quickly dropped down, even though my pace got faster. My most recent trip (about 3 weeks ago) was my fastest trip yet, but my heart beat about 4000 fewer beats than on my January trip.

Sounds too easy, so I'm confused myself as to why it has worked so well. I haven't run a marathon since beginning the training, so I don't know what it will do over longer distances, but at least on a tough uphill monster like Skyline it has really helped.

I would add that I've pretty much followed the formula that he offers and then some, so my training has been pretty brief each day, but consistent and a little more intense than it used to be.

Good luck with it if you give it a try.

Cynthia, you might well be able to do the same thing without a heart monitor, but it would probably be easier if you had the HR info available. Walt was right about the monitor helping to keep from burning yourself out. The best training keeps your body challenged without overwhelming it - too intense can make you bonk or injure something, too easy can stop your improvement, so the monitor helps you stay on that middle road.

z

[cynthia23]

Thanks for info, Zip. This Boethius dude, does he post on the San Gorgonio board?

As for your mysteriously slowing heart, Zip, I have no words. Seems to me you are already superhuman, so I'm not surprised if your from-another-world powers are manifesting in ever more unusual ways. What will be next? Spoon-bending? Fire-starting? Disruptions in the whole space-time continuum?

You've already got the levitation and bilocation stuff down pat ...

Please, Zip, use your x-treme powers wisely ...

[magikwalt]

Thanks Zipety! I love reading and am due for a new book anyway. After looking at my "stopped time" on the GPS it seems as though my first priority is to get a pace going that allows me to walk through non stop.

The portion of the training which is more intense but shorter works well for me trying to sandwich it into my day. Thanks again for the book title and info.

[Ellen]

Howdy Magikwalt

I think your weight loss and fitness progress in 6 months are admirable and inspirational You are twice my body weight and posted my usual time to the tram.

Your comment about feeling like a wounded moose above flat rock was hilarious My bad spot is generally the last climb along the ridge to flat rock. There's usually no breeze there and I feel like my head is going to pop off.

I concur with Zippetydude on the recommendation for Joel Friel's excellent book "Total Heart Rate Training." Many triathletes that I've worked with use his Training Bible.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[magikwalt]

Wow that book Zippetydude put me onto really had an effected on my heartrate and I already owned it. As I pass 1,500ft this morning on Skyline with my heart pounding I'm lost in thought pondering “Why, then, O mortal men, do you seek that happiness outside, which lies within yourselves?”

By the time I get to 3,000ft my head is hurting from thinking so much but my heartrate is holding around 135. I put the other heartrate book on order. Thanks to both of you for the help!