Oh my aching quads!
Well I can actually walk and run again with minimal pain, my quads are starting to feel better. Last Sunday instead of going for a run Vicki called and invited me out for a hike. At first I said no but changed my mind.
The hike was to be the Lions which is in my backyard and I have never been up there. The Lions are two side by side mountains on the Sea to Sky Highway. It was going to be one of the last clear days this year and well my border collie - Bishop- would absolutely love it! Plus it was a little shamefull that I had never been to the top and I lived at the base of the trail head.
So after thinking about it some more I decided that me and the dog would head up with Vicki and the girls (Cynthia and Tanis). How bad could it be? It is only a mountain!
We got up bright and early on Sunday, packed our bags with water, lunch, gels, extra jackets, gloves, camera and such. The hike was to take about 7 hours there and back. Now let me preface this by saying I was born in the Prairies, flat land, some minor hills... I am not sure what I was thinking. I know I am going up a mountain, there will be an uphill and there will be a downhill but as usual my brain blocked out these facts so that I could happily trundle along to the point where reality kicks me in the ass and I now MUST face the fact that I am climbing a bloody mountain which means I must come down same said mountain.
This is all significant because I suck at technical descents on steep terrain. In the words of Vicki and Cynth - "I run like a girl". Seriously I do not have the mountain goat gene, so as we continued up the trail and then did a detour to go to Harvey instead of the Lions I grew concerned. As the trail became steeper and kept going up the dread continued to build.
The top was amazingly beautiful - I took lots of pics. The view breathtaking so much so that for a while I forgot about the trip down.
The trip down was my own personal battle with fear. Thank gosh for Vicki - she stayed with me the whole time as did my dog - even he could sense my anxiety. Cynthia and Tanis ran all the way down - bloody mountain goats! I worked my way down, slipped a few times, had a mini-panic attack that Vicki talke me through. We finally got to the main trail head and I was so relieved - I felt horrible for the girls that I was so frightened to the point at times I wanted to sit down and cry.
With Vicki's help and encouragement I got down to the bottom. So now being me I am going to have to go get some hiking boots and go up again next year because I am determined to improve. It is just like when I started running, started swimming and started cycling - back of the pack, but that is okay I know me with some practice and my incredible stubborn streak I will improve. I believe Vicki when she says that is all about practice and technique, it will take a while but you can count on it one-day I will run down that darn mountain!
Right now I am just thankful my quads have loosened enough so I can go up and down my driveway with minimal pain. One more thing checked off the list of How bad can it be?
Shaun
The hike was to be the Lions which is in my backyard and I have never been up there. The Lions are two side by side mountains on the Sea to Sky Highway. It was going to be one of the last clear days this year and well my border collie - Bishop- would absolutely love it! Plus it was a little shamefull that I had never been to the top and I lived at the base of the trail head.
So after thinking about it some more I decided that me and the dog would head up with Vicki and the girls (Cynthia and Tanis). How bad could it be? It is only a mountain!
We got up bright and early on Sunday, packed our bags with water, lunch, gels, extra jackets, gloves, camera and such. The hike was to take about 7 hours there and back. Now let me preface this by saying I was born in the Prairies, flat land, some minor hills... I am not sure what I was thinking. I know I am going up a mountain, there will be an uphill and there will be a downhill but as usual my brain blocked out these facts so that I could happily trundle along to the point where reality kicks me in the ass and I now MUST face the fact that I am climbing a bloody mountain which means I must come down same said mountain.
This is all significant because I suck at technical descents on steep terrain. In the words of Vicki and Cynth - "I run like a girl". Seriously I do not have the mountain goat gene, so as we continued up the trail and then did a detour to go to Harvey instead of the Lions I grew concerned. As the trail became steeper and kept going up the dread continued to build.
The top was amazingly beautiful - I took lots of pics. The view breathtaking so much so that for a while I forgot about the trip down.
The trip down was my own personal battle with fear. Thank gosh for Vicki - she stayed with me the whole time as did my dog - even he could sense my anxiety. Cynthia and Tanis ran all the way down - bloody mountain goats! I worked my way down, slipped a few times, had a mini-panic attack that Vicki talke me through. We finally got to the main trail head and I was so relieved - I felt horrible for the girls that I was so frightened to the point at times I wanted to sit down and cry.
With Vicki's help and encouragement I got down to the bottom. So now being me I am going to have to go get some hiking boots and go up again next year because I am determined to improve. It is just like when I started running, started swimming and started cycling - back of the pack, but that is okay I know me with some practice and my incredible stubborn streak I will improve. I believe Vicki when she says that is all about practice and technique, it will take a while but you can count on it one-day I will run down that darn mountain!
Right now I am just thankful my quads have loosened enough so I can go up and down my driveway with minimal pain. One more thing checked off the list of How bad can it be?
Shaun
Comments
Good for you for conquering that mountain. I too lack that "mountain goat" gene. Yes, what goes up must come down which is why I rarely go hiking because I dread downhills, I'm a klutz, and I end up on my butt most of the time going down. I envy people who can leap from rock to rock because I just can't do that! Oh, well. There's other stuff I can do! Joycie :)