Let's be honest, a portion of you are only here to determine why someone would ever set a goal like this. This post is an explanation for the curious skeptic.
Wait are you serious?
In a word, YES. All the years I've been running and hiking, and this is the year I decided to set a new goal and marry the two. I need a tangible long term goal that I'll have to stretch myself to achieve. I've seen all the negative publicity. I've read all the horror stories. But to be honest, I think everyone needs a long term goal they can get excited about. I believe your goals should push you to your limit. They should challenge you. They should scare you. I would rather spend a few years training and struggling on the outer edge of my potential, than get stuck in my comfort zone and keep going through the motions.
How did you decide to do this?
What would possess someone to even attempt something like this? For starters, I've been involved with endurance sports for more than a decade. After our second son was born earlier this year during the pandemic, my gym closed for several months. I had to find alternate workouts to keep my body moving. I stumbled across F3, a faith based fitness community of peer-led workouts for men. F-3 has fitness meetup groups throughout north Atlanta, and I started going 5 days a week about 6 months ago.
One particularly grueling workout involved 20 guys running hill repeats on a neighborhood trail nearby. We ran the same hill 10 times as fast as we could. It wasn't even that steep. I struggled to try to stay near the front of the pack. After that workout I drove to the work and my mind started running on overdrive- thinking of all the different ways people challenge themselves to become stronger, better, and push their potential.
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The word came into my mind and I haven't been able to let go since then. Everest. Mount Everest. I want to start training to summit Mount Everest. The goal seemed foolish even back then. To call it a stretch goal would be an understatement. Running marathons and hiking in the Appalachian foothills are one thing. Trying to get to the highest peak in the world is quite another. Its to dangerous I thought to myself, giddy with excitement. I got to the office and tried to forget about it, and focus on work.
I spent the next 2 weeks trying to get the idea out of my head. "Let it go" I told myself. That's not the kind of challenge you need right now. I thought of every reason not to do it. Google has plenty of them, believe me! I spent every waking moment during that two week period trying to talk myself out of it, but I couldn't let the idea go. I couldn't get rid of it. My mind was locked on the idea, and it wasn't going to forget. I resigned to the fact that if I can't talk myself out of it, I should try to at least outline a path one might take to pursue something like this, especially given my limiting mountaineering experience.
The Path Forward
As it turns out, its not like anyone can make up their mind one day and just decide to go and summit Mount Everest. Most of those who plan a summit attempt have a resume of other similar peaks under their belt, and there are numerous hurdles seemingly standing in the way of anyone crazy enough to try. After I decided that talking myself out of it was not going to work I started planning my own list of lofty mountaintops, each a stepping stone to the next. So here is the framework I outlined for how to proceed from elevation to altitude.
Mount St. Helens 2021
Grand Teton 2022
Mount Shasta 2023
Denali 2024
Everest 2025
In addition to helping my body prepare for the altitude, I started training for ultramarathons on mountainous terrain to get my mind and body ready for ruthless fatigue. I recently signed up for a 50 mile run on Chattanooga's Lookout Mountain in December. So this is the beginning of the journey. Im excited to continue working toward this goal, and I appreciate the support of those who believe that anything is possible.
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