It’s that time of year again – National Geographic has named their 2015 Adventurers of the Year.
For a decade, National Geographic has spun the globe to find the Adventurers of the Year, each selected for his or her remarkable achievement in exploration, adventure sports, conservation, and humanitarianism. This year’s honorees embody the spirit of adventure in diverse ways—an exploratory surfer seeking the world’s most remote waves; paragliders pushing the boundaries of their sport; an activist challenging the status quo; filmmakers using art to drive conservation; blind kayakers redefining what’s possible; and five more feats.
This year I really struggled where to throw my support.
Folks know I’m a HUGE fan of mountain climbing so Alpinist Ueli Steck seemed like a logical choice. BUT he’s pitted against a team of blind kayakers who rode the Grand Canyon & a 67-year old Pole who crossed the Atlantic completely unassisted. ALSO inspired by 2 paragliders whose personal achievements give new visibility to their sport – similar to Kilian Jornet’s win last year for skyrunning. Voting for ADVENTURER of the year. Argh, conflicted.
This year casting my daily vote for Wasfia Nazreen who’s not only summited the highest peaks on all seven continents (yep, that includes Everest & Antarctica) but has also become a role model in her native Bangladesh, empowering women in a heavy-handed male dominated society.
Find myself super inspired as I continue to educate myself on everything Wasfia.
The Honorees: 2014/2015
- Activist: Wasfia Nazreen
- A Bangladeshi aid worker hula-hoops on the Seven Summits to empower her country’s women and girls
- Alpinist: Ueli Steck
- A climber completes a lightning-fast solo climb of a difficult and deadly Himalayan face
- Blind Adventurers: Erik Weihenmayer and Lonnie Bedwell
- Two kayakers descend the Grand Canyon to break barriers
- Climber: Tommy Caldwell
- A rock climber takes alpinism to the next level with the first traverse of Patagonia’s iconic skyline.
- Filmmakers: Matt Stoecker, Travis Rummel, and Ben Knight
- Three filmmakers capture a pivotal moment in river conservation and ignite a movement to return rivers to their natural state
- Kayaker: Aleksander Doba
- At 67 years old, a Polish kayaker completes the longest open-water kayaking expedition in history.
- Paragliders: Will Gadd and Gavin McClurg
- Two near strangers complete a revolutionary paragliding traverse of North America’s most rugged wilderness and redefine the standards for paragliding
- Ski Mountaineer: Kit DesLauriers
- A world-class ski mountaineer goes from extreme summits to extreme science in the Arctic wilderness
- Surfer: Liz Clark
- An exploratory surfer keeps sailing to find the Pacific’s most secret breaks
- Swimmer: Lewis Pugh
- A pioneering extreme swimmer becomes an eyewitness to the health of the world’s seas
VOTE HERE for People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year: https://on.natgeo.com/1y8STod
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- Antarctica
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- Everest
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- enpowering young women in Bangladesh
Two weeks between Iowa & Indy marathons, re-focused on nutrition. I’m marathoning more often but no longer training three disciplines concurrently [Ironman], so no good reason why I can’t pick up my pace.
Started a food journal to better understand intake & track good fuel days. Adding turkey to salad & eating lamb in race weeks for protein pick-up. Upping my spinach & kale usage – for increased iron. Rotisserie chicken makes me feel ick. Bread & white rice are not food friends. I feel mentally down the following day, which leads to inconsistent training.
When the body feels blah, best to take a day off. When the mind feels blah (poor nutrition), it’s a wasted training day (also spills over into work – less productive).
Learning to listen to my body. Been running consistently without injury since October 2013 – wanna keep that streak alive thru 2016 (50 state marathon goal).
*BIG NEWS* 26 marathons scheduled in 2015 (2 races are lotteries – fingers crossed)
- 11/01/14 Monumental Marathon IN
- 11/16/14 Rock N Roll Las Vegas NV
- 11/23/14 Route 66 Marathon OK
- 12/06/14 Rehoboth Beach Marathon DE
- 01/10/15 Mississippi Blues Marathon MS
- 01/25/15 Miami Marathon FL
- 02/14/15 Myrtle Beach Marathon SC
- 02/22/15 Hyannis Marathon MA
- 03/01/15 Little Rock Marathon AR
- 03/14/15 Montgomery Marathon AL
- 03/29/15 Ocean Drive Marathon NJ
- 04/12/15 Go St Louis Marathon MO
- 04/18/15 Garmin Oz Marathon KS
- 04/25/15 Kentucky Derby Festival KY
- 05/02/15 Wisconsin Marathon WI
- 05/09/15 Fargo Marathon ND
- 05/24/15 Vermont City Marathon VT
- 06/07/15 Casper Marathon WY
- 06/13/15 Rock N Roll Seattle WA
- 06/27/15 Charlevoix Marathon MI
- 07/26/15 San Francisco Marathon CA
- 09/20/15 Morgantown Marathon WV
- 09/26/15 Adams County Marathon OH (Amish Marathon)
- 10/03/15 New Hampshire Marathon NH
- 10/10/15 Hartford Marathon CT
- 10/17/15 Baltimore Marathon MD
- 10/25/15 Marine Corps Marathon VA (Lottery)
- 11/01/15 New York City Marathon NY (Lottery)
- 11/22/15 Philadelphia Marathon PA
- 12/05/15 St. Jude’s Memphis Marathon TN
Gonna be a busy year – Go Big or Go Home. Would leave only 7 states remaining for 2016. ALSO, secretly have 2 big international adventures, one in 2015, one in 2016 — good to have dreams, better to make them happen 🙂
Planes, trains & automobiles…off to Indy for marathon #14.
Welcome to Indianapolis!
A week later, Nebraska’s now a part of the past.
Back up in the early a.m., 6 gym days last week, & cut back on complex carbs (bread). Still struggling with performance (pace is off, 9+ minute/miles) but re-dedicated myself to the process again.
For most endurance runners, it’s generally not physical – it’s a matter of repairing the mental.
Positive energy
Before crashing each evening, been surrounding myself with inspiring videos & upbeat vloggers. Easy to get tagged/bogged down with everyday negativity – lotta unhappy people out there. Key is to acknowledge weakness, not to judge (easier to point out shortfalls than to walk in someone else’s shoes) and avoid long time exposure to toxins.
Unhappy folks have to want to be helped. It’s a tough cycle to break.
Vloggers
I cycle through YouTube vloggers as my mood & interests change. Backpackers, 14er climbs, sky runners.
Currently following young upbeat individuals from LA, DC, Toronto, Indiana & the UK. Nothing heady or life-changing here but their upbeat can-do attitudes are a nice 5-minute diversion. They believe anything is possible – that’s the key, right?
