About ZeroTo14k
A flatlander's guide to the top of Colorado
Oklahoma doesn't have mountains
I grew up on the plains. The tallest thing on the horizon was a grain elevator. But I spent most of my childhood in Boy Scouts, so I learned early that I liked being outside more than I liked being comfortable. I loved hiking, camping, and building fires in the rain.
Later I got into running and cycling, which meant structured plans, long miles, and showing up on days when I didn't want to. I knew how to build endurance. What I didn't know was that none of it transfers above 12,000 feet.
Pikes Peak humbled me
My first summit was Pikes Peak in my mid-twenties. I'd just finished a brutal workout plan and figured I was ready. On paper, I was in the best shape of my life. The mountain didn't care. I hadn't trained for elevation, my gear was wrong, and my nutrition strategy was a granola bar and optimism.
I made it to the top. I also had a splitting headache, couldn't keep food down, and my legs felt like concrete from about 12,000 feet on. I'd confused being fit with being prepared.
So I figured it out
After Pikes Peak I started reading about altitude physiology and talking to people who knew what they were doing. Most of the advice assumes you live at elevation or grew up scrambling on rocks, which isn't helpful if you're from Oklahoma.
The next time out, I summited Grays and Torreys, and it was a night and day difference. It wasn't because I was fitter, but because I knew how to prepare: better gear, better pacing, and a training plan that accounts for what altitude does to your body. The summit felt earned instead of survived.
Why I built this
ZeroTo14k is the program I wish I'd had when I was staring up at Pikes Peak with the wrong boots. It's a 13-week training plan built by a runner who had to learn mountaineering from scratch. The plan borrows from endurance training but it's designed around altitude. The workouts, the gear advice, the pacing: all of it comes from getting things wrong first and then fixing them.
If you're coming from flat ground, or you run and bike but haven't spent time above 5,000 feet, this was made for you. It takes thirteen weeks.