A meandering mind...

 I've less than a day and a half until I start my extended Christmas/Birthday break. Work is so insanely quiet as we are closed for maintenance. I'm just sitting at my desk trying to stay awake. It's raining out today which adds to the doldrums and boredom. 

I am excited though as I committed and made my reservations for my birthday get-away. I'm going by myself to Enchanted Rock to do a 4 mile hike with a climb to the summit of the rock. I have two nights booked in a hotel in Kerrville along with some good ideas for dining and shopping. My final hike will be a five mile loop at Lost Maples. It also has some good inclines and a hike to the top of a ridge with views across the hills and Sabinal river.  I'll finish up my trip with a brief stop in Austin to see my daughters before I return back home. So I hope I am up for two 4+ mile hikes in two days. I know it falls well short of the 12-14 days of 8-12 miles hiked for the EBC trek. But it's a start and I've several years yet to prepare. Speaking of which I'm back into my morning yoga and stair step routine. slowly increasing the steps, up to 125/250 this week. I am aiming for 150/300 next week before I head off on my break.

Well holidays plans are nearly complete. Gifts are bought and nearly all are wrapped. Some of the food has been bought, and all the libations are waiting to be poured. Looking forward to Christmas morning Mimosas! Now I just need to get through these last days at work and calm my meandering mind.

Happy Holidays. 

Escape

 The holidays have overtaken all else for the past few weeks. I was still resting my knee a bit, but I did venture out on a few short hikes. I am back to doing my morning yoga and stairs, but at a much lesser amount of steps. Taking it slow and easy until I am back to 100%. The hikes have been good, but nothing too strenuous, 1.5 - 2.0 miles at most.  Emotionally I am good. I still have a few doubts that I will be able to get in the shape I want to be in to attempt EBC, but I am happy with my back-up plan so I don't think I will be too disappointed. My only concern lately is coming to terms with the fact that I will be 65 in just a few weeks. I received my Medicare card in the mail a few weeks ago so I am officially old. Why don't I feel it? 

So I have been looking at a few options to get away for a few days for my birthday. I originally thought about flying off somewhere, but Christmas is probably one of the worse times for air travel. So then I thought maybe a nice city break and go explore a few museums, maybe a show and shopping. But for some reason that just doesn't appeal to me at this time. I did get a bit interested in a yoga & meditation retreat and I haven't yet ruled it out. I am now seriously looking at going to a few State Natural areas to do some hikes that have been on my bucket list. I could stay in Kerrville and be centrally located to them. That would give me a nice town to explore too. I am just waiting to see what the weather will be like for those few days before I book something. Hiking might be just what I need to recharge my body and soul.

So where should I go?

Time flies but recovery doesn't...

 Slowly recovering... my knee still has twinges of pain so I am still taking it a bit easy. I haven't resumed my workouts on the stair-stepper and I am only restarting my yoga workouts this week. I did go on a short hike of only about 1.5 miles this past weekend. My sons dog was visiting  so I had him along which made for a faster paced hike. I wore my knee brace ( well I wear it most of the time honestly). I had very little pain during my hike and only a few twinges since. I was hoping to see some Autumn color, but only found a few Sumacs that were full of red leaves. The weather just wasn't great for fall color this year and most of the leaves are dropping before they change. 

So with my downtime I browsed a bit online looking at some less strenuous hiking trips. Something a bit shorter than the 12 day EBC trek. I'm thinking of something I could do that would prepare me mentally and physically for EBC, also to prove to myself that I would be able to accomplish it. I had placed Machu Picchu/Inca Trail on my bucket list to do sometime after EBC, but now I am thinking it might be better to do it first. I've still a bit of research to do, but I am definitely thinking about it. Anyone out there have any input on the difficulty of this trek? The altitude is far less demanding, I'm just concerned about how steep the inclines are on the trails. 

Well hopefully my next update will have me back in better shape. Old age sure slows down recovery. 

Just a stumble...

 My knee pain worsened overnight. I woke up feeling very discouraged. The cause is just an irritated tendon and I will just need to rest it for a few days or until it has a chance to heal. It gives me a reason to be concerned that maybe I am just taking more on than I can realistically achieve. I just let my old body get too out of shape so now it is rebelling. I lay in bed for a bit thinking about how much I would enjoy just traveling across the U.S. in a little teardrop camper with my dogs. There is a lot to see in the U.S. and some beauty just as stunning as Nepal. But then I got on social media and on the Hiking Nepal group someone posted this photo..

 So I'll rest my knee until it heals and then I'll get back to my workouts and hiking and keep chasing my dreams.

Hiking at Colorado Bend

 

What a wonderful weekend I just had. I had three days off work due to the Veteran's Day Holiday. I did my usual Saturday shopping and chores on Friday, and I went to Colorado Bend State Park on Saturday and went hiking. I arrived at the park just a bit after 9:00 am. The weather was perfect for hiking as it was a cool 54f and cloudy when I arrived. It only got to 64f while I was there. It was quiet on the trail, I only met four other hikers on it. The only disappointment was the hike I had planned was to be a loop, but the trail ended at the river by Gorman Cave, the river trail was not accessible beyond there. I was not happy about that as there was no mention of this online, on the maps or at the trailhead. So my loop became and out and back hike and was a bit shorter than I had planned. It was still a nice three hour hike (at a leisurely pace). After the hike I drove deeper into the park to check out the camping area. The tent sites are way too close together for my comfort so I don't think I will plan on camping there. I will return though to do a few more hikes as they have some longer challenging trails that I am very interested in getting on. 

So the trail I did on Saturday was the Dogleg Canyon trail. It is a bit rocky in areas and has a few changes in elevation. There are some scenic areas but mostly rocks and Mountain Junipers. I did see an armadillo on my return. I easily completed the hike and did not struggle at all on the hills. I am really starting to notice the improvement in my fitness level. My legs held up really well and I only started to tire towards the end of the hike. I do see that I will need to work on my cardio before I tackle a full days hike. I had expected to be sore and tired on Sunday, but I felt great and did my full morning workout with 200/400 steps on the stair stepper. I did have a little bit of knee pain yesterday and it was slightly worse this morning. I will wear my knee brace for a few days and I should be fine. 

Colorado Bend is a nice size park. It has a variety of terrain, with areas along the Colorado River, Spicewood Springs and several canyons. Trails are rated from easy to difficult so there is something for everyone. 

True Joy

 I'm wandering a bit off into my personal life today. I just want to reflect on my mental state. As I drove into work this morning ( I have a forty minute drive so a lot of time to think) I was realizing that I am happy. Not just a I'm happy in this moment because something good happened. It is an overall feeling of happiness. This kind of contentment and joy has been a rarity in my life. It's not to say I have been a sad person - I'm generally not. It's just that distractions kept me from being filled with the kind of joy I now feel. Why do I feel this way and how do I hold on to it? Here are my thoughts - in a list.

1. I am only responsible for myself and my own emotions. I am not in a relationship nor do I have any desire to be in one again. 

2. I have goals to work towards.

3. Each morning I wake up healthy, happy and one day closer to retirement.

4. I eat, sleep, spend money however I want  as I only answer to myself.

5. My house is my home. I love my cozy little cottage. I do not have to share it with anyone. 

6. My workouts make me happy. I feel better and more energetic and the workouts will help me to achieve my goals. 

7. I am happy with myself, I enjoy my own company. 

8. I have time and money to do fun things with my adult kids. 

9. My adult kids are thriving (finally). 

10. I am confident in the decisions I make. 

My life has been filled with ups and downs. So much heartbreak and tragedy. I always tried to find positives to focus on even in the darkest times. There were days though that I did not want to continue living. There were days where it hurt to breathe I was in so much pain from the tragic loss of my eldest son. I had times when I lacked the confidence to get out of a bad relationship because I didn't think I could make it on my own. I was miserable and kept getting my heartbroken repeatedly until I found the strength to say enough is enough. That strength saw me through and I landed on my feet and life is now so much better than I could have ever imagined. 

So as I approach my sixty-fifth birthday, I am facing the fact that I can no longer fool myself that I'm not an old lady. But I do not feel old and I do not want to act old. I do however have to plan ahead for eventually not feeling as young as I would like. Hopefully that will be a long time from now. 

I will live my life in a joyful way. Only I am responsible for my happiness. I choose joy. 

Outside the Box

 So I have passed six months since I created this blog and started my journey to chase my dreams. The only way I can accomplish those dreams is to get in the best physical shape I have ever been in. That is not an easy feat when in your mid-sixties. It is a slow process... baby steps. I am seeing progress, but I still have so far to go. I know I complained about the weather over the summer and how difficult it made it to get outside and be active. The weather has changed and it is pleasant most weekends now so I am getting out and will be challenging myself to longer and harder hikes over the next five to six months. I also know that I will need to join the gym when summer returns to keep progressing. I am thinking about just getting a punch card pass to use over the winter whenever the weather is too inclement to hike. The punch card option is good since I don't need a full time membership. 

While my goal is to travel to Nepal, do some volunteer work and then trek the EBC, I have to be realistic that maybe I am stepping too far outside the box. I do have other dreams and goals of things I wish to see and do that are more realistic and closer to home. These are things I mostly want to do after completing the trip to Nepal, but if I find I just can't do the EBC, then I will chase the dream of traveling throughout the western half of the USA and trying to see as many National Parks as I can and hiking the hikes I can physically handle. The National Parks in the US are pretty amazing. They are varied in their scenery, activities, location and climate. They are crowded. So many of the ones in the Northwestern States are only open for three to five months due to winter weather conditions. Snow on the ground some years until mid- June and winter snowfalls that start in September. The short season makes it difficult to avoid the crowds. I hate crowds. But I am not going to think about that yet. I will focus on what awaits outside the box. 

inspiring goals

The past week was uneventful. How often can I actually say that and mean it? Workouts went well, and I even skipped a few, and it didn't set me back any. I came back and did 200/400 on the stair stepper! 

My Sunday hike to Mother Neff was short as I took my old runt-mutt with me and she didn't do too well. She would get under my feet, stopped way too often to smell things and she was getting quite tired after only thirty minutes of walking. I took an easier route for her, but that left me feeling unchallenged. I do have plans though for this upcoming weekend to take on a more challenging hike both in distance and hills, rocks and terrain. I'll have to watch the weather before I make a final decision on which trail and day I will go. If I like this park I might go camping there for my birthday. It might be nice to just reflect back on my own over my life. Sixty-five, I can no longer pretend I am not old. I still don't feel it, and I don't plan on acting it. If my plan to do the EBC trek comes true I should be on the trail there this time three years from now! What a nice dream/goal to have. 

Plodding along...

The weather went from Summer to Winter yesterday, It is a very welcome change, but it is a cold wet few days. All of last week was wet, lots of rain which is desperately  needed. I didn't go hiking though as I knew the trails would be a muddy, slick mess. I don't mind hiking in the rain, but not after days of 4 inch rainfall. It was nice staying inside. I wore my new warm sweats and fuzzy slippers and watched football all afternoon. I wasn't a total slug as I did do my workout in the morning and upped the number of steps on the stair stepper. 

Mentally I am hanging in there. Determined, but sometimes doubting my ability to pull it off. Some days feel like I'm not making any progress. I guess I really won't know though until I can get on some more challenging trails than what I currently can hike at Mother Neff Park. We have a holiday coming up Friday of next week so weather permitting I am going to Colorado Bend State Park  and hit some of the trails there. They have much longer more challenging trails than what I've been on. So I guess I will have to see how that goes. I'm debating if I should take one of my dogs with me. It could be a challenge for her too, but I would enjoy the company on the trail. I need to decide which trail I'll hike first, then I can decide if I think she would be good. The upcoming weekend has a great forecast so I will most likely hit the trails at Mother Neff. Hoping maybe some of the leaves will be getting some Autumn color by then. 

Well I've to get through this week at work first... plodding along as usual.

Colorado Bend State Park

I can do this...

 A new week, but no new goals... well maybe just to increase the steps on my stair-stepper. I have made it back up to 150/300,  but still just can't get to the 200/400 I was at before vacation. I can hope I will be there this time next week. Otherwise my workouts are going great. I was looking forward to it this morning when I got up. I still felt like I had some energy to burn after getting out yesterday and hiking both loops at Mother Neff State Park.  I took my little introverted runt-mutt with me for her first hiking adventure and she was amazing, She walked right beside me and rarely stopped to sniff and kept up with me really well. I never would've thought she'd make a great hiking companion. She proved me wrong, she could do this. I am going to take my other little mutt next time, but I don't expect much from her as she has issues with her vision.

Recently I had been having doubts about attempting EBC. It's a big goal and I started wondering maybe I should set my sights on something simpler and closer to home. I mean really - I'll be getting close to my 68th birthday when I am there. How could I a  5 foot 3 inch, 120 lb grandma even think I could succeed at such a lofty hiking goal. But then peak trekking season started and people started posting pictures of their trek. I saw hikers of all ages and sizes out there. Oh yeah I can do this. I've still three years to train. I just have to get off my butt and get out there on the trails and challenge myself. 

I can do this!

Excuse me....

 Another new week is upon us. The days, weeks and months are just flying by. The weather has cooled off nicely for a few days. There was even a bit of a chill in the air this morning. The weekend weather was beautiful, but  I did not get out and go hiking. I just had too much to do at home and I have several busy weekends ahead. I did feel a bit guilty about it and I know that mentally I really could've used the time out in nature. I even skipped my workouts this weekend. I think I just needed a break from it all and needed to concentrate on my house and garden. 

Errands were ran on Saturday morning. Mowing trimming and yard work in the afternoon. Sunday I tried my new  Bissell Carpet cleaner and got both of my area rugs cleaned. That was quite the job as they were long overdue a good cleaning. I then spent the afternoon making three different pots of soup to be frozen so I have some quick and easy dinners and lunches in the coming weeks. I think that with all that I did over the weekend I got a pretty good workout. The scales agreed this morning as my weight had dropped to the lowest it has been in months. 56.2 kg. 

Skipping my scheduled workouts still causes me a bit of guilt. I'm trying to find a good mental balance that will ease the guilt but yet still remain motivated to work out. The hiking seems to be my downfall as I have to drive somewhere to hike. Walking around my neighborhood is hard as there isn't a safe place to walk. To even just walk around the block takes me on a narrow busy lane that I just hate. The parks in town with a trail are run down and don't feel safe so I tend to avoid them. I get tired of the same hikes at Mother Neff  State Park as there are only two trails there. One of the trails isn't safe on warm sunny days as there are quite a few snakes that like to sun themselves along it. Everything else is a forty - five minute drive or more which makes for a three hour or more trip. It is really hard to get motivated to get out there. How do I convince myself to get out there weekly when I can't even get out there once a month? I can always seem to find excuses not to go. It's very easy to convince myself that I'm just too busy or too tired or just too whatever.. The  thing is though is I know that once I get out, I love it and I feel so wonderful being out and hiking. Why do I convince myself otherwise? Well I guess I just need to give myself a good kick and just do it. No excuses... NO EXCUSES!!!!!!

Changes

 It's been a busy past seven days. I took a long weekend off Friday thru Tuesday so I could take my son's dog to him since he recently moved into a dog friendly apartment community. He lives down on the Texas Gulf coast so I was planning on some time at the beach and doing a bit of bird watching at the Botanical Gardens and Nature Center while there. I also took him out shopping to get him some new decor for his apartment. Well as usual things didn't always go quite to plan and I didn't make it to the beach. I did get to the Gardens and had a nice stroll around and did get to do some bird watching while there. While I did see several species that I hadn't seen before the best bird I saw was just outside my son's apartment. A Texas Red Crown Parrot - actually there were two of them together. I unfortunately did not get to my camera before they flew off. That happened several times over the weekend. que sera sera. 

I did manage to get in a few yoga workouts while there. I didn't take my stair stepper, but his apartment is on the third floor - 40 steps up and 40 steps down... I lost count of how many times a day I went up and down. I know that on Saturday I had down 5 up and 5 down before lunch time! It was great though as I never tired on them event when carrying heavy loads. I could really tell a difference from just a few months back going up the same number of steps at my daughters flat. Baby steps I know, but it is progress. 

So now that I no longer have my son's big dog my hiking companions will be my little Runt Mutts. The weather is finally cooling off nicely so I am hoping to get back on the trails in the next week or so. I might do so this Sunday, but will have to see how the weather and my schedule goes. I might just take them one at a time for the first few outings to see how well they can handle a hike. The smaller of the two may require a harness as she is a bit of a tugger and chokes herself when she pulls out too far. I guess I will wait and see first. 

 The Autumn EBC trekking season is in full swing. Unfortunately the weather isn't cooperating at the lower elevations and flights into Lukla have been grounded for the past six days. I heard that there are over 2000 people now waiting on flights. Many are giving up on EBC and are going to Annapurna instead. Some are managing to get helicopter flights up and others are going by jeep and taking a longer hike in. The talk has been that in recent years the Monsoon season is staying later and it makes trekking in October a bit riskier. It is one of the reasons I am looking at a November trek. It is quite a bit colder in November, but it is usually dry and sunny. I would much rather be faced with that than rain and delays. I'm still hoping that I can get a Volunteer job in that area where I can start my trek from there and then just finish in Lukla. Time will tell I guess. It is still too distant to be concerned with it. Things can change all too fast. 

 
 
           Pictures taken at the South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center

Mindset

 Today I was a bit more motivated to do my workouts. Writing yesterdays blog really helped my outlook. It is one of the reasons I write this. It is mostly just for myself to document my journey and to keep me focused on the goals. So if you are reading this welcome, but understand I am not a professional writer and that this is written more as a personal diary. 

I am hoping to get some motivation from some new books I have ordered and am expecting to get delivered today. They are all written by the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. One is a daily devotional, one is a prayer book. The other two are his teachings on living a mindful life. I enjoy reading his writings each evening when I go to bed, or if I awaken during the night and have trouble falling back to sleep.. His writings calm my mind and sooth my inner- being. I find it much easier to relax when reading his books than the usual fiction I read on my Kindle. I save those for my lunch break at work. 

I think this afternoon I will look into some trail recommendations in my part of Texas and also New Mexico. I know of the few around Cloudcroft, but I'd like to maybe venture outside of that area next Spring. I'll try to post if I find anything of interest. 

Motivation Slump

 It has been an odd week. I was in a weird place emotionally on Sunday, I suppose it was a bit of a funk. I wasn't depressed, but neither was I as happy and joyful as I had been. I have no idea why, but I just was. I did improve a bit as the day went on. I did not do my workout until mid-morning and that did help my mood, but I had to cut way back on the stair stepper as the 200 steps I had done on Saturday left my muscles a bit sore. I have been trying to get back into Sunday NFL football after not watching it much the past four years since my divorce. I'm a Houston Texans fan, and I grew a bit tired of watching them lose. But I do really like them so I am back to watching them and they are now 2-2 for the season and played a great game this past Sunday. I did wish I had taken the time on Sunday though to go hiking with my son's dog one final time. I had though it was going to get hotter than it did, so I missed out on a nice morning hike. I will get out this coming weekend while at the coast and take some nice walks. 

Motivation to do my workouts has been very low this week. I somehow manage to get started and complete all three series. The funny thing though is, they have gone really well. Oh my thighs were a bit sore on Monday still so I only managed 100/200 on the stair stepper, Wim Hoff has been really good. No struggles at all to complete the series easily. I even held my breath longer on the third set. Today I just took the stair stepper up to 125/250. I'll add a bit more on tomorrow and go a bit slower on increasing it back to 200/400 so I hopefully won't get so sore. 

So to address the lack of motivation I have to look at some of the goals I have. EBC of course is the big one. It is quite distant and I have many smaller ones I need to accomplish first. Local hikes for the next six months, but venturing a bit further than Mother Neff State Park. I was looking online at some of the easier 14,000+ peaks that are classified as easy in Colorado. I think I have three picked out that are close together that I could do over the course of a week. It won't be next year but most likely in 2025. Next Spring I still plan on Cloudcroft New Mexico  area of the Lincoln Forest and the trails at 9000 ft. The 14ers in Colorado start at around 11,000 ft. and of course summit at over 14,000. If I could tackle two to three of them over several days I think I would easily be able to complete the Everest Base camp trek. But for now I'll focus on my Sunday hikes and start planning a trip to Cloudcroft for next March or April. I do know of one trail near Cloudcroft I want to tackle as it nearly kicked my butt ten years ago. One killer hill on a hot afternoon had me gasping. I couldn't give up on it though as it was the only way back to the car. I'm planning on kicking that hills butt when I return!

                                    Photo taken about ten years ago on Hike near Cloudcroft. 

Journey of Faith

 As I venture on this journey to get physically stronger I find myself on a journey to become not just mentally stronger but a happier and better person. I have struggled with western religions most of my adult life. I have tried attending different denominations but I am just too skeptical to blindly believe the whole heaven and hell afterlife. I have always had respect for Buddhists and the philosophy that their belief is based upon. I have immersed myself in some of the teachings and it has really helped me to be in a better happier place. The eightfold path, the four precepts and some of the meditations I have incorporated into my daily life brings me comfort and a peacefulness I have not felt in a very long time. I do find though as I learn more about the faith I find that my skepticism of  Karma and it's determination on the cycle of rebirth and death keeping me from delving too deep into this faith. I will continue studying and practicing much of what I have learned in my studies of Buddhism and hope that it will continue to bring me the joy and peace I seek. I have much to learn about it yet so maybe someday the skepticism will depart and I can completely accept the teachings of the Buddha. 

This has been a good week as far as my workouts have gone. Today I hit 1000 /2000 steps on the stairstepper for the week and I've still one more day to go. Today and earlier in the week I did 200/400 in one series. I am still doing the same yoga workout as I really do not have additional time available in the mornings to do more. As far as Wim Hoff breathing I am becoming stronger and it is becoming easier. I am not looking to take on additional breathing exercises as I feel the series I do will serve me well. 

Tomorrow will be October 1, and it is still getting into the mid-90's here in Central Texas. The hiking has been put back on hold. We do have a cooler weather forecast ahead but I will be traveling to the Texas coast for a few days so my hikes will consist of slow walks while bird watching or strolls on the beach. I do hope that the hot summer weather will be behind us and I can soon get out regularly on the trails. 

This journey I have set upon requires faith in many forms. Faith in my ability. Faith in my health. Faith in my mindset. Faith in my soul. It is a journey of faith.

                                                My daughter in Alaska, taken on our recent trip. 

The Path

 Another wonderful week is in full swing. My workouts are going great, steps are back up to pre-vacation levels. Wim Hoff breathing is also improving, I did not struggle at all with it today. Yoga is good, just slowly stretching out the muscles.  I feel that right now I am on a good path to get stronger and healthier.

I am re-reading Teachings of the Buddha as the first time I seemed to miss quite a bit in the early chapters. It really started to impact my thinking as I get well into the book. I felt that I needed to go back to the beginning to reinforce what I read.  Wow, it is really changing my outlook on life and how my mind works. I feel so much more positive about everything and everyone. I can recognize the thoughts and actions that cause suffering and know how to handle them to change the thought process to one that is joyful and positive. It is the first step of the 8 Fold Path.   I also credit the morning workout routine. It starts my day off on a positive note and keeps me motivated to do even better. 

I wish I had delved into this earlier in my life, but I also realize that right now is the perfect time for this change. I am right where I need to be at this moment. I am so full of joy to be here. 

Life is good... life is wonderful. 

Wonderful Moments

 It's Friday! 

        It's a good day! 

                    Positive energy is flowing!

I love days like this where I feel so energized and happy. I feel like a I am reflecting my meditation mantra:

In....out..

    Deep... slow..

            Calm... ease..

                    Smile... release..

                            Present moment... wonderful moment..

I see myself as a mountain.. I am solid and stable

    I see myself as a flower... I am fresh and free

        I see myself as still water... I reflect things as they are.

            I see myself in the vastness of space...I am free.

These are influenced by Thich Nhat Hanh a Buddhist monk /author that I have read and am currently reading. 

I have more days lately where I feel amazing. It is wonderful to have this positive energy flowing through me and around me. The past few days I have come to terms with the reality that I might not be able to get in the physical shape I want to be in to do EBC. But I will no matter what be healthier and fitter than I currently am. I might not make it to EBC but there are lots of other paths to trek. I am okay with that. 

Hiking this weekend will not be happening as the temperatures are soaring back into the upper 90's. I beginning to think that summer will never end. I am hopeful for next weekend as it will be my last weekend with King (son's dog) and our last chance to go hiking before he goes back to live with my son in Corpus. I will start taking my little girls out with me starting mid-October and hope I can get them trail trained and ready by next Spring for hiking in New Mexico. It will be interesting as they are both quite small and have never really ever been taken out anywhere. They really aren't out-doorsy dogs, more pampered lap ones. Maybe I can convince them to love the great outdoors. 

Have a good weekend. 

Focus on the Goal

 Staying focused on the goal even though I know that it is probably a fifty-fifty chance of succeeding is where I currently am. To not focus on it and to give up on the workouts would mean a 0% chance of success. I am also focusing on just getting stronger and healthier. That is really important at my age and is one of the benefits of working towards this goal. So if I don't get to Nepal, I still benefitted from the journey.  I just love seeing the photos that people post from their trips to Nepal. It does inspire me to keep working out. 

So I push myself to get up early each morning to do my workouts. Slowly I improve. Step by step on the stair stepper. I will keep pushing myself to get out and hike locally on weekends and plan some hiking trips for upcoming vacations. I hope to be heading to Cloudcroft NM in about six months to do my first multi day higher altitude hiking in years. I am looking forward to the challenge and I hope I will be ready. I did look online yesterday at used treadmills., so many brands, options and prices. I know I do want one that has adjustable inclines which does usually bump up the price quite a bit. Maybe I should just join the gym and make myself go four times a week. I could easily do a couple of evenings plus weekends. I'm just not a people person and like working out at home. 

Yesterday I thought a bit more about where I want to volunteer. I know there are opportunities in Pokhara, but I previously wasn't sure about the area. But I recently started following a group for Hikers and Trekkers in Nepal. This group doesn't focus on EBC, but on all areas of the country. The more I see of things in and around Pokhara I realize it might be a good place to be. The mountain views of the Annapurna range are amazing and offer treks from a few days to a few weeks. It would be a good area to be to get ready for EBC.  

When I see these views, it gets easier to focus. 

INSPIRED!

                                    View of Annapurna from Pokhara

Doubts and Plans to Defeat Them

 The doubting demons are back. It has been a struggle ever since my Alaska trip to feel confident about getting fit enough to complete the EBC. I have such a long way to go to be in the kind of shape I will need to be in to even think I can attempt it. I did briefly look into some easier treks in Nepal, but they don't excite me like EBC. If I do travel there and do some volunteer work I might take on the Poonhill trek as a practice run as it is a shorter one at lower altitude. I could do it when I arrive. If I do well on it then I can decide if I feel confident enough to take on EBC. I am currently right at the three year mark before I would be going to Nepal. I am only four months in to my fitness routine plus I did no hiking for over two months due to the heat. I am not giving up as no matter whether I make it to EBC or not I do want to get in better shape and be a lot stronger. After the heat from this summer derailed my workouts I know that next year I will need to hit the gym and get on the treadmill or go buy myself one. 

I have discovered this though about myself when I workout. The routine I do not only benefits me physically it has improved my mental state too. I am calmer and more focused. I don't get stressed out at work either. I did see a video of a doctor commenting about a patient that suffered severe anxiety. She started doing Wim Hoff and her symptoms abated and she longer required medication. 

I may try adding an additional workout in the evening once I get my son's dog returned to him in October. I will have more time and it will be easier to focus on myself. Maybe I should go ahead and get a treadmill and I could do that in the evenings along with a night time yoga routine.  That sounds like it might be a good plan!

Back on the trails

 Autumn is slowly bringing a bit lower temperatures. Sunday morning had a low of 68f so I knew I could handle getting back out on the trails. The humidity was very high, but I would be hiking the woodland trail at Mother Neff State Park so I had high hoped that it would be pleasant. I grabbed King - my son's dog that has been staying with me for the past six months and off we went. I wanted to get out with him as he will soon be joining my son in Corpus Christi as he located an apartment that doesn't have bred restrictions. 

I decided to try a new route in the wooded area of the park. I had never hiked the Bluff Loop so I worked it into my planned path. I did a few sections that I knew had some inclines and steps (nothing hard or steep in this part of Texas) anything I can add to make this hike a bit more challenging I will do it. The bluff loop is a bit less maintained and more primitive than  the other trails. I'm thinking it doesn't get as much use. The park was mostly deserted yesterday morning when we went so I didn't meet anyone on the trail until I was on the way back to the parking lot. I really did like this trail as it added some scrambling over a few rocks and steps. I did like that it felt more isolated. King is great to hike with as he takes the lead and sticks to the trail. He has learned to pace himself to match my speed when going down steps. This was great yesterday as the trails were damp from a heavy rain on Saturday. It's a shame that as soon as I get him trained to hike well with me he will be leaving. I will now have to train my little mutt girls to hike. That should be fun with their short legs and delicate paws. 

We hiked for right at an hour, and probably did somewhere around 2 miles I think. I would have stayed out longer but it was starting to warm up and with that humidity I was starting to get uncomfortable. Allergies were also getting bad as ragweed has started its season and I am very allergic to it. I have been congested ever since the hike yesterday. 

It was great to be out again, I hope that maybe we can return next Sunday, but the forecast doesn't look promising. I've two more weekends with King here before he joins my son down at the coast in October. 

I'm getting back into my morning workouts. Yoga and Wim Hoff are back up to pre-vacation levels, the stair stepper is still below where I was. I'm not going to push it as I discovered the time and distance on it does improve in spurts. I prefer to get strong at one level before increasing the steps to make a push to the next level. I am optimistic I will soon be back up where I was and then well on my way to my goal. 

Come on Autumn weather - I want to get outside and on the trails!

Alaska Part 3

The physical demands of this trip surprised me. I honestly thought I was in much better shape than that. The flight exhausted me, maybe because of the time difference and that I got very little sleep. Most of our days were long with early starts and days filled with activities. It took a toll on me.

Prior to the trip I was feeling so confident with my morning workouts. I was strong on the stair stepper, I was enjoying my yoga, and my breathing had become much stronger during my Wim Hoff exercise. I was feeling I could tackle any of the trails thrown my way. I was so excited to attempt Mount Healy. 

Mount Healy kicked my butt before I was halfway up. Those inclines had me stopping to catch my breath  every few minutes. I  felt like I was an old couch potato that hadn't exercised in years. I was so discouraged and disheartened. How would I ever get in shape to take on the EBC trek? I guess I need to remind myself that I only started exercising less than four months ago. I hadn't hiked in over two months prior to the trip due to the summer heat. I am pushing 65 years old and it will take longer to get in shape. But the doubts are planted in my brain now. I know how hard it is going to be to get in the kind of shape I will need to be in to successfully complete the EBC trek. 

We did walk the distances most days that I will need to do on EBC. We did a few with some minor inclines and I did great.  But the inclines that are on EBC, plus the high altitude, well it's a whole another challenge. When I first arrived back home I was on the verge of giving up my EBC dream. I then struggled feeling wretched for the first week home and skipped my workouts. But then I started seeing the posts on social media and the pictures taken along the trek. Oh I want to see that... I want to be there.... I want to achieve that goal. So this week I returned to the early morning workouts. Yoga is going well,  A few stiff muscles that don't want to stretch. The first day of Wim Hoff was a bit tough but day 2 went great. Stair stepper was a few steps back from where I was before the trip, but I'm sure in a week or two I'll be back up where I was and increasing the count. The forecast for this Sunday morning is a low in the 60's so I am heading back to the trails. My goal is three Sundays a month on the trails no matter the weather. I can't wait. 

While it has been a rough time emotionally and physically I am ready to get back on track and trek!

                                                            Coastal Trail in Anchorage

Exit Glacier Trial - Kenai National Park

Halfway up Mount Healy 

                                                                Savage River Trail (my favorite)

Alaska Part 2

The Alaskan trip was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. We had so much fun, we laughed, and we really enjoyed ourselves. My daughter and I loved our hikes especially the one up the Savage River in Denali Park. We were in awe of the beauty of Kenai Fjords and the trip out on the boat. The glaciers were incredible. I was in awe of the size of Ailik Glacier. We saw porpoises, a puffin a sea otter, stellar sea lions and a few other things. We did not see any whales, my daughter was saddened by this. She also had terrible sea sickness during the trip. She has no plans on getting on another boat any time in the foreseeable future. I had looked forward to seeing colonies of puffins. I was surprised and disappointed that we caught a glimpse of just one The guide said that they just didn't show up in large numbers this year. The stellar sea lions are endangered and numbers keep dwindling. They aren't sure why, but are thinking that killer whales may be responsible.

While in Kenai National Park we hiked up to the Exit Glacier. On the drive into the park you see signs that mark where the edge of the glacier was in that particular year. It started a mile back from its current position in the early 1900's. The receding of it was gradual for most of the past century. Is is accelerating as it gets closer to current days. It will be gone it just over 20 years if things don't change. I was so sad when I left the park that day. Over the next few days I really noticed and thought about how climate change is impacting the northern regions of our planet even more than the southern regions. Here in Texas we had a very hot summer and we broke a few records. The drought has been the worse I have seen. There has been some impact on migrating birds and wildlife but not as apparent as it was in Alaska. The impact on all of the glaciers has been dramatic. Tidal glaciers that once covered entire inlets are now over a mile back into the bay. The water rushing down the mountainside from others fills the streams and rivers. I feel like it is too late to make the changes to stop this environmental disaster. Can we even slow it down? 

Alaska Part 1

 I'm back from a several week break. I spent ten days in Alaska and it has taken another ten days to recover. I probably picked up a mild case of CoVid, but I was still functioning, albeit a bit slower. 

The trip to Alaska was an eye opener as far as my fitness level stands now. I was discouraged by how difficult the hilly hikes were for me. Distance was never an issue, just the steeper inclines. We often walked 5-8 miles a day and I was fine with that distance. There were two hikes though that left me a bit winded. We attempted Mount Healy just after our arrival in Denali. It probably would have been better to have waited until the next day, but it fit into our schedule better on the first one. The weather was cool and damp, which felt nice, but it hid the mountain views we were hoping to see. we hiked not even halfway up when I decided it was probably best to just turnaround. I knew I wouldn't make the summit, and with the weather progressively getting worse, I just did not want to continue. I was so discouraged at how quickly I tired. The elevation was not an issue as the summit is under 4000 ft. It was just the incline

Alaska was beautiful in many of the areas we travelled (what we could see through the mist and low clouds). We just had some disappointments on the trip and due to timing missed out on seeing the wildlife we had hoped for. The trip to Lake Clark National Park accessed via float plane was cancelled due to low visibility that morning and high winds forecast for the afternoon. This was to be the highlight of our trip as we would've spent the day viewing brown bears feeding off the migrating salmon in Crescent Lake. We instead went and rented a car and spent the next two days exploring Anchorage and the northern part of the Kenai Peninsula including a visit the the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center where we did get to see brown bears close up and a few moose. We also on our final day caught a glimpse of Denali on our drive heading north back to Anchorage. The clouds broke up briefly, just long enough to get a few pics. Considering the mountain was 150 miles away at that point, well you can just imagine the size. It sits at just over 20,000 feet - 9000 less than Mount Everest. 

So the trip had it's up's and downs. I'll share more in the days ahead. It was an emotional roller coaster on several levels.  

                                            Moose at Alaska Wildlife Conservation

                                            Denali in the distance

Brown Bear at Alaska Wildlife Conservation

Me at the entrance to Earthquake Park and the Coastal Trail.

A Monday in August.

 Back from the weekend. Insanely hot here still, it was 108f on Sunday and temperatures over 100f are still in the 14 day forecast. I don't think this summer will ever end. The nearby lake is now at a record low. It hasn't rained in over 50 days. I've lost so many plants in my yard to the drought and heat, my garden will need so much work once the weather changes. I'm just dreaming of my trip to Alaska. 

Workouts went well, this mornings was my best in several days. Saturday I struggled with my breathing workout so I skipped it on Sunday. Today it went very well though. Stair stepper was good, I did a few less yesterday (125/250) as I was a bit tired from mowing the lawn. I did do 150/300 on Saturday and today. Today's went really well. I easily hit 150/300. 

I watched a couple of "Everest" movies on Saturday. The first was filmed in 2020 and was about a group of scientist placing weather stations at different altitudes from Base camp up to just below the peak of Everest. It was quite interesting. The group also included a couple of climate change scientist that took ice cores from near the summit and another took lakebed cores from a lake near Everest ( maybe Goyko). Results from that weren't promising as the oldest ice at the surface of the sample was 2000 years old. That means that all the ice from the past 2000 years has melted away. The lakebed samples showed that pollens are increasing in the newer layers as trees and different plant life move up the mountain due to warming temperatures. Climate change is impacting the Himalayan region and could have catastrophic impacts to the future of Asia. 

One thing I did enjoy while watching this movie was the views of Everest itself. I realized how much I want to stand there and gaze upon her with my own eyes. So inspirational! The drive to do this trek to have this accomplishment before I get too old is what keeps me going day to day. It is why I get up earlier and earlier to complete my workout. It has me planning on climbing some smaller - hikable mountain summits. It inspires me to be a better, more spiritual person. Nothing touches your soul like the magnificence of nature.

Preparing the Mind

 No new milestones on this mornings workout. Allergies are bad and it is impacting my breathing when doing my Wim Hoff routine. I got through it, but just barely. I am noticing that I am getting stronger on the stair stepper. It's a good feeling!

While I work out my body to get it in shape for the EBC trek I am also looking at the mental prep that will help this be a successful endeavor. I have read a few blogs authored by people that struggled with the challenges of the weather and altitude. It amazes me that people go on this trek totally unprepared. They assume because they are in good physical shape that this will be enough. I also get a sense that quite a few people don't even do any research about what this trek will be like physically, emotionally, monetarily, and time wise. Just some of the questions that get asked on the EBC trekking group on Social Media reflects that. It is the research that I have done that makes me face the reality that this will be a very difficult trip. It is also that which causes me to have doubts about my ability to do it. But it is with this research that I can see what I need to do to get  both mentally and physically prepared. I am borrowing this list from Trekking Planner that they use to prepare mentally; 

   Set realistic expectations.                                                                                                                             Train your body and mind.                                                                                                                          Practice mindfulness and meditation.                                                                                                          Stay positive and motivated.                                                                                                                         Focus on the present moment.                                                                                                                     Prepare for altitude.                                                                                                                                      Seek support from the experienced.          

I was also reading that while trekking don't focus on the destination. set realistic targets. Look ahead on the trail and pick something to reach, something within sight. When you get there take a break. Then move on ahead. Break the trip up into segments and then even smaller segments.   Don't start off focusing only on reaching Base Camp. 

I am going to take this advice and apply it to my Alaska trip and my hike up Mount Healy. It will be good practice.