Workout of the Day
Climb the Mountain (not that mountain :-)
On day 4 we departed Munich and headed towards Salzburg,
Austria. Having seen and
experienced so much in Germany already, it was hard to imagine what our group
would look like entering a new country.
But as soon as we boarded the bus, I knew it was right. As on the Iceland trips before, there’s
something very appropriate and appealing about a group of exploratory
personalities on a bus. The seeds
of bonding that had been planted during our first workouts in Munich
immediately took root and we were one whole. I’m convinced that it’s as much these transitional elements
as it is the picturesque workouts that make this trip such a unique community
building experience.
Our WOD for the day was simple, get to the top of the
mountain. The peak in question
sits just more than a mile above sea level atop a small ski village on the
German-Austrian border of the Alps.
In a word: sick. We
cautiously looked over the map to pick the right trail but quickly discovered
that there were plenty to choose from and none were clearly marked. Following Sven’s lead, our party turned
away from the switchbacks and instead headed right up the face of the ski
run. There was no running; in fact
we were barely walking for most of it.
The grade was so steep that the group quickly spread out from itself,
with one person barely being able to see the person in front or behind
him. Despite beautiful conditions
and cool temperatures, I was literally pouring sweat. We weren’t 20 minutes in and I was completely soaking
through my shirt. Some of this
came from the pack I was carrying, but the majority of it was simply a result
of mountaineering being downright hard.
They ain’t kidding when they say Sherpas are the fittest people on
earth.
About ½ mile from the top the grade leveled out and I was
able to run again. This was a
welcome break from the constant burning that had been in my legs and calves for
the last 45 minutes. Coming around
the corner I could see the lodge at the top which promised warm food and beer,
giving me a surge of energy that I could ride to the end. At the top were Sven and Ross, cheering
me on. After me came John, Matt,
Maddy, and Vlad. The view was
spectacular, as you might imagine an Austrian Alps view to be. The mountains stretched into infinity
on one side of us—the valley with dotted with tiny German towns fell away on
the other. As each member of the
group conquered the final climb we cheered louder. In response, everyone finished running and smiling. In all, we had gained approximately
1200 meters in elevation over the course of only a few kilometers. Our times ranged from :49 to 2:00.
After eating a warming meal at the lodge, we headed back to
the trail to explore the top of the range a bit. Not far from our trail we stumbled upon a rocky outcropping
right on the edge of the cliff that was begging to be climbed. After establishing that it was secure
and not extraordinarily complicated to maneuver, we began scaling it one by
one. Now, as anyone who has
experience climbing can attest to, it takes a few holds to get your groove back
when hugging a rock. You can only
imagine what whose in our crew were feeling who’ve rarely climbed at all. This was one of those spontaneous
opportunities for people to face their fears and for the rest of us to help
coach them through it. Everyone
that attempted the climb made it the 80 or so feet to the top and got to take
in the amazing view. This proved
to be a seminal moment in the trip for many in the group.
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