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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

How I know I won't die laughing...



I have now accepted an invitation to go hiking with a friend and his friends in the Magoebaskloof this coming holiday. I have a mere 28 days to get myself hiking fit, before I find myself looking at uphill after uphill with a large burden strapped to my back. People do this for fun you know.

I sense this hike is a lot like studying for a Latin exam.You can't really cram for a Latin test. There is no way one can learn all that vocabulary in one night including all the declensions. I know this because I have tried. Puella ...Puellarum...oh heck look at all the Pooh-I -am-in....You see? You can't cram fitness either.

Let me put you in the picture of the physical shape I am in. I am sporting an extra 20 kg's - weight that I have put  on in the last three years, like the extended version of "Eat, Pray, Love..."( Elizabeth Gilbert) I certainly have spend a lot of time at eat...and I figure this hike will certainly set me firmly on the path of PRAY..pray, I make it out alive, pray my knees hold me and I just don't go tumbling backwards down the slope as my backpack unends me. I have never been one for travelling light. 

It will be an austere version of Elizabeth Gilbert's quest for self -enlightenment which finds the author in some Indian monastery having taken a vow of silence and meditating whilst being devoured by mosquitoes. Pray!

I can almost hear you asking yourself , "Why?" Good question. Well? I don't know, but something in me says,perhaps this hike will lead to more and take me closer to the lifestyle I yearn for, an active, cleaner healthier way to be. In other words I feel compelled to do this. It may propel me in the direction of LOVE, not the romantic, love, but a LOVE for life. One step further on the happiness ladder. 








4 comments:

  1. Dont you love a challenge? (I really hope so) I'd recommend a set of those allow hiking poles, yeah they look a bit strange but I bought a set after they were recommended to me for saving the aching knee problems of hiking and they sure help to spread the load.
    Hope you enjoy the trip

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  2. Yes, but I must admit I do have the jitters. Will investigate the hiking poles.

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  3. My sisters all use the hiking poles. But I know you can do it. I started with just 10 mins 3 times a week on my stairs. Worked up to 15 mins and then started running and the first time I ran I went for a solid hour. All in less than 1 month. Start with the stairs it really helped me. I wish desperately I was going with you. How many km and how many days?

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