Pakistan Video Sample: 9 of 10

Here it is, the one everyone has been waiting for, camp three at over 23,000 feet and 7000 meters! Keep in mind that This is all a sample. I have more footage that I will piece together to make my movie. In fact the movie has things which I prefer not to put on the internet as well as much higher quality. Additionally I have begun posting these videos on YouTube. One of my tent mates at camp three also posted his camp three video a few days ago. Watch it!

The Changes of Pakistan Two Months Later

When I first returned from Pakistan I was pumped up to go out and do life. I wanted to do everything immediately. Unfortunately that attitude has been changing, but not completely. Now I'll tell a few short stories to illustrate how my development is going.

When I discovered that I was going to be staying in school until December I realized I have to pace myself and I became in somewhat less of a rush to finish my thesis. Although I am still the first one in the office every morning and often the last to leave.

The week I got back from Pakistan my family went out to Colorado and I went running or climbing every day. I was turning in times on these routes which are very respectable. Think 4-5 mph. I felt that I had to run because time was short.

I have known for years that this fall was going to be when I started training for the olympic marathon trials in earnest. Well, I'm trying to go for 110 miles this week after only two weeks in my life over 100. Let me tell you it is not easy. The last six miles of my 15 mile run yesterday I imagined I was 4th in the olympic marathon trials with a pack of six close behind me. But I fell apart in the last mile and most of them beat me. This run reenergized me because if I am actually going to qualify for 2012 I have a long way to go.

When I got back to school I started working on my business plan but after many hours of work I soon worked on my thesis more and kind of left it hanging. I started working on it this week again, but some time is already lost.

Finally, when I returned I was happy to spend money because life is short and I like mochas. Now I am once again in debt and surviving on the free coffee in the copy room.

The moral of these stories is that I have calmed down and will not be yelling at my friends anytime soon. However, I still realize more than ever that life is short and I have to use every hour.

Successful Innovative Companies: Volume 1

I am going to start a weekly series where I highlight one company and talk about why they are better than their competition. I will talk about their innovations and strategies as well as their pitfalls. No company is perfect in the same way that no person is perfect. My list is biased by the activities I do. That is to say I am not going to highlight companies like investing firms and healthcare providers because I have very little experience in those areas as well as not being greatly impressed by those industries. I am not sure how long this series will last, perhaps 20 companies, perhaps 300.

So here it is, the first Successful Innovative Company of the Week: Cilogear

This is a tiny (three people I believe) start up company that was founded in 2004 to make backpacks for alpinists. The founder, Graham, was living in Turkey doing consulting and when his company was getting restructured he decided to start a company. He soon moved to New York City and recently moved to Portland, OR.

Why they are amazing: Their backpacks are really incredible. I own a 60 liter sack and it weighs in around three pounds which is much less than most of the competition. Their backpacks are very adaptable. They have a removable frame, an aluminum strip and hard plastic board to keep the backpack stiff and distribute the load. They have a removable back pad, a folded in half closed cell foam sleeping pad which cushions your back from the frame or can be used alone for lighter loads and as part of a sleeping system to provide extra warmth. They also have removable compression straps so you can compress the backpack or strap things to the outside using their patented (or patent pending) Dee-Clip system. You can also leave the straps off all together for an even lighter backpack. The hip belt is also easily removable. Cilogear use many different types of materials which allows for durable fabric in high wear areas and lighter fabric in low wear areas. I believe they use three or four times as many fabrics as the industry standard for backpacks. One last little detail that makes me happy is their ice axe holders. They are the best I have ever used because they keep my axes from twisting around and getting in the way yet are still very simple.

In a business sense they are cool because they have an informative blog, which unfortunately they don't update as often now as they used to. They also do most of their business through their website. They do not go through the big retail chains and can thus avoid huge markups. This allows them to keep their prices low. They also build backpacks on demand instead of making huge quantities and then trying to sell it. They also do not do much advertising in the tradition sense. They give free backpacks to high profile climbers, which end up featured in other companies promotional products, and get reviews on popular websites from high profile climbers and reviewers.

What they could improve: Communication to their tribe of followers. I am planning to buy one of their new backpacks which was supposed to be available several weeks ago so I sent them an email and they did not respond and have not posted any blog posts about when the new back packs will be actually be ready.

Coaching: The Mental Part

This post is the second and final part about coaching. Read the first one on the physical aspect. When I get better at it maybe I'll write a book but for now it only warrants two blog posts.

First of all, the mental part of coaching someone in athletics, life or whatever is difficult. Every person is different and responds differently to coaching. Some people you can raise your voice at and they take the hint, others (probably most) will perform worse after getting yelled at. In running some people like to know the day to day detailed schedule weeks in advance and others like to know it just minutes before they do it because if they know about it ahead of time they will over think the work and tell themselves it is too hard and they can't do it.

Now the goal of coaching is to convince someone that he or she can reach a goal. That is it. Often a coach is a resource who can act as a facilitator, teacher, guide, positive authority figure, friend, and leader, but not necessarily. About that last one, leader, I have been on enough disgruntled teams to know that while everyone shows up and does the workouts the coach may not be an effective leader.

I used the word convince, not achieve, because the coach is not there to ensure you get to that level. The coach is there to help you get to that level. If we achieved our goals every time our goals are too easy or we are amazing.

A few mental tips to make race day go easier: triple knot your shoes (I've had doubles come undone), make a race plan at least the day before so you don't have to worry about it that morning, stick to the race plan, have confidence in your training so that when someone tries to pass you, you know you can hold them off, and don't forget to have fun!

Coaching: The Physical Part

I have only been an actual assistant coach for about a month but I like to imagine that I've been helping mentor my teammates, especially the younger ones, for years. The advantage is that I am so young that I can easily relate to their situation. The disadvantage is that I don't know everything. Also, I am a runner with the other 41 million Americans that run so I can not comment on "common" team sports.

In running a large part of the performance of a race is based on physical limitations. From the 2:13 marathoner to the 25:30 5ker everyone is gasping and has burning legs at the end of the race. For a coach the pressure is on to maximize the performance of the athletes at some race or races. I was reading Brad Hudson's book "From the 5k to the Marathon: How to be your own best Coach" and he gave the following example. In sailing you can take multiple courses to get to your destination. He said you could sail into the wind at a steep angle and go slow or take a more shallow angle and go much faster but have to tack back and forth. I created the chart below as an example:

The point of this is that you can not push your body to the limit every day and hope that it will achieve the results you want as quickly as if you varied the stress on your body. That means taking it easy sometimes and listening to your body. It also means that it is okay to add on more mileage or repeats or run faster if the athlete is feeling good. Why slow down an athlete's progress?

Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers suggests that 10,000 hours of practice is what is needed to move someone from the bottom of the pile to the top. This goes along with what my friends and I discovered by experience: To get better at running you have to run more. So there you have it. The shortest description of how to maximize physical potential that you will probably ever read.

Pakistan Video Sample: 8 of 10

This movie snippet is titled Cabin Fever. After about five days of not climbing most people get restless. We were waiting around for our summit push on Broad Peak and actually avalanche watching. Imagine one step up from watching the grass grow and paint dry and one step down from watching a piece of paper get blown across the street. Then I put a little clip at the end with hair burgers because they were one of our favorite meals.

Sometimes it doesn't all make sense.

How much do I eat?

A few weeks ago a friend asked on Facebook how much I ate every day. I've tried to track calories somewhat the past two weeks and it is not easy because many things I eat come without labels. Anyway here is a go of my Wednesday:

Breakfast 1:

Multigrain bagel: 400 calories

Breakfast 2:

14 oz 1% milk: 180 calories

Kookies (cereal): 360 calories

8 oz. coffee with three Mini-Moos and one sugar: 2+30+15=47

Lunch 1:

Hummus sandwich on oat nut bread: 280

24 oz. 1% milk: 330

Lunch 2:

Panera chicken bacon Dijon: 940 (if it was country bread)

Supper:

24 oz Gatorade: 150

Pizza at a microbrewery, not too filling: 700 calories

Long island iced tea: 250 calories

Evening:

Vitamin water 20 oz. lemonade: 125

Wednesday Total: 3,362 calories

And Tuesday:

Breakfast:

Ham, Egg and cheese on multigrain bagel at Dunkin Donuts: 590 calories

14 oz milk: 180 calories

10 oz coffee with four creamers and three sugars: 3+40+45=88 calories

Lunch:

One slice of pizza with broccoli and chicken: 250 calories

Small salad but with blue cheese dressing: 400 calories

Supper:

Spaghetti with vodka sauce, olive oil, and bay scallops: 400 calories

Ice cream: 400 calories

Tuesday total: 2,308 calories

And Monday:

Breakfast:

12 oz. Mocha: 400 calories

Two muffins: 900 calories

Lunch:

Three slices of oat nut bread: 360 calories

Hummus on each slice: 90 calories

Lunch 2:

6 oz. steak with a slice of pickle on a hot dog bun: 420 calories

one serving of bacon potato salad: 130 calories

Supper:

12" buffalo chicken pizza with pineapple from Domino's: 1000 calories

Monday total: 3,300 calories

Average over three days: 2,990 calories

This is not an exact science and I usually don't eat this much pizza or buy this much restaurant food but it is not uncommon. So I probably eat a little less than 3,000 calories a day. Also in these three days I ran 41 miles which is a little higher than normal.