Ritz sets the American 5000 meter record

This was a record set in the 90s that several people have been looking at for some time but then this guy who no one expected to break the record takes two seconds off it. Dathan has been a marathoner the last few years but recently he switched coaches and went back to the track. I guess with all those base miles he was able to push harder in the 5k. So the new record is 12:56. For him it was a personal record by 20 seconds. His slowest lap was 63.9. Most were 61 or 62 and the last 800 was in 2:00.6. There are a handful of people I expected to break 13 in the near future but he was not on that list. Who is going to take America under 27 in the 10,000 next year?

Watch the interview for more information.

Daily Adventures

On Friday I did something unusual: I ran until I was tired. That turned out to be only 12.5 miles (3.5 were at 6:00 or faster pace). Then I went to bed at 9 and slept for 12 hours. Not much of a party animal this weekend.

It rained a lot yesterday. So what did I do? Go shopping at a mall like a good American. I bought a pair of jean. I also managed to talk my way to borrowing a bed from one of my friend's parents. On the way to Rhode Island I got a flat tire. It was the first time that I was the oldest male around, thus it was my responsibility to do the work. It is something that I had been fearing for several years. When it actually happened I just changed it. There was no fear, just some uncertainty that I put the jack in the right place (it was). Totally anticlimactic and uneventful. Then I had a terrible sleep because I wasn't on the floor and the bed was so nice and soft instead. This is the beginning of a chapter in my life that will be very entertaining in the biography...

Today, after church, I went on a long run. A run that ended up being around 17.7 miles. A little longer than I anticipated. The up side is that I'm not that tired. I think that for awhile, maybe permanently, my runs and days in the mountains are going to be less mentally taxing and subsequently feel less physically draining. Oh they'll still be wicked hard and I'll sleep a lot and be tired and want to cry now and then from the pain but compared to a double marathon or people dying at 26,000 feet a 17.7 mile run is pathetically easy to comprehend.

What is hard work?

I have no idea. I was lifting weights yesterday after I ran ten miles and my Indian friend asked where I got all the energy. I don't know. I said it was because I know there are people out there working three times as hard as I am so I should at least be able to do what I do. Then I have been staring at the computer screen all day that I'm having some trouble telling the difference between a gear tooth root, flank, and top land. But I haven't really accomplished anything besides a few boundary flux conditions and some refined elements. It's somewhat stressful so it feels like it's hard work but I'm just sitting here. It makes me maybe 1% closer (probably less) to my thesis. Add to that that different people are good at different things so what's hard for me is no problem for someone else.

I guess it's in the eye of the worker. The person that benefits may have no idea how hard it was to do. Does it really matter though? Results are what matter not effort. It's harsh but what boss is going to say "well you didn't do anything productive this year, but good effort"? Maybe it's a spectrum of results and efforts and a really complicated thing. I have no idea.

I am (blank).

Something I find helpful to do sometimes is make a bunch of I statements. People often feel that they are trying to find out who they are. Well, just say it or write it down. I am an engineer. I am scared of the future. I am tall. You get the idea. Just keep going and you may say something that surprises you, but something that you know is true.

"Hello Seattle, I am a mountaineer

In the hills and highlands.

I fall asleep in hospital parking lots"

- Hello Seattle, by Owl City

I prefer hotel parking lots and residential side streets myself. It's funny, the adrenaline rush of sleeping in my van is almost as fun as the route sometimes. The past two weeks and actually my whole summer has been full of hanging out with an older generally more mature crowd. Despite that, I realized that I will probably keep sleeping in my van on trips for awhile. I am willing to sleep in my van and not shower every day if it means that I get to climb, hike, run, and live in some really cool places.

Book Review: Kiss or Kill by Mark Twight

I just finished reading Kiss or Kill by Mark Twight late last night. For those that don't know Twight was the most "extreme" alpine climber in the 1990s, at least from America. The book is a collection of articles he wrote from 1985 to 2000 and then he rewrote for the book as well as add an authors note to each one describing his feelings years later when he put the book together.

Many things in the book I could totally agree with. He talks about hard mountain climbing like it is a war instead of a romantic Hemingway book. However, he also talks about a lot of stuff that made me think he's crazy. He did a lot of hard free soloing when he was younger, and that's a sure way to get yourself killed. He talks about some of his friends and climbing partners that died in the mountains, around 40 total. He also seemed to harbor a lot of anger toward people that did less committing sports like sport climbing and people that were content to climb established routes instead of make their own. Personally I'm happy just to see people out there enjoying the outdoors and doing something physical.

His attitudes of going hard and working for some abstract goal most people don't understand probably resonate with most climbers. However, his attitudes of hate and disgust with people who don't do his kind of climbing was elitist and harsh. Throughout the book his negative feelings did fade somewhat, which was nice.

It's a book by a climber for climbers. If my parents read Kiss or Kill they would probably be even more terrified for my life. On the other hand I think it is a very honest portrayal of hard alpine climbing and should be read by aspiring alpinists before they decide to go do hard free soloing or any hard committing routes. Up there you have to be 100%. 99% leads to very bad things happening.

Pakistan Video Sample: 3 of 10

Here is the third video in the series. This is in the tent the morning after I spent the night at camp one (5650 meters or 18,500 feet). Some of the other members of our expedition were headed from base camp to camp two and were taking a break at camp one with us. (A note on resolution: I'm going to use 240x320 and 15 fps for all of the clips on my blog but the actual video I have is 480x640 and 30 fps so it's at least four times as good.)

Pakistan Changed me

Simply put, people died. People with more experience. People with husbands and wives and children.

How did that change me? Well, I am not going to sit around and wait for life to happen to me I'm chasing after it. Life is short. This weekend I did two unusual things for me. I asked a girl out and I yelled at one of my friends. I only ever ask a hand full of girls out but that's actually the second one in a week. Then it is very rare that I yell at someone. I think it's honestly been several years. It wasn't a screamfest but he's been complaining about the same issue for over two years and it's ridiculous.

78 people have died on K2. The next time you walk into a room that has 78 people imagine them all dying. Yes it has taken 55 years but there are some bad double digit accidents in that mountain's history. I have climbed on a number of mountains and routes where people have died.

I haven't figured out what "it" (pakistan, mountaineering, life, death, fear) all means yet. I'll let you know if I do.