The Hardy Journey

This was a very good course for me to attend. I heard about it when I did my Leadership and Imagination course in January. Michael and Alicia were in that session so I was very glad that they both signed up for this. As a course offered for the first time, I thought the professor team did a very good job with the syllabus.

I actually liked the fact that it was twelve weeks. It did not seem that long and it permitted me to really dive into the material and relate the content to other ORGL coursework. I thought it was an interesting tie to put in Frankl’s work and existentialism for the first assignment. It made me think more about how meaning is created. His recommendations by doing, suffering and through love impacted me.

I really think I improved my hardiness throughout this process. All I have to do in a tough situation is to think about hardiness and a “Hawthorne” like effect induces my performance. I am generally an “amped”person so I can go from being calm, aware, to stressed out/angered pretty quickly. I’ve learned to control that better through some of the coping mechanisms advocated by Maddi & Khoshoba.

The culmination of this course was obviously the climb. I am very glad I made it to the top. I still feel good about doing it. And I almost feel lazy right now because I’m out of my training routine! I will be setting fitness goals similar to the climb from now on because it gives me something to work for.

Lastly, it was great seeing all of my classmates. I was glad to have spoken with Keyth, Michael, and Kelly on the phone prior to the climb. It was some needed interaction for the course. I think when you are in a distance program you fully appreciate the experiential learning received from classmates. I was amazed at how Sherpa like Keyth was. Michael was extremely prepared and had the most training out of any of us. I know it was difficult for Kelly to turn back. When you google Mt. Adams, “beginner”mountain comes up a lot. All of us, except for maybe Keyth, were humbled by the challenge of the mountain.

I am in a new position at work and this week we had “ops” reviews. Basically, these are territory reviews. We always put fun facts to give the audience insight into who we are. I bragged about the Gonzaga program and everyone loved the fact that I just climbed a mountain. It almost felt as good as actually climbing it!

We made it!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that we made the summit of Mt. Adams yesterday.  It was an arduous, grueling, hike but well worth the effort to get there.  I will post some pictures as the team had more cameras.  Here is one from our base camp 8,300 ft for now:

Minor Injury

Well unfortunately basketball left me with thumb jam that is black and blue and turf toe.  Turf toe hurts the most and it is hard to walk but I can still bike and swim.  I went for a hard charging 9 mile bike ride yesterday in 104 degree heat.  I am looking forward to Mt. Adams just to get out of the heat.  I continue to work on core strengthing exercises.  On thursday, I went and saw the doctor that gave me the epidural steriod injection.  She was very pleased that everything is progressing fine.  She was not happy that I played basketball but I said I needed to test the back out.  2 more weeks!

Rock Climbing - Part 2

I went back to the indoor rock climbing gym yesterday and really tested myself.  There is one wall that has a completley horizontal ridge that you need to manuever around.  I could not do it this time but I will be shooting for this as a micro-goal before our climbing trip. 

New Toy for Climbing Training

Yesterday I went out and bought a mountain bike - the Trek Paragon.  It has 29" wheels and is built very well.  It is probably 3 to 4 times heavier than my road bike.  Since I live in Dallas, you would think that a road bike is better suited for the terrain.  Dallas is one of the cities in the US with the fewest bike paths per citizen in the nation.  You can't find a trail unless you drive to it.  We moved a couple of months ago to an area that is near the Trinity River.  The Trinity intersects Dallas and Ft. Worth and their is a levee system built through it.  This is very close to my house and yesterday I rode 13 hard miles on the dirt trail a top of the levee.  It was great fun and you can only ride it if you have a mountain bike.

Some pictures of the Bike

Lower Back Test

I played basketball last Tuesday to test out the steroid shot that was put into my L5/S1 the week before.  This was against doctors orders but it felt good enough to go out and try it.  I am happy to say that it felt better than in the previous 8 months.  I was very spry in my play.  Both my lateral quickness and jumping ability returned.  I continue to do agressive core strenghening which will help on the climb.  I have lost about 3-4 pounds which will help when we carry up a 30 lb pack. 

Team Call, Update & Thoughts

We had our first team call yesterday and it was great to speak with everyone.  I like our team a lot and each of them really likes this course.  I am most behind on my training due to my back but I will be rectifiying that.  Kyeth told us that he had AMS on Mt. Whitney and said it was not fun.  I am swiming as many laps under water in our pool to supress my breathing and increase my vital capacity.  I could not find anywhere if any climber trained for altitude this way but we will see if it helps.  I can go 3 laps in our pool which is about 12.5 meters in length. My goal is to do 4 laps.  I am highly impressed with one of my teamates, Michael, who rode 48 miles and did 5 mile hikes with a 65 pound pack.  He will be fine on the mountain and I hope I can keep up.  The last time I hiked was in 2005 from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the Top.  It was 1 mile in vertical distance and a 5 mile hike.  It was one of the most challenging physical activities I have ever done.  I had to carry my sisters pack, which by coincidence, was 30 pounds - about what we will carry for this climb.

P.S. My resting heart rate was 49 and blood pressure was 118 over 78 when I went in for the steroid shot at noon on Wednesday.  The nurse said that was good.

Rock Climbing

My wife and I went rock climbing yesterday.  It was a great time.  I learned how to put a harness on and be the support for the climber.  We went to a highly rated climbing facility in Dallas and it had multiple walls that provided plenty of challenge.  My forearms are paying for the the work today.  I thought it was great exercise and it was great to reach the top each time.  I will be incorporating this as part of my training for the event. 

Steroid shot

On Wednesday this week I received my first ever steroid shot in between the L5 and S1 vertabrae.  It was the first IV I have ever had.  The surgery did not last very long but it took about 24 hours to fully recover.  After about 3 days, my back has seemed to improve.  This is the kick-start I need to train for the Mt. Adams climb.  I am in full cardio/weights routine to make sure I am step-by-step with my team, Southern Exposure. 

Module 2 comes to a close

This modules paper focused on our acute and chronic stress at work.  I just turned it in and it feels great to get it done.  I had to cut out a lot to reduce it to 7 pages but I think the messaging is much better in the shortened version.  I feel like this course has given me a "Hawthorne effect" when it comes to hardiness already.  I am mentally better prepared for stressful situations.  Things don't bother me as much.  I will be buying all of my gear and making trip preparations for Portland this week.

I am looking forward to the Southern Exposure team call this Wednesday!

Everest - Beyond the Limit - Complete

Finished the series last night of Everest Beyond the Limit.  It was filmed in May of 2007 where over 500 climbers made the summit.  What helped that statistic was the best weather in 25 years.  7 climbers died that year - this was very perplexing to the team leader. 

Reflecting on this series it seems that Everest has become almost too touristy - meaning that everyone thinks they can climb up the mountain.  It was interesting to see how un-prepared some teams were for the climb.  Very few had team doctors to help with altitude sickness/ pulmonary edema etc. and they used Russel's team doctor frequently. 

The companies/Sherpas that take "tourist" up the mountain must get tired of seeing unprepared climbers.  There is much arrogance with climbers who think they can do it only to the detriment of the team. 

A great series and I would highly recommend it to all.

Everest - Beyond the Limit

Since taking this course I have been a junky for climbing documentaries/movies.  There is a great series on Discovery that you can view instantly on Netflix called "Beyond the Limit".  Wow am I hooked on this series.  I can relate better to High Altitude Leadership because of it.  It is amazing how arrogance and lone heroism can ruin a team.  Definitely check out this series - there are two seasons of it. 

MRI

I met with a lumbar specialist and he is prescribing a course of treatment for me.  I will be getting a steroid shot in the area where the disc is pressing against the sciatic nerve which is causing me leg pain.  I can't take any steroidal pain pills like ibuprofen/aleve as this conflicts with this treatment.  I hope the steroid shot takes because the pain has inhibited by ability to carry heavy loads on my back - a key training requirement. 

One step back

I just had an MRI on my lower back and I have a buldging disc between my L5 and S1 which is causing Sciatica.  This weekend it caused numbness in my left foot.  I have a specialty appointment this week to chart a course of action.  This has inhibited my training but I have been swiming to improve my cardio and vital lung capacity. 

Everest: Into Thin Air

I watched the first 2 episodes of "Everest: Beyond the Limit"  via Netflix produced by the Discovery Channel.  What an amazing and excruciating climb.  One of the Sherpas died from altitude sickness and another climber from the Indian team had pulmonary edema and almost died.  At advanced base camp, which is 21,000 feet above sea level, more than 600 climbers await to climb Everest.  I can't believe that many wait to go up a mountain.  There is much worry with guides about traffic jams in tight spots as the climbers ascend/descend.  More to come on this series. 

The journey starts

I was excited for this course when I heard about it from Dr. Popa during our Leadership and Imagination session in January 2011.  There are tons of leadership books out there and I thought this was a unique look into what makes leaders resilliant.

I picked up all of the books and 3 out 4 made the cut in the sylabus.  The one book I read the most of which did not make the list, was "Deep Survival," Who Lives. Who Dies. and Why, by Laurence Gonzales.  It is very interesting and looks at the chemistry in the human body on why people stress and panic in difficult situations.  I would encourage anyone to read this supplement.  It taught me to know what is going on in my body when the situation arises.  If you can identify the actual body function that produces the imbalance, I think you an counter it with a mind/body strategy.

I skimmed through some of the other material and this class will be very unique.  I hope to also improve the curriculum moving forward.