I'm Kevin Schmidt, an Engineering Psychologist at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), flying the AFRL flag with my colleague, Dr. Molly Fischer, at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. At 19,341 feet (5895m) above sea level, I thought about why I and so many others push the limits of human performance. Five days of backcountry hiking, three hours of sleep in the last two days of the ascent, a six hour summit push, and facing potentially -15°Celcius (5°Farenheit) air temperature characterized many of the reasons that people would provide as a rationale to avoid such a challenge. These challenges enhanced my appreciation for the adaptability of the human experiences as well as cued a fascination with the process underlying that adaptation. How can humans perform such incredible feats when altitude alone should tear the mind and body down? I'm committing myself to the understanding of this process. My next challenge is an attempt to summit Aconcagua (22,841 feet