Solo, Part I: Alex Honnold   Honnold free soloing the boulder
problem section of Astroman (5.11c, 300m) on the day he returned
for a photo shoot. [Photo] Alex Honnold collection  11. When
free soloing, what goes on in your head?  Normally it takes me a
few pitches to quiet down my head, which is one of the reasons I
prefer multipitch routes.  12. You listen to your iPod while
free soloing. Is that distracting?  I only listened to it on
Moonlight. I used it there for two reasons.  A. I'd listened the
whole time I was minitraxioning and was used to it. It was like
a Moonlight soundtrack (and the fact that I'd rehearsed it meant
I knew there were no loose holds or shifting blocks or
anything—one of the things I'd normally want to be able to hear
for).  B. I wanted a time piece and didn't have a watch. This
might sound lame but I was pretty sure I would set a speed
record and that's a first for me. [Check out Alex's post in the
Readers' Blog to see his twenty-five-song Moonlight soundtrack.
—Ed.]   13. Have you e