Gymless. Free.

Early Season High Country

This is my first year in New Mexico. I’ve been told by many that the high country is quite the fickle bitch in the springtime. I acknowledge this, but rarely listen. I always have to see for myself, and that’s just what I did last weekend.

With snow levels dropping rapidly, I decided a quick overnight in the Pecos Wilderness was in order. I didn’t get off work on Saturday until 3PM, so quickly stopped by the apartment to load my gear and puppy and was on the road just before 4.

I made it to the Jack’s Creek trailhead around 5:45 and hit the trail. The weather was worrying me slightly – it had been cloudy all afternoon and seemed to be worsening, even though the forecast called for only a slight chance of a thunderstorm.

I had originally planned to head to Hamilton Mesa, but stupidly decided to go north instead. Not far along I ran into a day hiker coming from Jack’s Creek, a couple hours ahead. Apparently there were just a few snow drifts to contend with until the creek, but much worse conditions past it. I figured I had just enough time to get to the creek before dark. I’d camp there, then take a branching trail towards Beatty flats the next day and loop back.

About an hour in I hit the intersection with trail 25. The views were nice despite the sky’s cloudy disposition. Not long after, the snow started. It was light, but the wind picked up quickly and the temperature dropped rapidly. I plowed on, still set on making Jack’s Creek.

Over the next couple of miles the snow was off and on. I made it to The creek with a tiny bit of light left…and then the snow really started coming down. I quickly threw up my Sublite a little ways off trail next to the creek. Myself and Flurry scarfed down a quick dry dinner and we hopped into the tent as the snow continued to fall.

I set to work drying Flurry off, as she had insisted on walking into every muddy spot in site. Of course the fresh snow wasn’t helping either. I normally read for a bit before bed, but instead chose to relax and listen to the falling snow.

I woke up several times during the night and knocked snow off the tent walls. It snowed pretty steadily into the early morning hours and finally tapered off. As the sun finally began to rise, I opened the door to survey my surroundings. White!

A few inches fell overnight and covered much of the area. It was unexpected, but beautiful. We took our time eating breakfast and lounging around, having decided I didn’t feel like walking in snow all day and dealing with the inevitable postholing that was to come. And the wet dog. I was happy just to get out, and would make this a quick and short out and back. Not ideal, but shit happens.

We made our way back to the parking area, enjoying the snow blanketed scenery. Flurry, of course, detoured into every mud puddle she saw. We encountered a few elk crossing ahead of us; Flurry’s bark echoed intensely across the entire area.

We were back to the trailhead in just a couple hours and home in a couple more. Although the mileage and length of the trip was ridiculously short, it was still a great night out.

It’s the end of day 3..and I have an early opinion on intermittent fasting, but zip to say about polyphasic sleep.

Sleep – I’ve basically been running on 4.5 hours of sleep/day for the past 3 days. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to fall asleep for any of the naps. I’m not a super frequent napper, but I’m used to taking short ones at least a few times a week, so I’m a little confused. I suppose I’ll have to keep trying and hope my body decides to cooperate.

IF – At first, I couldn’t imagine not eating for 16 hours; in reality, it’s not so bad. It’s nice to actually feel full after a meal since I’m taking in nearly the same amount of calories in half the meals I’m used to. I can already see increased abdominal definition and my vascularity is greatly improved. I wish I could say this was due completely to IF, but a lot of it probably stems from eating mostly healthy again. I’m still drinking a beer most days, but I’ve massively cut my carb intake and cleaned up the rest of my diet. My energy level seems fine, even with the lack of sleep – huge and very unexpected plus.

I’m excited to see how both of these experiments turn out. I’m really unsure about polyphasic sleep, but I have exceedingly high hopes for IF.

For years, spring has been my time of experimenting with various exercise programs, eating plans, and anything else I’ve been interested in over the years. This spring is no different and comes with two of the biggest experiments I’ve yet committed to.

1. Polyphasic Sleep – the idea of getting only a small amount of core sleep each night supplemented with short 20-minute naps during the day. Without going into the science of it, you (supposedly) get more of the important (REM) sleep. Because I’m not completely insane, I’ll be starting with the Everyman 2-nap. With 4.5 hours of core sleep and 2 20-minute naps spaced evenly throughout the day, I’ll be sleeping just over 5 hours each day. I’ve been comfortable in the past with 6 hours of sleep each night, so I expect this to not only be comfortable after a few days of adaptation, but I believe I’ll be able to decrease the core sleep to 4 hours or less. Maybe it’s just the positivity talking, so I guess we’ll see.

2. Intermittent Fasting – extended periods without eating. It has a lot of pieces of effective eating plans I’ve used in the past, minus the fast. I’ve been eating 6-8 small meals for years so I’m a little nervous about my IF plan: 16 hours of fasting with an 8 hour eating window. I’ll likely take in just 3 big meals, mostly consisting of protein and fat. On days of higher energy expenditure, like my long run days, I’ll throw in a few extra carbs. While most IF plans recommend fasting overnight through the morning, they also assume most people are monophasic sleepers (7-9 hours of straight sleep per night). Since I’ll be running my polyphasic sleep experiment at the same time, I’m worried about lack of energy in the morning while adapting to the decreased core sleep. That being said, I’ll be fasting in the afternoon through the night instead.

I’ll post weekly updates on both experiments. Let the games begin.

I haven’t had a good combo workout in a while so I decided to drive up to Santa Fe on Wednesday and tear it up. While I didn’t exactly accomplish that, it was still a great day to get outside and a nice workout.

I was reminded of how technically terrible I am on the mountain bike, how much I love trail running (even though I do it several times a week), and how important snow conditions are to my skiing happiness.

Oh, and how essential proper intra-workout nutrition is. I never thought I’d be too lazy to run by the store for food, but that’s exactly what happened. And I suffered because of it.

Don’t bonk. It’s an interesting feeling in a masochistic sense, but overall not a fun experience.

This is easily the most difficult part of online dating. You need to piece together a snapshot of “you” that creates enough interest in the opposite sex for them to either (a) message you or (b) respond to your message. Here’s how:

Your picture is the first thing the people browsing you see. (1) Choose one that really shows you off. Ideally, you’ll be smiling. You’ll need more than one, so pick another that shows you doing something you love. Passion is a universal attractor. Guys, no shirtless pics. Girls, no bikini pics. No pics with an ex.

Continuing along with picture advice, (2) upload at least one picture that shows your full body. I don’t like to date girls that don’t take care of their body, and I know I’m not alone on this front. In the online dating world, there are few things worse than feeling you have a quality connection with someone that doesn’t look anything like his or her pictures. On that note, all pics should be CURRENT. I can’t stress this enough.

Hopefully at this point in life, you’ve realized that you’re not perfect. I’ve seen a lot of profiles written heavy on arrogant; your shit does stink. (3) Acknowledge this, because you can guaran-damn-tee that the man or woman reading it will. We’re not perfect, and most people playing the dating game understand this. That being said, don’t be afraid to highlight your imperfections. Self-deprecation is a solid form of humor. If you know how to use it, please do. If not, learn.

Avoid the cookie cutter, “I’m a very determined individual. I’m passionate, devoted, and loyal.” This is boring. I skip right past profiles filled with this nonsense. It’s not interesting or fun to read, and more importantly, it’s impersonal. (4) Share experiences. Tell me a clif-notes version of a story that illustrates your passion, devotion, or loyalty. People don’t relate to the word ‘loyalty’; they relate to that one time you pushed your best friend out of the way at the bar and took the hit instead. This is something you can send or receive a message about.

This sounds like common sense, but (5) be honest. Assuming you’re serious about meeting people, you will eventually end up with a date. He or she is going to verify your profile. If you tell a lie on your profile, you’re either going to have to fess up when the question surfaces on a date or keep lying. Save face now and just don’t do it.

(6) Don’t give your life story. If the first few dates go well, your date will have plenty of time to learn all the little details later. Pick and choose important and interesting bits of your life to share. People don’t want to read a ridiculously long profile, and you want to retain at least some mystery.

5) I really, really enjoy beer. I’ve tasted well over 100 in the last year. I guess it’s not a huge number, but considering that a year ago I hated beer with a passion (and couldn’t even tell you what a craft beer was), I’m pretty proud of this.

6) Spending time in the outdoors has enriched my life in ways that I can’t even begin to describe. I won’t dare try to convert to words what the outdoors has done for me, but needless to say it’s been wonderful. I’m calmer, happier, and more adventurous than ever.

7) Your network, the people that support you, is invaluable.

8) Meeting friends in a new city, without the help of school, is pretty rough.

9) I’m sure there are tons more, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind.

2011 was a big year for me. I graduated from college (sans walk), moved 1,000 miles away from the where I grew up, and finally started on my journey towards building a functioning business. I’ve certainly learned a lot, but mostly I’ve just realized stuff I already knew.

And here we go…

1) As predicted, I really am MUCH happier in New Mexico. Despite not knowing many people and occasionally struggling with money, I’m loving it here.

2) As nice as being single is, relationships are nice, too. I’ve not actually been in a relationship in something like two years; I went through a bit of an anti-committment (or anti-evilbitchwomen) phase. After moving to Albuquerque, however, I did start dating again. Online, as usual. I’ve met some older women, some women who make way more money than I do, a woman who didn’t look anything like her profile picture, and a younger woman who I’m now in a relationship with. Despite the majority only lasting a few dates, it’s always interesting to meet and spend time with different women. As this point in my life, I’m absolutely positive that I’m not the kind of guy who needs a woman. But, I can’t continue to argue that relationships aren’t worth it. Consider the white flag waved.

3) People suck. This is one of those things that’s simply been reinforced; I’m not just now learning that people suck. I’m not quite that naive. However, I will admit that it always amazes me how terrible people can be. From October through most of December I dealt with one of the most disrespectful people I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing. Power hungry, manipulative, rude. I despise people like this, but if they’re forthright about it it’s somewhat tolerable. This bitch wasn’t, and that makes me hate her even more.

4) Swimming is actually pretty enjoyable.