We all love to go out to the mountains, and all for different reasons and goals; to get fit, to find peace, to exercise, to win a race, to climb a summit, to spend time with friends, to have unspected adventures or achieve a technical route. So what do we do when we go out there?
I define the days I spend in the mountains in 4 categories. A training, a social activity, a test and an Activity. All 4 are important and interesting in different ways.
Training: is any workout or activity we do to prepare, improve, grow capacities, learn…for something else or for the only prupose of improving. Is something you know you can do and it is in your capacities (incertitude is low), so it don’t represents a big challenge to make-it.
Test: is when you’re exploring something in you. A Challenge because you don’t know if you can do-it (incertitude is high). Is isolating one variable of a performance to focus in that one and explore to its maximum. With tests you lern which are your capacities and your limits.
Activity: Is a challenge because you don’t know if it is possible for you (incertidude is high) and you integrate different variables.
Social activity: Is when is not any further prupose than the beauty of the landscape or the company.
That is very individual, since for someone to climb the Eiger North face can be an Activity and for others a training. Win a importnat race can also be an activity or only a test (if you’re focusing on nutrition or pacing) or a training. So what is a training, a test or activity is only valid for oneself.
They’re also related, since Social activity is good to keep the motivation, training is important to be able to perform on tests and activities. And Tests are important to define the limits where you can do an activity.