Take a hike

This weekend we went hiking. An 11.5km hike through the mountain range, valleys and grassy plains of Suikerbosrand, close to Heidelberg. It took us all of 4 hours and 15 minutes in the scorching sun.

The guide books and internet proclaims it as an area of surprisingly varied flora which includes a large number of grass species. It lists white stinkwood, the highveld cabbage tree, ouhout, sweet thorn and the common guarrie as some of the trees in the area. It also boasts about the fairly extensive range of mammals that can be found in the area. Indeed we did spot quite a number of buck, including Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, Blesbok and some other that I couldn’t recognise from a kilometer away. We also spotted a few trees. And lots and lots and lots of grasslands. Up and down, up and down, grass and grass and grass wherever you look.

Let’s just say that if you ask my kids, they will tell you that it was pure torture. Their tales about the headaches, the scorching sun, the lack of trees and endless uphills and downhills may lead you to the conclusion that I am a very bad mother, who drags my kids along on torturous walks instead of doing the movies and ice-cream thing more favoured for a Sunday outing.

But I think once the dust has settled, and their sunburns have healed, they may be able to look back and see what I see, and that is a couple of very brave girls who managed to show perseverance, and made me very proud. Always the optimist!

As you know by now, I am doing the 4-day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu at the beginning of May, and have been exercising to get to that illusive level of ‘moderate fitness’ which is required to do the almost 45km trail. And I realise that being able to do 10km walks around the Joburg Zoo and Zoo lake, and 30 minute runs in the mornings, does not mean that I can do a multi day hike. So, I wanted to do a longer hike and my friend (who is training for Kilimanjaro in August) suggested Suikerbosrand. The hike fell on a weekend that I had the kids, so I gently probed to find out if they thought they were up to it. The kids are both very active and do ballet, swimming and netball, but I had my reservations, especially about 11-year old Anya, as she is a bit lazy and struggled to complete a 4km walk at Zoo lake with us a few weeks ago. Admittedly, the girls both wore ‘secret socks’ with their trainers instead of proper socks, which I only discovered halfway into the walk, so I wasn’t sure how much of the complaining was due to their feet hurting from the socks and how much of it was due to genuinely being tired…

But I needn’t have worried, because they were very keen on the hike. We did a fairly long hike with my cousin a bit more than a year ago, along some waterfalls, which included a number of steep climbs and they absolutely loved it. Anya excitedly asked if we were going to climb some real mountains or just walk around a garden again…Well, real mountains it was!

Suikerbosrand is about an hour’s drive from our neck of the woods, and we were meeting the rest of the hiking group at 8:00am on Sunday morning for an 8:30 start. Which meant that we had to get up just after 6:00 on a Sunday morning, meet my friend at 7:00 at her house and start the long drive to Suikerbosrand. Getting out of bed was less of a mission than I expected, and after packing small backpacks, lots of water, snacks and a camera, we were on our way.

We met the rest of the group, and started the hike shortly after 8:30. After the first two uphills, our guide, who looked a bit haggarred after apparently doing about 500kms in the last 6 weeks as part of research for a book, decided to pull out of the hike. I guess this was a warning sign, which I completely missed in my eagerness to do the hike. Luckily the hike was clearly marked and we were told that at the 6km mark, the road splits with a choice of a 10km hike (difficult) or a 11.5km hike (easier). So, off we went…

The starting point of the 11.5km trail

At the first clump of trees, we stopped for a breather. Yes, we were all out of breath by then, having just done the first significant uphill. But I was still feeling confident and fairly fresh. Unfortunately at this juncture, 14-year old Bianca started complaining that she was developing a headache. We quickly diagnosed this as probably dehydration and suggested she drink some water. And set off again.

At first stop…all still looking fresh

After about an hour we reached a summit with a beautiful view of the valley and had a bit of a rest. At this stage our guestimate was that we had done about 2-3kms, which meant that we were probably in for a 4 hour hike. And by now, both girls were complaining about headaches.

The next bit was downhill, so slightly easier, but it wasn’t long before we reached the next uphill. Now Anya was literally dragging her feet along. I kept trying to encourage her to walk a bit faster (“I don’t want to finish this hike at 5:00pm this afternoon!”), but it was clear that she was very tired. I even tried the bribing route, saying we will get ice creams on the way home. The thought of KFC Crushers seemed to do the trick for a little while there, and she picked up speed for a tick. Then she started to do the equivalent of the Shrek Donkey thing on a hike, asking how long until we reach the rock with the metal plate on it, indicating the 6km mark.

Shortly after this, we stopped for a 15 minute break, all sat down and tucked into our snacks. By now it was around 10:30 and really getting very hot. Above 30 degrees Celcius hot. And we were soon to depart the shaded area again. By this time we estimated that we had done around 4-5km, so not quite halfway yet!

For the next stretch, until we reached the 6km (actually it was 6.8km) mark, Anya did some tree hopping, stopping every time she reached a tree and I had to convince her over and over again to carry on. We were all very happy to reach the junction and unanimously decided to take the ‘easier’ 11.5km route. At least we were now on the home stretch. At this point Bianca told me that she was “never, ever, ever, ever doing this again”. Like in never.

Unfortunately, the easier route still had a couple of uphills, so not having anything to compare it against, I cannot say if it was a good or bad choice, but I can tell you that walking up 200 to 300 meter uphills in the 12 o’clock sun is no joke! At this stage Bianca, who was walking behind me, remarked that I was burning on the back of my legs. Stupidly, I did not put sunscreen on my legs, although I did meticulously lather it onto my face, arms and neck. I could feel that the sun was pounding down from behind us, but was a bit more pre-occupied with the task at hand, actually making it up the hill without collapsing. When we got to the top, Bianca told me (in case I didn’t know) “Mom, I just want you to know that I am hating this.” I replied that I was very proud of how far they have made it so far and that I doubt whether many of their friends would be able to do it. She replied “No, because they have a life.” Ouch!

Beautiful views…and even a few trees!

Once again, I had to convince Anya to get up and tackle the next stretch. She did not want to alight, so I told her there was only one way to finish and that was to start walking again. This did the trick and we started walking again. By now, every uphill was greeted with a “Not another uphill” by Bianca. And we were all out of water by now. Luckily, some of the fellow hikers took pity on the girls and shared some of their water.

I cannot tell you how happy we were when we finally saw a clump of trees and a thatch roof in the distance, which marked our destination. The last few hundred meters saw us just dragging ourselves along and by the time we reached the car, both girls had their shoes off already and were walking on the tar road in their socks. Bianca was now complaining about how badly she smelled, and we all looked forward to finally taking a shower at home.

Bianca did tell me that it was not the hiking as such, but the fact that there were no trees and that it was so very hot, which was the big issue. Apparently they will both go hiking again, but only if it is in an area where there are lots of trees and running water.

I have been handed a white flag, but I am pretty sure that they won’t be as forgiving the next time around…and I have also created a new swear word in our house. I am pretty sure the word Suikerbosrand will never have the same meaning in our house again!

And I learned three lessons from the whole ordeal…

1. I definitely need to work a bit more on the upper thighs as they were stiff for days afterwards;
2. Next time we definitely need to take more water and less snacks; and
3. I need to preferably wear long pants, or at the very least put sunscreen on my legs. Three days later, and my legs are still a cerise pink colour!

 

Exercising to still the rising panic

Let’s just say exercising does not come natural to me. I suspect that when athletic ability was being doled out, I already had my nose stuck in a book. “This is the final announcement…” clearly passed me by, while I was already in my first fantasy world induced by reading.

You only have to give me one look to confirm that I do not have an athletic bone in my body. For starters, I am short, very short. I am 1.53m tall (or short), which means that I just scraped through the 5 feet mark. One teeny weeny centimetre shorter and I would have been an under-five-footer. And, worst of all is that I am not one of those petite short women. You know the likes of women who can still pass for a 21 year old when they are 35 years old and can wear their kids’ jeans? An ex boss, when it was pointed out that one of these petite skinny women and I were the same height, remarked that I am just more visible. Which was probably a nice way of saying I am fatter. I would prefer to think he meant curvier…

In addition, I have really bad eyesight, and it is only due to the advances in modern medical science that I do not have to walk around with bottle bottoms in spectacle frames to see where I am going. For the first 20 years of my adult life, I had to endure contact lenses or glasses to find my way around the world. And while this adds to the sexy, intelligent look in some women (lucky cows), in my case it just added to the nerdy look. Thanks to refractory eye surgery, I don’t have to wear glasses anymore, but somehow the nerdy look stuck.

In school, physical education was by far my worst torture subject. In grade 4 I was too embarrassed to admit that I couldn’t really swim, despite lessons that my mom paid for at one stage. After almost drowning (it certainly felt like I was drowning…), I was moved to the side of the swimming pool, so I could reach out for the sides. Luckily (?) I developed bronchitis shortly after that and had an excuse to skip swimming for a few lessons. When the PE teacher did not want to fall for the sick note story anymore, I hid in the girls toilets for a couple of lessons. And by then the swimming season was, thank goodness, almost over. Just in time for netball or some other sport that I was equally bad at.

But, as I have told you before, walking and dancing are the two types of exercises I do enjoy, and at some stage last year I did actually mention that I would like to do a longer hike one day. What I didn’t anticipate was that my first big hike would be on the other side of the world in mysterious Inca country. I guess I thought I would start with a two day hike and if I really get into it, do the Otter trail one day. But I have never been one for doing things half washed and with some reservation I decided I was gonna tackle the Inca Trail (as opposed to taking the train to Machu Picchu) on my soon to embark on once-in-a-lifetime tour.

Knowledge is power and I learned that it is a four day hike, and that you don’t need to be super fit (moderately fit will do it…which I have no idea what it means). In total the hike spans over 45 kms, with three main passes. But the scariest thing is the altitude. The highest pass (aptly named ‘Dead Woman’s Pass’) reaches over 13,000 feet. And altitude sickness is a serious risk. And incidentally, I did once have a short dalliance with altitude sickness. In 2006, we travelled to Switzerland and we went up to Jungfraujoch, and at 11,388 feet I got such bad altitude sickness that I couldn’t walk 400 meters. The big difference is that we travelled from 6,762 feet (2,061 m above sea level) to 11,388 feet (3,471 m) in a matter of hours. And, in hindsight, maybe the glass of wine with lunch when we arrived at the top wasn’t the best idea… Be that as it may, I am a bit wary. And I have already stocked up on altitude sickness tablets. Not taking any chances! And I ain’t saying no to any coca leaves coming my way either…

That’s most likely going to be me….

So that leaves fitness…and I am exercising the scary monster away, or at the very least to try and forget about the scary monster.  All of the sudden I seem to have no problem getting up at 5h15 in the morning to go for a walk/run. After a week or so of trying to force my body to run when it didn’t want to, I started a proper running program and am starting with a 15 minute run, combined with a 15 minute walk this week. And I am walking/jogging/whatever-you-call-it for five days of the week. And on weekends, I am trying to do a longer walk/run or hike. I even did the Westcliff stairs once, where the likes of Comrades runners train.  Maybe the energy will rub off?? And on top of that, I started doing Pilates twice a week.

Let’s just say my body doesn’t quite know what hit it… I know this doesn’t sound like much, but you have to put this into context. The last time I hiked for any significant period of time (less than 4 hours), I was stiff for days afterwards. And I have not been able to run for more than a kilometer at a time for years! For me, this is like training for a marathon!

But as the excitement is mounting, I am also starting to feel more confident that I will be able to do this. Honestly, I am sleeping better than I have for ages, I feel energized and I keep patting myself on the back with little mini achievements. Yesterday afternoon at Pilates I managed a complete backward roll, almost touching my legs above my head (almost, I said). And I can feel my core strengthening (either that or I am delusional from all the adrenaline). The excess weight is clinging a bit stubbornly, but my kids say I look thinner, so who cares what the scale says.

In 8 weeks time, I will be walking on an ancient trail, built by an extinct civilization and I will be able to experience one of the most sacred and awesome sights in the world, the lost city of Machu Picchu. And I can barely contain my excitement. Come hell or high water, I will drag my non-athletic body up that mountain!

The most splendid achievement of all is the constant striving to surpass  yourself and to be worthy of your own approval. ~ Denis Waitley

 

Operation getting fit – day 1 (take 2)

Yes, I know I published a post with a similar title a while ago…I am not having an Alzheimer’s streak, I promise.

It wasn’t an entirely wasted resolution either. For a while there, the girls and I went on fairly regular walks in the morning of at least 20 minutes at a time and generally at a fairly fast pace. Except on the occasions that we took the dogs with, and ended up having to drag the one by her collar uphill for the last 100 meters towards the house. We have two daschunds and even though they are sisters, the one is far more enthusiastic and energetic (and thinner) than the other. Going downhill is normally not a problem, but you have to choose the halfway turnaround mark carefully. Once Bianca had to carry Isabella home for 50 meters.

Of course, the enthusiasm of the two human sisters in our house also started to wane a bit after a little while, but most of the time I could drag one of them out of bed to accompany me, and – mark this as an important moment in my history – on a few occasions I went out by myself and even did a bit of a run. It felt great, and even when I had a bad night’s sleep, the exercise in the morning made me feel more awake and energetic for the rest of the day.

And then…the silly season struck. Firstly, the most avid participant of my two fellow walkers started writing exams and was constantly too tired to go out or wanted to look over her work for a last time. Priorities? And then all the lunches, and a few late evenings and other indulgences started and I struggled to drag myself out of bed on a few mornings. Next thing I was snoozing the alarm every morning at 5h15 and sleeping for an extra half an hour. Note…the alarm was still set for 5h15 every morning. With the best intentions! (Coincidentally, this was around the time that I tripped over the energetic dog on our morning walk and ended up sprawled on the tar road, as she decided to challenge a huge Rottweiler along the way!)

But, ladies and gentlemen and peeps all around, it is the new year, and I have to get fit, (or at least a bit fitter) and we are embarking on a new routine from tomorrow. It was going to be Monday, but my eldest complained that she didn’t sleep much the night before, due to annoying mosquitoes, so last night I was ready for the pre bedtime war against the mozzies to eliminate any excuses. To combat my own fatigue, due to lack of sleep and general insomnia, I took two Melatonin’s instead of the recommended one, with the end result that I was unable to get out of bed this morning. But tomorrow morning, there will be no excuses!

The first and most important thing with any new routine, however, is to set yourself some goals…

My first goal is, of course, to get rid of all the after effects of the silly season which seems to have snuck up on me and stubbornly accumulated all around my hips, and stomach and boobs, so that I am spending an extra 15 minutes every morning trying on all my ‘bigger’ pants. Which in itself, is almost as depressing as dodging the bathroom scale in the mornings.

But another, probably more important reason for the new exercise routine is that I booked a trip to Machu Picchu at the end of April and I have been to-ing and fro-ing about doing the hike, as opposed to the train trip up to Machu Picchu from Cuzco. And there is no way that I would be able to do that in my current state of fitness.

Early morning in view of Machu Picchu

Can you believe how I snuck that little titbit of information in?? I am going to Machu Picchu!! When I published my bucket list last year, a friend of mine in the UK send me a message saying that she and her husband is going to Machu Picchu this year and would I like to join in. After doing a couple of mental back flips in 50 shades style, I replied that I would love to, obviously depending on the time and my leave availability and of course the cost involved!

In addition, it is quite uncanny that this happened, because a couple of years ago, I researched trips to Machu Picchu because my then-boyfriend had it on his bucket list. I was mesmerised and decided there and then that when he turns 40 (which would have been this year) I would take him on a trip to Machu Picchu for his birthday. Of course, we broke up and I sort of moved it down lower on my bucket list, until I got that message from Ingrid!

And I have never been one to tempt fate so I am grabbing the opportunity with both hands and giving my credit card the evil eye back. I even bought proper hiking boots before my trip to Edinburgh, to give me the chance to walk them in a bit. They need quite a LOT more walking in, or I need to stock up on a LOT more blister plasters. I think a few hikes will do the trick. Or I hope so!

So, if that is not enough motivation to get me going, then I don’t know what will do it, honestly!

To love, health, fitness and all that jazz!

 

Operation getting fit – day 1

Last year, I turned 40. I can, unashamedly, say that I love being 40.  I love being able to use the excuse that I am too old for something when it suits me, but at the same time, being able to kick the dust in some youngsters’ faces occasionally.  Like the scene from Fried Green Tomatoes where Evelyn is cut off in a parking lot and the girl retorts “Face it lady, we’re younger and faster”.  Evelyn then rear-ends them six times and when they ask her if she’s crazy, she replies “Face it, girls, I’m older and have more insurance”.  Gotta love it!

Unfortunately, with age comes the increased risk of all sorts of illnesses that you disregard when you are young.  Heart disease, coronary diseases, the list is never ending…(I swear they add a new disease every day).

And of course I know the spiel…

1. Eat healthy – well I try most of the time, normally more successfully during the week. And there are some advantages to working out in the sticks…like the lack of Sandton lunch spots.
2. Don’t smoke – yay!, at least one I can tick without a ‘but’.  Unless you count the occasional hubby bubbly…
3. Limit the alcohol intake…well, I am sure my few-times-a-week glass and a few more catch up glasses on weekends are still within the normal range…
4. Watch the weight – that’s a tricky one, as I (like I mentioned before) don’t have the skinny gene…but I try and watch my dress size so that I can avoid the bathroom scale…
5. Drink lots of water – that I do, although occasionally it does slip my mind… If I remember, you may see me demonstrate my impressive skill of chugging 2 big glasses of water at once…(which reminds me)
6. Exercise regularly – bugger…(question…what is the weighting of this risk?)

So, there is my lifetime struggle…exercising regularly…

At school I seriously sucked at sports.  Big time.  I was always the one who lagged 50m behind the rest of the girls in athletics (you know the one who gets a gold star for trying).  I could not throw a javelin, discus or shot put if my life depended on it.  I am very short, so trying to do any jumping was in complete vain (I think they only made me try for the laugh).  The only thing I was good for during the athletics season was my contribution to the spirit trophy, which meant screaming until I could not speak.  In matric, with my friend’s help, I managed to train for longer distance and ended up doing the 3500m run (came last, but I managed to finish, which was the aim).  But, man, that was a lot of laps around the track!!

The only exercise related ‘thing’ I ever really enjoyed at school, was dancing.  Oooh how I loved dancing.  At the ‘skool sokkies’  you would definitely find me dancing all night.  I had endless energy.  Start playing the music and I had no stop button.  I was like the Duracell bunny, I could just go on and on and on.

When I started working and hit my mid 20s I realised I had to do something to enable me to eat out at fancy restaurants and not turn into the Oros man.  I tried gymming, and hated it.  I tried it a few times (actually, let me rephrase, I joined the gym a few times).  Most of the time I ended up going a couple of times, and got fairly irritated by standing in queues, waiting for an exercise bike or something to become available (after driving around for 10 minutes to find parking).  Once I gave up after the condescending trainer guy did my evaluation, pinched my arms with some silly tool and declared that the fat percentage in my arms were far too high and that I had something like 10kg’s to loose.  If I did, I would have weighed about what I did in school (they really should teach those guys a bit about motivating).  From embarrassment or stubbornness (don’t know which), I did not go again.  On one occasion I signed up for a one year gym contract over the phone (you know those pestering phone calls, playing on your guilty conscience).  I never collected my membership card.

The only exercise I have been able to sustain for more extended periods of time (i.e. more than 2 months), have been walking and Pilates.  I love walking.  And I love doing Pilates.  Unfortunately, on the walking side, I lived in a small complex for the last 10 years where walking soon became tedious, as you might as well walk around an athletic track if you are going to walk around in the same 40-unit complex day after day.

Pilates was passed on once my kids got bigger and I got tired of driving way out for classes in the middle of the night.  I have tried a few Pilates studios again over the years, but I really need something to be almost on my way home, else I will not get there.  The last attempt lasted about 3 months, until I realised that it was virtually impossible for me to get to the studio on time for the 6pm start.  The last time I went, I ended up picking my sweats up on the go (the girls passing me the bag at the gate of our complex), and getting dressed in the car (it was dark) and STILL arriving 15 minutes late.  (Btw, do you know how difficult it is to put trainers on in a car??)  As this was the how many-eth time I was late in so many weeks, I was too embarrassed to ring the entrance bell and went to Woolies to get dinner instead.  Haven’t been back since….(the Pilates class, that is…Woolies sees me very regularly)

Last week I went on a GNO (girls’ night out) with some friends to the Barnyard.  I love the Barnyard.  A combination of some of my favourites: music (live music, nogal, with really sexy musicians), wine and dancing.  Well, we always end up dancing when I go to the Barnyard.  (The first time I ever went to the Barnyard, a small vein in my hand burst…very painful…from all the clapping…true’s bob).  So, the Barnyard…I ended up going home with sore feet and a voice that was breaking (from the singing, you know).  But worst of all was when I tried to get out of bed the next morning!  I could barely walk.  This got progressively worse over the next couple of days.  My calves were so stiff I had to wear heels on the weekend to make it bearable!

So, I finally decided that I have to do something.  And since I don’t have the excuse of living in a small complex anymore (as I moved to a large estate in June), I lugged myself out of bed this morning and went for a brisk 20 minute walk.  (I also lugged both girls out of bed at sparrows’ fart, not sure how long that will last!).  But I am adamant that I will continue.  And as I get fitter, I will increase the distance, maybe start jogging, but fit I will get.  No way I am letting some silly fitness get between me and a good party!!

For now, I am learning a new routine (how many times to you need to repeat something to form a new routine again???).  Of course, it will always be nice to find myself a BF who can join me in my exercise routine….but I doubt it will be walking though 🙂