MOUNT MARATHON, OR FITNESS MOUNTAIN? SAME THING

Mount Marathon is the only mountain I’ve climbed, and that’s the trail up in the image.

It’s my Mount Marathon, but that’s now how it started.

What’s it really like?

Savor the rich, moist taste of the forest air while you can; upon reaching the cistern at the upper end of the trail you’ll be close to the tree line that contours across the mountain’s face.

Yes, I savored the moist taste of the forest air. I savored it through clenched teeth to filter out the little red bugs swarming my face. Were they stinger bugs? I hoped not.

With a guide to lead the way, the climb started from a street in Seward. From there a steep bank waited. How steep? Pulling up on roots steep, reaching out and touching the trail without leaning over steep.

Steepest trail I’ve been on, like doing pull-ups for the first hour. And eating red bugs. I trained up for the fitness part, not the bugs, but it’s all part of the fun.

Mount Marathon Forest Part Climb

The excitement of clearing the woods was short lived. The trail was still steep, but the traction was faulty.

There’s the technical aspect of the bottom of the mountain climbing up through the cliffs or up through the roots, and in a large portion, the bottom of the mountain, it’s just hard-packed clay that turns into a slippery mud slide when it rains. You know, you’re essentially scrambling up the side of the mountain trying to grab a foothold on any little bush or tree or bit of shrubbery.

There’s no need for acclimation like Mt. Everest and base camps. Just drive up, saddle up, and move up.

It wasn’t a race, but one is held every July 4th on the same mountain. Not a race for novice adventure racers.

It’s a race of just over three miles and 3,000 excruciating vertical feet of steep cliffs, boulders, slippery scree, snowfields, walls of mud and sometimes disaster. Two years ago, a runner plunged off a cliff and was badly hurt. He suffered a traumatic brain injury. Another rookie runner disappeared during that race and has never been found.

I didn’t hear about the disappearing before I started. The scree stuff either. What is scree?

Step up, slide back, repeat. Luckily I grew up surrounded by sand dunes and it’s the same thing, but not as rocky. A step counting fitness walker could get in 10K steps in ten feet before giving up.

Fitness Matters Now And Later

I trained about three months in order to climb Mount Marathon in style and not fall or get lost and eaten by bears, though they would have liked that lean diet.

Since then I’ve had a few health ups and downs along the way. But fitness is key to life. I know a couple with plans to summit Mt. Hood. The woman says her husband may think she’s trying to take him out. Hey Jamie, hey Mike.

My recent celebration was benching 225 for the first time in years. I’ve been aiming for that, but how does a sixty-six year old man get there?

Practice, working out, hitting the weights. Call it whatever works, but it’s putting in the time and doing the work.

My kids are my inspiration, though they don’t like hearing about it. A few years back they watched me fail at the admission desk for the 300 Club a few times.

The younger strong son spotted me at 225 and I settled into the mental and physical preparation to make a good effort. Locked in, tensed up, and “YEAH BUDDY. COME ON LIGHTWEIGHT.”

That’s my inner voice screaming a hole in my doubts.

A few deep breaths, “Woof, woof, woof,” and GO!

I did it, but with a trick: Instead of putting two forty-five pound plates on each end of the bar, my spotter used one forty five, one twenty five pound plate, and two ten pounders on each end.

When I shared my thrill with my other strong man son he said, “I repped 225 thirteen times yesterday and thought about going up, but that’s enough.”

Strong and smart is the way to go. Which way do you go?