I did it. I reached my goal of 75,000 metres in elevation gain in 2020.
To put it in perspective – it’s like climbing CN Tower (553 metres) 135 times or the Calgary Tower (191 metres) 392 times.
When I set the goal in early spring (after access to parks was once again open to vehicle traffic), I knew I had a long way to go. I had lost valuable mountain time because of the closure. I can only run up and down Nose Hill so much without losing my mind.
This was a good goal for me. Setting a mileage goal or running a vertical race just didn’t do it for me. I needed something that both inspired and challenged me.
Because I now live so close to the Rockies, I headed to the mountains nearly every weekend. I coupled my vertical goal with a plan to tackle at least 20 new trails and summits in 2020. (I reached this goal in the summer. More on this in a later post)
Weekend after weekend, you would find me summiting a mountain solo or with a few friends who humoured my incessant metre counting. Sometimes I would break the week up and go do a short jaunt on a Wednesday. A few runs at Nose Hill added to my tally.
Last year I accumulated 61,000 metres in elevation gain without much thought. Thankfully one can never be bored in the Canadian Rockies. So many options. On average, I accumulated between 2,000 and 3,400 metres in elevation each week.
Reaching new heights was truly a wonderful way to escape both the craziness and the stress of the pandemic while challenging my physical and mental capabilities.
My friend asked me what I am going to do the rest of the year now that I reached my goal ahead of the schedule. Now that I got in the vert for the year, I can relax a bit.
You will still find me in the mountains on the weekends but I won’t be obsessing over the elevation and checking my Garmin after every big climb.
Did you set any goals for 2020? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.