We start the Presidential Traverse in about ten days from now, and I am belatedly and frantically attempting to not die.
This four day hike in the White Mountains seemed like a great idea six months ago, and I assumed that getting in shape for it would be great motivation to exercise regularly. I figured I’d go for hikes most weekends in July, and go to my crazy loud spin and treadmill classes a couple of times per week all summer. Instead, somehow the summer got away from me and it is already mid-August and I have only be prepping for one week. Oh well.
Dorian and I did go for a hike last weekend, doing the Welch-Dickey loop in just over four hours. It was a glorious day, and it is a beautiful and satisfying hike, and we did pretty well. We enjoyed a lovely Polly’s Pancake Parlor breakfast with my brother Richard and Lisa beforehand, which always helps!
I had to stop to catch my breath way too often on the ascent up Welch, but my legs held up. That hike has 1600 feet of elevation gain, compared to 3500 feet on the first day of the traverse (3500 feet! What am I thinking?!). Dorian was hardly breaking a sweat with all his recent pickleball. Nobody was feeling dizzy or lightheaded like we were on our sweltering ascent of Mt Monadnock earlier this summer, which was a relief. I don’t know if that was due to Polly’s Breakfast or the lower heat and humidity or something else entirely. I bought Gatorade powder for the traverse in case our Monadnock fiasco was due to low electrolytes.
This week I also went to my spin class, a treadmill and strength training class, and Pilates. My legs feel like rubber, but at least I feel like I’ve tried. Dorian is going to teach us all to play pickleball tomorrow, and on Sunday we plan to do a family hike (the kids just got back from camp). This may all be too little too late, but I hope not. We’ll see! I think the kids will be fine. I am definitely the slow and out of shape one in the family.
Sorry I am behind again in my blog posts. I don’t have a good excuse. I did indeed end up binge watching Stranger Things, and watched that on evenings when I meant to be writing. Now the kids are hooked, which I’m not entirely sure is a good idea.
There seems to be a lot of “not entirely sure it’s a good idea” in my life right now. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Adventure awaits!
Reflections and Resolutions 