Weeks 41-44 Update: A whole month goes by without much sweating

Weeks 41-44 Update: Apr 05, 2014 for the week beginning on March 16th, 2014

I sit here at my desk for the last update from home. Perusing the data from all the previous weeks, I feel confident that I am prepared. The past month presented more challenges than I ever imagined. Here are some of the highlights…

• Sick and tired of being sick and tired: The past month seemed like it was more a matter of me shaking off one cold to only feel the onset of another. I think the stress of work and training finally caught up to me. Additionally, the hypoxic training and sleeping probably suppressed my immune response.
• Training took a back seat to weight gain and getting healthy: I think I licked this one. My training base was sufficient for me to stop. There were only diminishing returns avaialble and I wanted to make sure I left injury free and well-rested for what lies ahead. The weight gain was slow and I am not sure I could qualify it as steady. I lost some upper-body muscle mass and gained a little fat - a swap that will do we well on the hill. The upper body is next to useless and the fat will be burned off in a matter of days.
  
• The support I received throughout the last month has been overwhelming. Thank you all for your kind words and continued questions about the climb. Keep 'em coming!

Workout Progress

No training to speak of so I will move on. The figure below represents a month of training. Sheesh!

Finally getting fatter but not really fat. Oh well. The time off was good for my overall productivity. Can't wait to climb!

Not much working out…but a ton of eating.

Whew! Falling off that trajectory now.

Monthly (not Weekly this time) Summary

Last month presented some challenges. I recognized that I am not able to handle much stress and boy did the stress pile on. There were days that I had every minute scheduled and I ran from one thing to the next. A life like that ain't worth much. But, that stress seems like a thing of the past. I can now focus on my climb. So here goes with the final update…

Mood

The lack of training and refocus on gaining weight made me pretty lethargic. I lacked the energy during the day and the fatigue at night to sleep well. Additionally, the hypoxic tent - especially sleeping alone - made for a pretty miserable situation. I pushed on but I could not wait for that period to end. Despite all these negatives, I remained upbeat, motivated, and productive.

Hypoxic Training

I really ramped up the hypoxic sleeping - peaking (no pun intended) at the equivalent of 20,250 feet. To call sleeping at that altitude sleep is a bit of a stretch. I did manage one training session for an hour at 20,000 feet and one swim session at sea-level. Both were good sessions and I realized how much I missed working out. My focus, however, was on getting well and gaining some mass.

Recovery (Restwise Data)

Updates for the week

Wow, almost too much to report here. You saw my previous posts about packing. I'm almost packed. I have so many people to thank and I fear I have little time to do so adequately. Let me focus on those closest to me for this post. I will thank each and every one of you in future posts. Today, it seems fitting that I thank those who really made all of this happen - my family.

Thanks to my lovely wife who supported me throughout all of this crazy preparation. She not only supported me but she defended me and accompanied me throughout the journey. I know of few of people who would devote themselves to their spouse like Kathy did for me. She slept in a hot tent for crying out loud; what more could you ask? Kathy also remained supportive and inquisitive all throughout. I received countless packages of stuff relevant to my climb. She never said a word. I littered the house with my climbing gear (and sailing gear) and she patiently side-stepped it all. She picked up the slack when I slacked. She offered her help when she knew I needed it. I cannot begin to even scratch the surface of how grateful I am to her and her support. Thinking of her almost brings tears to my eyes. Yeah, those are not tears…I think I got something in one. Hold on. OK, I'm back. All is well. I love my wife. She is the best. That is all there is to say nor needs to be said.

Thanks to my son; the other person who quietly supported me throughout this long process. He might be embarrassed if I write too much here so let me just say that I love him and respect him for his individualistic approach to life. Without his support over the past few months, I think this whole process would have been much more difficult. Patrick responded to every request - even some unusal requests. He often went out for runs with me even though he didn't feel like running or didn't feel like braving the elements. I love my boy and can't wait to regale him with tales of adventure. Sorry Patrick if I embarrased you.

Thanks to my brother Sean for all his help - both professionally, personally, and financially. Sean has always supported me in whatever I chose to do. He was the first to offer me support in triathlons. He bought me countless toys to help me achieve my goals. He patiently waited for me to update him on anything; often waiting well past the point where I would been patient. Sean, you are the best brother anyone could ever wish to have and there are times when I doubt I deserve you. Thanks for your continued support.

Finally, thanks to my dad who has always supported me in his own way. Most of his support comes from modeling the behaviors I have today. He was and is an adventurer - true and true to the end. I know of few fathers who would take their kids out on sailing adventures (hurricanes, squalls, extreme races - you name it, we did it), let those kids sail by themselves at a relatively young age (12 and 13) off-shore (!) and never lose a wink of sleep. My dad just trusted us. Not sure why he trusted us but I think his trust enabled both of us (Sean and me) to develop into the self-reliant and rugged individuals we are today. My dad raised us to be the way we are and I admire that in him. He continues to support me to this day. One story might add the appropriate color to this tribute so bear with me….

In 1991, I decided to do the Ironman in Canada. The Hawaiian Ironman is the race that garners all the attention but the Canadian Ironman was more suitable for me and my strengths. I hate the heat so Hawaii is not a good place for a cold-loving dude like me to race. At any rate, I told my dad about my race and he said the usual things like…“great” and “good luck.” Little did I know that he made plans to come out and support me during my race. I recall him keeping at a comfortable distance while I grumpily assembled all my racing gear. He jogged with me during the marathon. After the race, all I wanted was a large order of french fries. Each of these points, he was there to support me. Never did he question me or correct me (a McKnight specialty) regardless of how silly I behaved.

My dad supported me throughout this preparation even though he was the one who needed support. I don't want to go into those details now but suffice it to say that a young 77 year old man (my dad) offered me support through the most trying times of his life. OK, I need a break. More stuff in my eyes.

For those of you out there who do not know me or my family, I have just one request - please support the charities I list on my blog. My entire family benefitted and continues to benefit from the Johns Hopkins pancreatic cancer research and treatment group and the Olivia Constants Foundation. These charities are about hope and they give me the resolve and purpose to climb.

Thanks for following me to this point. My next updates will be more picturesque. It is now 6am. I slept for 3 hours last night and I am just about packed. Flight departure: T minus 16 hours and counting…..

Equipment Checklist - Hands and Head

I finally arrived at the important bits of the body that keep me alive - me hands and head.  

The Head

The head is fairly self-explanatory in terms of its importance.  Freeze your head, freeze your body.  Thus, I have a fair bit of head and neck protection to not only protect my head from injury but also keep the heat in my body.  Here are my head items:

From the top left and rotating clockwise, I have my tuque (beanie, watch cap, or whatever you wish to call it) that sits atop me head pretty much all day and night.  I love this hat.  It doesn't do much for my ears but it sure keeps the heat from escaping through my noggin'.  Next, I have my climbing helmet (with attached headlamp).  You all know the purpose of a helmet so I will move on.  The attached light comes off but I figured I would strap it on in the picture to show you that the helmet does accommodate a head light.  You'll see next to my helmet is another light just in case the first one dies.  A head lamp is essential for night climbing and a mountaineer caught out without one is often a former mountaineer; thus, I bring two.  These LED lights are light and relatively tough.  Better safe than sorry.  Just below my helmet are my goggles.  These are really comfortable when it is cold but they are next to useless when it is warm and the climb is challenging.  They fog up and drive me nuts.  I prefer my sunglasses (below and to the right of the goggles) for most conditions.  Those glasses have seen me through thick and thin.  What makes them really functional on the glacier is the Beko.  If you have not seen the Beko, I strongly encourage you to check 'em out.  This contraption fits on the sunglasses and protects your nose.  I prefer the Beko to constantly lathering on sunscreen (or sun block - if you prefer that wording) because this thing just works and I don't need to fuss with getting white stuff all over my climbing gear.  It is one thing to get a little zinc oxide on your gear if you are out for a few days but when you are out for weeks, the white mess gets irritating.  So, check out the Beko in action:

Next, to the far right is my extreme weather face mask.  I only resort to this thing when the winds are extreme (greater than 40 mph) and I need to get someplace.  Usually, this thing stays in my bag for all but the craziest conditions.  To the left of the heavy-duty face mask is my balaclava.  I use this when I need to keep my ears, head, heck, and face protected.  In other words, rarely do I need it but when I do, it is unbeatable for true warmth.  My every-day preference is the Buff.  I own two types, the thin, standard one (bottom) and the thicker, insulated one (bottom left).  I like the insulated one because of the furry inside but it often keeps me too warm; the light buff is just right.  Together, all these items allow my body to retain heat and protect me from falling objects (helmet), the sun, and the wind.  

The Hands

My hand covers

We humans have an unmistakable advantage over other species in that we have hands with opposable thumbs.  I prefer to keep that advantage by protecting my hands as much as possible.  In fact, without hands and functioning digits, I might find it hard to write this blog.  Hand protection comes in multiple forms.  Above is a picture of my assorted items I find useful (and intend to pack for this trip).  Top left sits my summit mitts (OR Alti mitts).  Those puppies are warm - in fact too warm for my hands under most conditions.  I prefer my fleece gloves (top right) for most chilly and dry conditions.  My hands - like my feet - run warm.  Below my fleece gloves are my workhorse gloves.  These are useful in temperatures between -20 and 10 degrees F; colder than -20 and my finger tips get cold and warmer than 10 degrees and my hands are sopping wet from sweat.  My real favorites are split at the bottom.  These MH gloves - not sure the name - are my trusted companions.   I ski with these and wear them to about 10 degrees.  They breath, keep my hands dry, and allow me full dexterity - or what little I usually maintain.  Finally, the mitts below my summit mitts are just backups.  I actually prefer these to my OR ones for almost all conditions - save for the extreme cold.  Warm hands might sound comfortable but they are not.  When my hands get too warm, they sweat and the sweat turns to ice.  I prefer a slight chill to ice-encrusted hands any day.

That is all for this morning.  Stay tuned for my last preparation email regarding my exercise, mood, and sleep.  Not much to report but enough to finalize my preparation history.  See you soon....

Equipment Checklist - Upper Body

The next post covers my upper body.  I decided to put a few things in this section that may easily fit into lower body.  Here goes...

The first item is my down suit.  I have yet to wear something so extensively insulated as this suit but if it insulates as well as my sleeping bag, I expect to be toasty warm.  Here is a picture of the suit laid out on my office floor (see photo to the right).  Next to my down suit is my stretch thermal suit (mid-weight intermediate layer).  Together, they make a mighty combination to fend off the cold.  I chose the suit based upon many reviews and friends' suggestions.  The stretch suit was recommended by Alan Arnette - via his great equipment review blog post.  I have yet to wear either of these but I look forward to their cold-fighting power.  

Next, I have my base layers and mid-weight layers.  The base layer top (bottom of the picture to the left) is the complement to my X-bionic bottoms.  I love this top.  Yep, just as pricey as the bottoms but well worth it.  The middle, black top is my middle-weight REI layer that I love to wear between the X-bionic base layer and my hard shell top (pictured below).  Together, these three layers can easily take me down to about zero degrees when I climb.  I love how light they are and how they wick the sweat from me.  Not sure I have ever been sweaty or cold with those three layers.  Finally, the top purple top is my Patagonia Nano Puff pullover.  The color ain't my choice but this top keeps me toasty warm after climbing.  I throw this over my hard shell jacket when I come into camp.  If it is not terribly cold, this pullover keeps the warmth in and even allows the sweat to escape.  

The next two layers - pictured above - are critical to almost all high-alpine climbs. When the going gets cold, there is nothing better than a big ol' puffy down jacket.  This MH parka served me well for many years.  I love it.  It comes in handy when I roll into camp after a long hard day of climbing.  The best part is it stuffs down into a grapefruit size ball - via a compression sack.  Next to my down parka is my new GoLite hard-shell.  I wore it for a few days in Utah recently and it performed as well if not better than anything I wore in recent memory.  Best of all, the jacket is extremely light.  I will let you know how it performs later.  

That about wraps up my upper body.  The next post provides details about what covers my head and hands.

Equipment Checklist - Lower body

The two previous equipment posts covered my climbing gear and then my footwear.  Here, I show you what I pack for my lower body.  Let me begin with the layers I plan to spend most of my time wearing (see Figure to the right).  My Patagonia R1 pants sit at the top of the picture.  These mid-weight pants sit over my base layer (at the bottom of the picture) and underneath either my hard shell pants (to the right) or my insulated (not down) pants that sit to the left of my hard shells.  I just purchased these hard shell pants and love 'em.  They are from GoLite and live up to their name - light.  I already climbed once in them and found them to be as comfortable if not more so than any other hard shell pants I previously owned.  One huge benefit is the built in suspenders and full side zips.  I can take these off with my crampons without having to fuss with anything else; the suspenders even open up so I can fish them from underneath my top layers.  

The most important piece in this picture is what sits at the bottom - both in the picture and on my body.  The pants at the bottom are my X-bionic base layer and these things rock.  I cannot recall how much they cost but I can assure you that I (and my tent mates) can attest to the fact that they keep me warm and do not stink.  The former I know full well; the latter, you might need to ask some of my current and former tent mates.  I can wear these things for weeks on end and they never stink.  Plus, they keep me warm, wick the sweat off me, and never bunch up.  I might sound like a sales rep for X-bionic but if you saw the price tag you might realize why I feel compelled to sell 'em.  Yeah, long underwear shouldn't cost $250 but these do and they are well worth it.  I bring these and only these while others shell out $100 each for smart wool base layers that bunch up, die after a few climbs, and do not insulate as well as these things.  OK, enough selling.

That just about covers my legs.  There are a few other minor pieces that may be classified as feet/leg like my gaitors or just usual lower body clothing (e.g., underwear).  I am not sure I need to detail those.  Suffice it to say that I plan to take 6 pairs of Ex-Officio boxers so I do not put off that many fellow climbers.

Equipment checklist - Feet

The previous equipment post covered climbing gear.  I left off with a nice picture of my toes and that setup this follow-up on what protects them.  So, without further adieu, here goes...

First, the technical footwear.  From left to right, we have my overboots - made of neoprene and add insulation to my already insulated mountaineering boot (third from left).  The next item is my inner boot or boot liner that provides a nice cushion to my soon-to-be banged up feet.  I sleep in these to dry them out and keep 'em warm.  If they are too wet, I just put them in the bottom of my sleeping bag to dry out.  Wearing wet boots gives you what is often referred to as trench foot - an unpleasant decaying of your foot skin.  I highly recommend avoiding trench foot if at all possible.  My feet stink enough already; having my skin fall off will only make matter worse.  Next in line is the outer boot that easily slips over the boot liner.  These boots have a rigid sole that enable me to put my crampons on almost like ski boots clip into ski bindings.  I love these boots.  They fit me.  The last in this lineup is the full assembly.  You can see the overboot snugly placed over the outer boot that houses the inner boot.  This three layer system is guaranteed (yeah, right) to keep my feet toasty - even in the harshest environments.  Actually, the truth of the matter is that my feet run extremely warm and I doubt I will ever resort to using the overboots.  They are useful as backups.  

Next, I want to show you what I wear inside the mountaineering setup above and alternative footwear (see Figure to the right).  From top left and clockwise, I have my approach shoes.  These are good hiking shoes that allow my feet to breath while also offering me support.  I like these shoes because they have a stiff sole and can be used up to pretty good pitches without needing to swap out footwear.  Next (top right) are my down booties.  These things are heavenly.  While hanging out in my tent in storm conditions, I love putting these puppies on and letting my feet recover from the abuse they take while in my mountaineering boots (with crampons).  Nothing feels better than putting these on after a hard day.  The middle row consists (from left to right) of light to heavier socks that give me plenty of choices throughout the climb.  I prefer the light socks for almost all climbs because they allow my feet to cool off.  The higher altitude on Everest, however, mandates that I do everything in my power to keep my feet warm.  Thus, I have warmer, thicker socks to accompany the thinner ones.  On the bottom row are my trusty flip-flops.  I wear flip-flops year round and I intend to wear them for most of my trek up to basecamp.  As I noted above, my feet run warm and I want to preserve my feet and let them breath for as long as possible.  

Hotronics e4

Finally, just in case I run into problems with cold feet, I just purchased the Hotronics e4 boot warmers.  I have yet to install them but intend to do so in the next day or so...whenever I have some free time.  Many people struggle with cold feet and swear by these warmers.  Amazon has a fair number of negative reviews too so I will keep you posted on their functioning.  

Well, all done with this post.  Back to work and time to pack some more.  Next up...lower body.