Hey guys! I’m leaving for a fun run along the beach, but I wanted to share with you a "race recap" from my MOM! Last week, she hiked up a 6,500 foot mountain with a group of friends.
A few months ago, my mom never, ever worked out But, she decided to start walking around her hilly neighborhood in the morning. Mom was SO surprised how quickly she graduated to light jogging intervals and worked her way up to 1.5 miles. She’s living proof that anyone can turn their fitness around, no matter what their age!
Here’s her recap!
Mom said: "Mount Laconte in Tennessee is 6593 feet and rated as strenuous on the hiker’s difficulty scale. It took 5+ hours to get to the top!
The trail is uneven, rocky, wet, uneven and often close to the edge. My hiking group included some experienced hikers and newbies like myself. Here’s our group (I’m in the red hat on the right):
As we moved up the mountain, the mist grew deeper and we loved being in the quiet and surrounded by the mist.
We saw several deer, and we had been told to be careful since there had been a lot of bear activity this year. Sure enough, a couple people did see a black bear walking around!
It is normal for it to rain on hikers and it did rain during our climb. The temp went down into the 40s at night. We stayed in a cabin at the top of the mountain, but there was no heat, showers, or electricity – just Mother Nature.
As far as my gear goes, I invested in a quality pair of hiking boots and made sure they were waterproof. I wore Caitlin’s athletics pants from high school and carried my $9 kids backpack from WalMart! This is the first time I ever carried weight on my back and hiked – that increased the difficulty level a bit also. I would recommend that people ensure their packs fit well and that they have support belts which allow the pelvic bones to support some of the packs weight. Also, be careful about the shoulder straps because they can create blisters!
Going down the mountain the next morning was a lot easier. :) But I’m not even sore and I feel so accomplished!
I really, really can’t believe I did it. It is amazing what our bodies can do if we just start exercising for 30 minutes or so a few times a week. A little bit of exercise — and determination — goes a long, long way!
Way to go Mom! She is a great testimony to everyone out there that they can do it! No matter what kind of encouragement I give my parents, they just won't do anything like this. Like Dara Torres's book title "Age is just a Number."