I’ve often thought about doing a climbing fundraiser by spending some time in a freezer…it would also make good downsuit practice time. Anyone got any deep freeze connections or grocer connections for such an event? In the meantime, my mind is doing that cool thing that our minds do when we start to notice things because we are paying attention. I digress. Before I bought my Honda Fit, I never noticed Honda Fits on the road, since purchasing one four years ago, I suddenly see Honda Fits all over town. The same thing is happening with Antarctica.

First today, it was the report of Antarctic Animal Ice Cubes that caught my eye–wouldn’t they be fun to have in my electrolyte beverage today as I showered the field house floor with buckets of sweat. Second, while doing the dishes tonight, I treated myself to some Netflix time…what did it serve me up? “Life in the Freezer” by David Attenborough. I enjoyed the first episode and look forward to more dish washing so I can “guilt-free” learn more about where I am headed in 58 days.

After a tough go training on Thursday and Saturday, today’s stamina session went well. I even had some progress adding either 4 or 9 reps to my sand bag get-ups and taking 4:41 minutes off my 500 step ups time. It’s always good to remember than progress isn’t linear and often comes after a rest or tough go.

I had a fabulous time with the folks at the Atlantic Canada Water & Wastewater Association Annual Conference today. Presenting there gave me a chance to reflect on the how important access to clean and safe drinking water is and how critical it is that we, as a society, deal with our wastewater in proper ways (and continue to develop new technologies to reclaim more of it). I shared with the conference the story of how my first Everest expedition was cut short of my goal by a water borne illness (giardia) and shared an appreciation for all the hard work these “mostly behind the scenes” folks do. It is a great privilege to walk to a tap, turn it on, and have fresh, clean, usable water flow out. So many people do not have this easy access to such a precious resource and I’m grateful that I do.

When I biked in Tibet, we stopped and had tea with some local folks. These women were very curious as to what was in my water bottle...water, of course!