Nicola Baker’s Garmin watch started heckling her.
It fired off this message: “You seem to be training less and it’s starting to impact your training status. Try increasing your training load to see improvement.”
A little passive aggressive? Sure. But the watch did have a point – Baker had certainly been taking it easy since climbing Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas at 22,837 feet. After spending 12 days ascending to the summit of Aconcagua, Baker and her teammates had celebrated their success with plenty of steak and wine in Mendoza, Argentina. In fact, she might have been taking it too easy, and Baker is not one to take things easy.
Baker, MD, is a clinical assistant professor and emergency medicine physician at University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson and is fellowship trained in emergency ultrasound. She is a core faculty member for the University Campus Emergency Medicine residency program and facilitates the clinical-reasoning course for first- and second-year medical students. She is also the medical director and a volunteer rescuer for Southern Arizona Rescue Association. And, oh yeah, she is the mom to a 5-year-old daughter and climbs mountains in her free time.
So back off Garmin watch.
To read more about Dr. Baker's journey to the top of Aconcagua, continue reading the story on the University of Arizona Health Sciences Connect page.