Yesterday I took my first hike with OC hiking, accompanied by Judy from choir and Liz. It was rated an "advanced beginner" hike. Now I have absolutely no equipment to speak of as far as hiking goes, but am an avid walker, though I have not recently (before yesterday that is) undertaken that walking in any particularly organized way. Mostly I am a tireless shopper and walker of streets, used to walking the city for days at a time from an early age. Regular hiking? Not so much... though R and I have gone on some walks, and used to run together in years gone by.
I don't have proper hiking shoes, but figured a pair of suede Vans with traction would do the trick. I also bought a new water bottle for the occasion, one that was supposed to be absolutely leak proof. Ha. It ended up leaking all over me, which was a nice cool bath on a hot day, but didn't do much to hydrate me internally. I managed to conserve about a quarter of the water because Liz had a plastic bag I put the thing in, but if it hadn't been for another hiker with frozen water bottles to spare, I would have been in big trouble.
Apparently, I wasn't very realistic about my abilities. This hike truly was much more challenging than I expected, and I ended up in the rear for the whole way, just about. There were so many hills, and they were so challenging to me that I was dizzy and nauseated for much of the time. I also felt embarrassed that I had undertaken a hike that was so difficult for me. It just showed me how out of shape I was.
Luckily for me, the leader of the hike was very supportive and kind. She gave me her bandana, with ice cold water I could drip on my face, head, and body, and put an electrolyte tablet in my water bottle, so I could make it the rest of the way.
I left resolved to become inured to hills, if it kills me. I also decided to pay a trip to REI today to get more prepared for these hikes in the future, especially with a better way to assure I have water!
Despite the fact that I was rather shaky for much of the day, and spent it reading the paper and watching cooking shows, I went to Denise's Costa Mesa class in the afternoon, and toughed that out, feeling humbled and a bit ashamed that menopause has been able to make me this fat and weak.
2 comments:
egh Robbi, I think we should all
strive to be humble (as Denise says)
but calling yourself fat and weak
is another story. You are neither. And, as if it really mattered, the woman who led our hike had to be quite a bit heavier than the BMI charts advise but told me she is celebrating her second year and 500 hikes! (I think she does easier ones with her dog as well). So there. It's all good and no step is wasted. I am very excited about this group and can't wait until the Red Rocks hike :)
Well thanks Liz! The leader clearly had a different sort of body type from mine. I have bird bones, and should, like you, weigh on the lighter size for my size, which is small enough, as you know. As it is, I am probably 10-12 pounds over the weight I should be. It is the first time in my life that has happened to me. And I feel weak right now, even in yoga class. I cannot do some things I used to do, such as headstand 2, which we did in class today. I am sure it is menopause, but I have to decide what to do about it. We'll see whether more frequent hikes and less food (generally) makes a big difference.
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