Everest 2014 Messes with My Plans

Sure, it’s selfish, but I’m a planner and this season’s circus messed with my plans. Mountaineering related, I have a dream project, I was hoping to do it in 2016. Now I clearly don’t have the experience to attempt it. In between in the next two years I was planning to focus again on running, to take a stab at the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials standard of course. Financially, I was planning to pay down a lot of my debt that I’ve put off paying off the last few years because I prioritized Everest over zero debt. 

I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I do know, I’m back at work. I have a great job. I am going to run, a lot, as much as I can. I am focusing on mileage for the first time since 2011. I’m going to pay off a loan in June. Not sure which one yet.

One of the tensions for me, from my view, when the Sherpas went on strike, it’s different for them, it’s a job, it (the mountain or their job) will be there next year. I look at the money I put into this, and I don’t know if that will be there next year. I need to upgrade my vehicle at some point. I was going to do that this summer. I know at least two climbers this year do not plan on coming back to Everest at all. They have taken the loss and moved on. Maybe I should do that too?

I don’t know. I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what other life opportunities will come up. Maybe I will find a nice lady friend who will end up saying, “no 8000 meter peaks or Gasherbrum IV”. I do know, I will keep going into the mountains. They have taught me so much good stuff that I’m addicted.

It’s all related, mountaineering, my career, marathoning, I plan them around each other. I don’t live in a vacuum or on an island. I was hoping to do the Boston Marathon in 2015. Well if I went back to Everest in 2015 that obviously wouldn’t happen. This incident is similar to being unemployed in 2010, extremely unpleasant, a delay of everything in my life, yet ultimately an incredibly powerful lesson. The lesson part remains to be seen. I could buy a lot of lessons with $30,000. 

I don’t know. I don’t know what happened. I was there, I know what happened, but couldn’t we have had this protest last fall, before I paid all this money and before anyone was killed? I am terrible at timing. Examples of my poor timing: Investing skills: below average. Racing tactics: too impatient. Women: forget it. Everest: wrong year and wrong side. Graduating from college: definitely wrong year. What am I doing?