Gear | Everest and the Real Girl

Day 13 – Khumbu Yak

May 18, 2012 · by Julie

May 17, 2012
Thursday

The Training

Rest day! I did walk between my field sites again today though, so that was good.

The Gear

Okay, time to decide what to do about all that GoLite stuff from yesterday. The Universe answered this one for me, as it started pouring down rain just as I started to head back to my field site from lunch. After kicking myself for not throwing my new Typhoon rain jacket in my bag just in case, I realized that not only was I lacking a rain jacket, but I didn’t even have an umbrella. I saw a cool little travel umbrella at the GoLite store yesterday…good excuse!

I still didn’t have a lot of time, so I wisely decided to limit myself to the umbrella and a couple of running shirts. There were some great hiking pants, but my body shape keeps changing as I go through this process. I haven’t lost any weight or even inches, but clothes are fitting differently, so I’m going to wait until closer to the trek to buy anything new for the bottom half. The top pretty much stays the same no matter what, so I’m safe there.

While I was in the store checking it all out, I also met a really cool guy who is a photographer for an outdoor magazine. We started talking about hiking at altitude, and about the frustrations of finding the right camera backpack. He gave me some tips on his home-crafted system, and I felt a lot better knowing that even the true professionals have the same camera issues that I do on the trail. It’s not just me – the perfect bag simply does not exist.

I left the store with the umbrella, two running/hiking shirts, a travel dress, and a pretty blue fleece hoodie that caught my eye for a pittance. Can’t wait to test it all out!

The Culture

In between all of this work and shopping and writing and meeting cute boys and such, I also managed to arrange an interview with a person that Everest enthusiasts will find quite interesting! That’s all I’m going to say for now, but keep an eye out next month for some Nepali culture and Everest stories. As a hint, Khumbu Yak told me that my hard work will pay off later, but laziness pays off now. So true! He’s quite the fortune-teller, isn’t he?

Day 12 – The Compromise

May 18, 2012 · by Julie

May 16, 2012
Wednesday

The Training

First things first – a huge THANK YOU to all of my followers here, and on Twitter and Facebook! You are keeping me motivated today, because quite frankly this is the kind of day where I would normally just give up and skip a workout in the name of sheer exhaustion. I am totally overwhelmed by work and travel today, and finding time to run seemed impossible. So here’s what I did:

I skipped breakfast and went down to the gym to run on the treadmill in the morning. Those of you who know me know how hard this was for me to do. I often skip breakfast to get in an extra 20 minutes of sleep before heading off to a field site, but to run? Never. I have no energy in the morning. None. Zero. Even if I eat breakfast. Today was no different. Even though this run was shorter than yesterday’s, it felt much, much, harder. I got through it though, and I probably should have at least had an energy bar or some such thing before heading down to the gym. I was planning to pack a few, but I believe they’re still sitting on my kitchen counter at home. I was so rushed and overwhelmed trying to pack and get out the door that I forgot to throw them in my bag. So I struggled through this run, but I finished it and for today that will do just fine.

But in the spirit of my crazy week and Murphy’s Law, here’s the thing – I didn’t have to run today. It was a rest day. When I got to the gym and opened my running app, it warned me that I needed to rest today in order to be prepared for tomorrow’s run, and asked me if I was SURE I wanted to run today anyway? Um. What?? Apparently, after the long run I was supposed to rest TWO days rather than the usual one day. Crap. All the mental gymnastics about where I was going to fit running in and what I was going to give up in order to do so weren’t even necessary. But here I was, on the treadmill, ready to go. So I ran anyway. Lesson learned – check the schedule before stressing out!

One more note – if you ever have a chance to influence the design of a hotel, in the name of all that is sacred in the universe, please, please, please do NOT make sweaty people in gym clothes walk through the lobby to get back to their room. It’s like the walk of shame. You know you look like hell and probably smell a little bad too. In this state, you have to walk past 20 or 30 other smartly dressed hotel employees and guests, hoping that your clothing and water bottle scream “healthy and active” rather than “socially clueless and disgusting.” There should be a dedicated stairway or elevator right from the gym to the other floors of the hotel, so you can sneak through without offending any of the upscale guests with your sweaty presence. Really. It can’t be that hard.

The Details

Checking my email, I saw that I have one from ACTIVE Himalayas. From the subject line, I believe they’re confirming that the deposit I sent to New Zealand a couple of weeks ago has arrived. I don’t have time to open it – as it’s either check my personal emails or actually write this. Another compromise today. I’m glad to see the email though, even though it reminds me of all the other things I still have to do: coordinate the flight with a friend and book it, get travel insurance (with medevac!), book the Tibet leg of the trip, decide how many extra hotel days I need to purchase – so much to do! But right now, it all has to wait another week or so, until I get home.

The Gear

I’ve been eating many meals on-site at my field location, but today there was no vegetarian option so I managed to sneak out for a quick lunch. In doing so, I passed a Go-Lite store having a 50% off sale! I only had a few minutes to wander in and drool over all the running and hiking clothes that I both want and need, so after grabbing a few things off the rack I looked at the time and realized that I needed to get back to work. No time to try anything on today, plus I only had my business debit card with me. So I reluctantly put everything back on the racks and vowed to come back tomorrow. Eat lunch? Or shop for gear that’s on sale? That’s a compromise to worry about tomorrow. Hmm…

Day 6 – Running

May 11, 2012 · by Julie

Thursday
May 10, 2012

The Training and Some Gear

I’m back in the game today, feeling much better! I usually try to get to the gym before the after-work rush hour, but today I didn’t make it there until just after 5:00. I have two gyms but the one I use the most lately is the Belmont Athletic Club, a small, locally owned gym in my neighborhood. I like this one because I can walk there from my house. It’s also clean, friendly, and did I mention locally owned? That’s really important to me. Unless it’s raining, I use the walk there to warm up and the walk home to cool down. Going home is the hard part, since at the end of a really tough workout the last thing I want to do is walk half a mile uphill to get home. It’s good practice for the trek, mentally more than physically.

Today it was cloudy and looked like it might rain. Instead of taking the car rather than taking the chance of being caught in a downpour, I cut the tags off my new Typhoon rain shell and stuffed it in my gym bag, hoping for a testing opportunity. A test rain was not to be, but I did learn that the stiff brim on the hood makes the jacket a bit hard to stuff into a bag. I’m sure I’ll appreciate the stiffness in a Himalayan downpour, so I just rolled the jacket around the brim which worked fine. Not great – it could stuff a lot smaller without that brim – but fine.

I had a great workout at the gym, starting Week 5 of my running program. After that, I cranked up the incline on the treadmill and walked up a fake hill for two more miles. I wanted to get some time in on the stairmill but since I was there at rush hour they were both taken. Next time.

My left heel is hurting a lot though. The first hike in my new hiking boots seems to have triggered plantar fasciitis, ugh!! So I’m home now rolling it on ice, stretching, and reminding myself that if people with no legs can summit Everest I can certainly suck it up and get to Base Camp with a strained plantar fascia. It’ll either get better or I will get used to hiking through the pain. One or the other. Time will tell.

Day 4 – Yoga!

May 9, 2012 · by Julie

May 8, 2012
Tuesday

The Training

Easy day today – technically a rest day, but I did do some yoga. I’ll admit that I’ve been slacking on the yoga since I started the running program and wow, did I feel it today! My muscles were very tight and it seems like I’ve lost quite a bit of flexibility in just a month or so. I always have trouble finding time to balance both running and yoga, but I really need to do a better job. If I stop running, I lose endurance quickly. If I stop yoga, I lose flexibility. I want both, so I need to make time for both.

The Gear

My new Mountain HardWear Kelvinator down jacket and Typhoon rain shell arrived! I was far too busy with work to do anything other than check quickly and make sure I’d received the right items, but I’m looking forward to trying them on. Initial thought: The Kelvinator is a much prettier blue than I was expecting from the internet photos. I was a bit hesitant to go with light blue since the jacket I took to Peru was light blue and never came clean. This one is a actually a bit darker and matches the color of my office walls. Nice!

Day 2 – The Pack

May 7, 2012 · by Julie

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Today is a rest day, but I did spend some time doing research on The Pack. The LowePro Photo Sport 200 isn’t bad, but I really think it’s going to be too small once the down jacket is involved, and I hate, hate, hate that the back isn’t mesh and leaves me in a puddle of sweat. There’s so much I like about it, but I’m just not sure it’s going to work. So just in case, I checked out some others. Most seem to be lacking either the photography features or the trekking features that I need for this trip. A few companies make photography trekking packs, but most of those are either awesome but too small, like the one I have:

Or awesome but too big, like the Naneu Adventure K5:

I did find two from Clik Elite that look promising:

The Contrejour 35, which seems to have everything I’m looking for, but might also be a touch too big. I read one review that said it fits under most airplane seats if nothing is in the front section. I like to be able to slide my daypack under ANY airplane seat so I can get at my stuff and leave the overhead space for other people. Other than that, they’re on the right track for what I need though.

But I think the pack that’s in the lead for backup if I need it is the Clik Elite Obscura, which seems pretty much perfect and gets fabulous reviews, but a lot of the online retailers are sold out. I’ll probably have to make a decision pretty soon if I want to get my hands on one. Either that, or wait until the 2012 models come out, which might be even better. When does that happen? Worth waiting? I don’t know.

My new Mountain HardWear Kelvinator down jacket and Typhoon rain shell should be arriving this week. At that point I can load up The Pack and see if there’s even any possibility of getting away with using the one I have. If not, it’s one of the above. Anyone have any experience with any of these?