Wow, amazing answers so far, I think I’m starting to wrap my head around this. Thanks!
So, four true peaks (Run, Climb, SkiMo, Alpine) is too much, which is great to recognize. For me, this years goals require only maintenance of my rock and ice climbing ability, they are largely work capacity goals which I hope let’s them tie into each other. Can I go uphill for 16 hours and still ski a long descent? Can I do 3 or 4 or 5 alpine climbs in a week when the July high pressure hits?
As for running and cragging: I see it’s best to keep “event” days small, the type of “try hard” days which don’t actually require real recovery time before or after. So, maybe still a race or a climbing trip, for fun and motivation, but nothing that really takes a deposit from the bank or requires over-reaching.
The Ranier goal is where my motivation is, and it’s the biggest stretch for me. What I really want out my year is to do a big training cycle before May and then hit the volcanoes in the best shape I can be in when they come into shape. Taper, recovery time, the whole deal.
Then, sometime, maybe in July now (August was sure lean and smokey this year) I’ll do a week or two in the summer Alpine. The problems I encounter on these trips aren’t skill-based, or even really endurance per se, just straight work capacity – how many 8-12 hour mountain days can you do in a row? For this part of the year I just want to ensure I’ve maximized my work capacity (and completed my maintenance work on the rock) so that I can be as productive as possible when the skies are blue. Is that more reasonable? Which plans / dates / recovery periods should I look at if doing a year in this way is workable?
And then the fall – Sept, Oct, Nov – is that just for fun? Don’t get fat, do some physio, enjoy the cragging, take a vacation? Maybe sign up for a running race if the motivation is high and the Alpine didn’t take too much out of the bank?