Let rage reign!

August is more familiarly dubbed "Angry August" here at the South Pole over the winter. We'll just see whether or not that moniker holds true this year or not. Farewell, Cryin' July!

The wind has been up and down over the past week, and so has the temperature. We lost the moon, and today have also passed back into twilight, though the sun won't be up for a couple more months. It won't be until the end of this month that the all-sky cameras I run will be shut down for the season. Walking around station, at least the portions I transit most often that are not groomed, is an exercise in tripping and stumbling. The sastrugi keep being refreshed before we can walk a nice path into them.

I woke up from what was probably my best night's sleep in quite a while Saturday morning. I don't think I moved a bit once I turned out my lamp, and woke only 3 minutes before my alarm went off at 5:00 AM, instead of waking up at least once during the night. I felt pretty bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, which was such a departure from the norm. It was a welcome surprise, because by this time in the year the constant toll of unrelieved workdays really can leave the/my body feeling pretty beaten down. Despite getting progressively more physically fatigued, I find that the time I spend in the gym helps keep me going through the last few months of the winter. I definitely need that physical outlet to offload all the stress that builds up as time goes on. I may start doing the 300 Workout again as a change from the current lifting schedule I've been following most of the winter. Doing that workout is tough enough, but do it at this altitude with virtually no humidity, and it becomes a serious aerobic challenge as well. I topped out one time at a heart rate of 198 bpm in 2008, which was a little distressing to say the least, but was usually somewhere between 150 and 160 bpm. It'll be a fun challenge again, for sure.

“It is not possible to fight beyond your strength, even if you strive.”
~Homer, "The Iliad"