The last time I was up there was a full 2 years ago, really only because I thought with Mara now being a very senior dog the steep climb might be too much for her.
To my surprise, I made it to the summit in 90 minutes from the trailhead without stopping once. (Pema's Ecuador woman's record for the climb is 41 minutes, if I remember right — but she was running.

)
I wouldn't have thought my own 90 minute time was possible, and — not a joke!! — I wondered if it might even be the Quitahuayco record for someone my age.
A couple of photos:
I talked with my friend Gilberto (Pema's father) some more about Methylene Blue, and he's been researching everything he can find about the benefits for elite athletes. Pema and her brother Noam are now taking it daily, already with clear benefits. Gilberto is pretty excited about it, and after starting to take it himself told me that he's experienced a marked difference in his mental clarity and focus. He, Noam and Pema are taking 10-15 mg/day.
I'm still only taking 3 mg/day, a pretty small dose. I've NOT felt any difference in mental focus, but clearly my ability to metabolize oxygen has greatly increased. I can only measure that objectively with these fun mountain stress tests (today being the second of these), but it seems reasonable to assume that this must surely be optimizing my whole well-being in more subtle ways.