Week 2 Update: June 26th, 2013

Week 2 Update: Jun 26, 2013

The past week was a relatively easy week for working out so I have more material to post. I lifted (4 x 30 minute sessions), swam my usual 7 hours, and did some minimal running (1.5 hrs), cycling (1 hour), and ellipitical (1.5 hrs) - my easy week for sure. I almost felt manic throughout the week and started getting more things done with the added energy. My students and I are working together on multiple projects - both writing papers and collecting data - and we really hit our stride this week. I attribute the extra energy to the decreased workout load. My friend Dave Sbarra suggested I lift while doing all this cardio training and his suggestion was a good reminder of my oversight. He is correct; you need to lift with the cardio but I was already do it. What I did was foolish. I folded in these lifting sessions into my total hours without actually recognizing them. To correct this problem, I changed the data sheet to reflect lifting sessions separately so I could track my progress and adherence to the schedule. Thanks Dave!

Workout Progress

I am supplying my usual figure but included the lifting part of my training schedule along with the cardio. Also, in the spirit of the quantified self, I am posting routine self-reported assessments of my mood.

Weekly Summary

All went well this week. I sailed twice (Sunday and Wednesday), got in all my workouts and even managed to add in an extra 30 minutes of swimming. Monday rocked for swimming. I got into a groove and swam for 45 minutes straight - trying to hold 1:30/100m and did so with relative ease. I don't get it. The more tired I am from the day before, the better I swim, run, cycle, and feel.

Updates for the week

Last week I promised to post my medication list but I have more pressing news to report. Friday morning I chatted with Brian Oestrike from Hypoxico.com. I plan to use their equipment to acclimatize and get a leg up on my altitude training. One drawback - and there are many - to living in northern Virginia is that I do not get to the mountains frequently. Instead, I need to bring the mountains here. There is only one way to move a mountain, you need to change the atmosphere. Brian's company makes the equipment necessary to achieve that aim.

I met Brian while climbing Denali in 2011. He ran up the mountain alone but was friendly to all those who asked about his expedition. We chatted briefly before he headed up - all in a single day push. Needless to say, Brian left an impression. I spoke with Brian this morning and I decided without much hesitation to purchase the hypoxico equipment. Kathy (my wife) is equally excited to give it a go. We both enjoy endurance sports and the hypoxic tent along with the hypoxic training masks will help both of us perform better at sea level and up high. So thanks Brian for the inspiration and the help. In the upcoming weeks, I will show you pictures of the equipment and me using it in my home gym. Latest word is that the hypoxico unit shipped on Wednesday, June 26th. Kathy and I will try it out once it arrives.

One other update. Recently (Monday, June 24th), I spoke with Dan Mazur on the phone about the climb. We had a really nice chat and I look forward to climbing with him. The most important update is that I have once again changed my mind about my climb - at least which side of Everest to climb. Initially, I thought about climbing the North Side (Tibet) with SummitClimb and then, after chatting with David Roskelley, I decided that the South Side (Nepal) might be a better choice. The Tibet side of Everest is less crowded but colder and windier compared to the Nepal side. Dan convinced me, however, that the Tibet climb would be a good option and I am now convinced that climbing from Tibet seems more suited for my climbing style. I want to avoid the crowds but not at the cost of enduring too much hardship (e.g., cold, frostbite, and general misery). The other added benefit of climbing the Tibet side is that Dan will be guiding next year so I get to climb with him. Dan and I plan to climb in the Pacific NW later in August. I will post our plans and pictures from the climb afterwards.

Hope you are enjoying the updates.

Week 1 Update: June 17th, 2013

Week 1 Update: Jun 17, 2013

I am going to post a weekly update in graphical format showing my preparation progress prior to climbing Mt. Everest (departure date: 4/15/2014). The following figures and summary provide me - mostly - with an evaluation of my preparation and where I might be over-training or where I am accommodating the stress well.

Workout Progress

I started my blog 3 weeks into my Stable phase. Everything seems to be progressing smoothly. I fell short on a few things (½ short on the swim and 15 minutes short on the elliptical) but I put in a bit more on the bike to offset most of the deficits. Overall, I worked out 13:40 last week instead of my expected 14 hours. Below is a graphical summary of my weekly total training load (expressed in hours):

Weekly Summary

I discovered something this week that might prove useful. For some reason, I have my best workouts after a huge grind the day before. My worst workout day by far was Saturday - the day after my easiest workout day. I felt flat and totally disinterested in working out. Swim practice was a wash. Our team is preparing for a major long course swim meet in Richmond so the workout was a fast-paced taper set with a 100m freestyle set on short rest. I just could not get myself going so I decided to swim at a reasonable heart rate and get out early enough to watch my son swim at his meet. There is a minor detail I neglected to mention. Before swimming, I worked out for almost 1.5 hours already. I went on a great run with my wife Kathy; the run was like old times when we used to train together. It was worth the lousy swim practice just to hang out with her for the run. The swim…total crap…but I did it and then went sailing. Yes, I sailed for 5 hours on my Laser after running and swimming. I was so beat by the end of the day that I flipped my boat and laid in the water relaxing in the 74 degree Severn river for about 10 minutes. Now, here is the weird thing. The next day (Sunday) I felt great! I went to bed on Saturday at about 8:30pm and woke up at 7:30am, went to swim practice Sunday morning and had a great workout. So why the heck would I feel so great after a long, arduous day on Saturday? I don't know but I plan to test it out over the next few months. Any edge I can gain on summit day helps.

Updates for the week

Big hurdles this week. I finally got my passport materials submitted so I can travel abroad. These beuracratic details tend to weigh me down. Also, my friend Dave Roskelley - a guy I met while climbing Denali - just sent me some great retrospective tips on climbing Everest. He just returned from his summit of Everest with the same group I plan to climb with in April 2014. Here are a few things he mentioned in his notes:

1. Fitness is key. I hope to have that covered over the next few months.
2. Previous big events prepare you well for this big event. I completed an Ironman, ran my share of marathons, sailed for days on end - often with no breeze, skied in the backcountry countless times, froze my ass off, sweated 'til I nearly passed out, swam endless workouts, and climbed many peaks including Denali. These probably prepare me somewhat but, like most big events, nothing really prepares you like over-preparation.
3. Bring your own oxygen mask. Apparently Summit Climb has the older and leaky Russian masks and he (and others) recommend more modern masks.
4. Bring a cannula to sleep with rather than a mask - much more comfortable. I will start searching for the cannula and the mask sometime this week just so I can figure out costs.
5. Have a strong conviction to make it to the top. My colleague Todd Kashdan and I have written extensively and studied the idea of purpose in life. I get this one more than any of the previous ones. Without a strong conviction to get there, up, down, and home in one piece, I have little hope of success on any of those legs. I will tell you more about my conviction in a later post.

So there you have it. Only 44 weeks away and I already have a shopping list. Damn. Nobody said it would be easy or inexpensive. Next week, I have a detailed list of medications I plan to bring on the climb.