Category Archives: Outdoors

February 23, 2013 · 11:29 am

Learning to Run

For the last 3 months I have been learning to run. Here is how:

Born To Run Book

Step 1 - I read Born to Run.

It was super awesome, educational,  easy to read, and most importantly, inspirational. Instead of making you guilty for not running or watching TV, by telling stories of super disciplined olympic athletes, it told stories of individuals and even cultures who ran just because they liked it. It reminded me of my days in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade when I used to race the bus to school and ran just for fun before competition and fitness ruined it for me. I’ve bought the book  as a gift for 3 people and you should consider checking it out. If you do, let me know what you think. BOOK LINK

Step 2 - I set up a way to run naturally.

I knew that treadmills weren’t going to cut it. I wanted it to be a part of my life so I incorporated it into something I’m already doing. For me, this is going to work. I decided to run into the office. It’s 6 miles roundtrip and I don’t need to provide myself some imagined or lofty purpose with my runs. I’m just trying to get to work and enjoy the outdoors and city on the way. It’s a great way to decompress and clear my head after a day of meetings too. It was kind of a pain to set up but I gave myself 2 weeks to get everything in place. For me this means extra clothes and shoes at the office, I bought an extra laptop to leave at the office because I want to run light, and I don’t plan any engagements 45 minutes before or after my last meeting. Continue reading →

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August 28, 2012 · 10:55 am

A few of my random thoughts from the Wonderland…

It’s strange that our children (and even us) may grow up thinking that water comes from a tap or a bottle. That’s not where it comes from. It comes from the ground and the sky. From glaciers, snow, and rain.

I think there is a benefit to putting your children in a situation where you can imagine them dying. Although they are probably more likely to die on a freeway than the wilderness we have adopted an illusion of safety that prevents us from true appreciation and faith.

In our culture it’s unusual to spend an extended time in close proximity with your children. I’m not talking about hours in the same house. I’m talking days within 20 feet of each other. For 9 days we were staying in a 8 foot tent. It was practically and emotionally uncomfortable. At the end of it all, we came back to a nice house with beds and privacy. We now found our family separated by stairs, doors, and walls. Both Kami and I actually found ourselves missing our children even though we are in the same house. It makes me wonder how many cultural living norms in the first world are an actual advancement for relationships.We had a strange interaction where we met a family that recognized us as “the family from the computer”. They had seen our previous YouTube videos of the trail and said that we were the reason that they were out here. This launched into a talk with our children about how beautiful the gift of true freedom is and how exciting it is to show and share that with other people. True freedom is deep, personal, emotional, spiritual, financial, rare, and contagious.Our culture sees babies as a very cute major practical inconvenience. They are so much more than that. One baby can completely transform an entire trip by unifying a team towards servanthood and providing a re-orientation of what un-hindered joy, curiosity, and discovery are like. Having Filia on our trip did not just add a 7th wheel. It completely changed the depth and enjoyment of the experience for every single member of our family. Leaving her behind would not have made a very permanent difference in her life but it would have for everyone else.

To generalize, there are 2 major way of interpreting the existence of a beautiful mountain range. The first is that it’s a unintentional geological byproduct. The second is that it’s a very personal expression of a God who wants us to more know and understand him and his beauty. If you believe the latter, we should be putting a fair amount of energy and resources towards understanding this God though the expressions that he has given us. This will probably come at the cost of the comfort and technology of our modern word.

For more details about our trip..

You can watch the video on YouTube

 

 

Or you can view our Facebook photo album by clicking on the image.

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December 15, 2009 · 9:31 pm

Finding Meaning on the Mountain: Thoughts for my friends Katie, Luke, and Anthony.

This past week has been hard for our family.  3 people were found missing on Mount Hood in Oregon. Two of the three were friends of mine that I have climbed with in the past. Of those two that I knew personally one was found dead while one is still missing. In a time where there is so much hurt and confusion, the inability to help seems  unbearable. Upon hearing about the situation, my wife Kami and I instantly thought of driving to Portland or even the mountain. Our goal would be to try and provide support practically and emotionally to friends and the families. Today, I realized I think that my greatest support can be offered in writing my thoughts as a friend and fellow climber of Luke and Katie. This writing is dedicated to the family of Katie, Luke, and Anthony. My hope is that it will provide some comfort and a small respite from the grief you are experiencing.

Katie Nolan and I on the summit of Mount Hood, April 2008 (You can see Mount Saint Helens and Mount Rainier in the background)

This past week I was reading  a book about K2, the “World’s Most Dangerous Mountain”,  by Ed Viesturs. He tells of the “tragedy” that took place in August of 2008 when 13 climbers died in a 36 hour period while attempting to summit the mountain.  More interesting than the actual event was the response of the general public. Continue reading →

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January 20, 2009 · 1:01 pm

Are 12 step groups more like the Church than church?

Two strange things that happened to me in the last 24 hours…

1. I went snowshoeing on Mt Rainier with with my shirt off…..in January…and was quite warm. But that’s not the weird thing. The weird thing was that some guy called my name out and I looked over and he said his name was Paul. “Paul?” “Yeah Paul, from Costa Rica.” In 1994 I went on a mission trip with my church and we visited the Robinsons in Costa Rica. Fifteen years later I run into this guy on the mountain. I wouldn’t have recognized him at all.   When I asked him how he recognized me he said that his brother was showing him pictures of me on Rainier 3 weeks earlier that he had pulled off of Facebook.  Weird.Rainier no shirt

2. I went to a sexaholics meeting on Monday at noon. Usually I go to one that meets Sunday at 7am but I wanted to check one out with a different format. Anyways, they meet at a church in Bellevue and when we got there the building they normally meet at was locked. So, after a little bit of discussion about alternative locations and realizing there were none they decided to meet…..in the parking lot. Weird.outdoor-sa

It got me thinking. There’s been a post that I’ve been meaning to write for  a while that revolves around what I have learned from programs that involve and include society’s rejects. In many ways it seems like they have this whole church/Jesus thing figured out more than I ever had growing up attending and working in churches.  Continue reading →

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December 5, 2008 · 5:34 pm

I Took These Pictures Today

On the way home I saw the craziest views. I raced inside, grabbed my point and shoot and took these shots about 5 minutes from our house.

You may notice that little speed bump in the background. That’s called Mount *&^^?!?^%$ Rainier.

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That puddle on the right is lake Washington and you can see Bellevue in the middle.

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. Continue reading →

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October 28, 2008 · 11:31 am

My Life Goals (some of them at least)

  • have a pet raccoon (I’ve had this goal for a while but the idea for this list came when I watched this video)
  • climb Denali (aka. Mt. McKinley in Alaska is the highest point in N. America)
  • Live in NY City for 3 months (my more specific plan is to watch the 14 hour NY documentary series with the kids and spend the days going to all the places mentioned in the doc, experiencing them)
  • Live in Hawaii and surf for 3 months
  • Build a custom built home with our family tree engraved on the wall
  • Have a pool in the basement
  • Swim in that pool every morning wearing a speedo Continue reading →

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October 8, 2008 · 10:30 am

Surfwise – Movie review

We watched this documentary the other day. Pretty interesting look into a mobile, surfing, family of 11. It was really thought provoking and Continue reading →

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September 19, 2008 · 3:24 pm

Rainier is Still Winning

Total score for last 12 months (Updated).

Rainier: 4

Ben: 1

Some of you remember my previous Rainier report that had reported 4 attempts without one successful trip this year. With winter coming I realized that I would be staring at the mountain for the next 9 months thinking about how I had never made it to the top for all of 08. That’s a lot of thinking and a lot of time. So, against better judgement I gave my brother a call. My brother operates best with no more than 72 hours of notice. This was perfect because with a three day window of good weather this was the final opportunity until 09. Continue reading →

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September 2, 2008 · 11:14 pm

Rainier Won

Total score for last 12 months.

Rainier: 4

Ben: 0

This last week I made my 4th summit attempt on Rainier in 12 months.  I went with 2 friends from the Midwest. Two of us made it to 12,300 feet before turning back. In the 36 hours on the mountain we Continue reading →

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December 16, 2007 · 10:55 pm

Rainier

I took this picture today while driving in Seattle on I-5. It was probably dangerous but definitely worth it.

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