Yesterday was the 2013 Climb to Conquer Cancer, and I am very, very proud to say that I participated and finished the climb successfully!
That basically means that I walked from the base of the San Francisco peaks to the entrance of Snow Bowl--a distance of about 7 miles that is uphill the entire way.
I won't lie, it was hard. And painful. And there were definitely a couple times that I seriously considered throwing in the towel and jumping on one of the buses that kept driving by to the top (which you were supposed to do if you had to). Near the top my calves were numb and I felt like I was going to barf, but I made myself keep going, and I'm glad I did! Crossing the finish line was a great feeling.
My sister and a couple of her friends were also walking, so I spent a good amount of time with them. It wasn't until after the first mile post that I saw one of my co-workers, and I ended up walking with her the rest of the way. It was definitely a bonding experience, and I was happy to get to know her better. We saw a few other people from work along the way and then again at the very end. My sister and the friend she walked with finished a few minutes before me and my co-worker, and my sister's other friends finished a little behind us. All in all it was about a 3 hour hike. Thankfully they had city buses waiting at the top and we got to ride back down the mountain. While we were waiting in the bus line it started raining, and it poured the whole ride down. It felt amazing to finally be able to sit down and rest and enjoy the view.
Driving back down that road was probably one of the coolest parts of the day, not just because it meant I was finished, but because going down all those steep curves and turns and thinking, "I just freaking WALKED up this!" was mind blowing.
Afterwards I took a good long nap (I only slept for 2.5 hours the night before the climb . . . good job, me), and woke up with the worst headache I'd ever had in my life. And that's not an exaggeration . . . my head was throbbing and pounding and I was SO dizzy. I barely dragged myself out of bed to go to dinner. My legs, though, weren't sore at all.
Overall it was a great experience. There were so many people there working their butts off for a good cause, and everyone was cheering each other on; it was very uplifting. Plus I feel incredibly good about myself for accomplishing what I did. I pushed my body physically and I succeeded, and afterwards I felt almost invincible. It was an awesome feeling! I feel like going into this next week I'm more motivated than EVER to get my body into shape and where I want it to be. I'm definitely planning on some running and gym classes this week, provided that my body cooperates--ie, that I don't start feeling the climb in my legs. (Knock on wood!) It also just felt awesome to get out of the house on a Saturday and I kind of remember that I do actually enjoy doing outdoors-y stuff, and that I need to do it more.
I'm glad I participated in the climb, and even more glad that I was able to finish it. I'm definitely planning on doing it next year! Especially since I have a whole year to train before then!
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