The Momma Show: September 2015

So my weekend is complete! I hiked 50 km in three days through, around, and up and down in Garibaldi Park on September 5-7th. For the past 10 months I have been a workout-gym-rat-self-motivated son-of-a-bitch. I had a goal in mind to climb a mountain and not kill myself; mission accomplished.

What/who inspired me to do this? One person, my sister in law... Robyn
Thank you Robbie for being the best sis in law a gal could ever ask for!

Robyn in the Spring competed in a body building competition and achieved her goal in losing weight and obtaining muscle mass. She said it was her dream to stand on a stage and wear a bikini and feel good about herself. With hours upon hours of hard work and determination Robyn made her goal and in my opinion blew it out of the water.

I started to go back to the gym in October of 2014, almost one year a go. I started doing laps at the pool. Once a week I would do a one kilometer swim. Over time I got faster and faster at it so I had to introduce new ways of bringing up my heart rate. My buddy Serena and I would walk around the river run upstream in the pool 40 times. Once that became too easy I told Robyn and Adam what I was doing and they got super excited. You see Robyn and Adam are gym people and the idea of me joining their gym-cult was an exciting idea. You see I have never been much of a gym person. I have always found joy in sports, where it doesn't feel like a workout. But I do remember that I liked lifting weights.

In early January, in a packed gym at Hyde Creek Robyn almost made me puke. It was good though. I forgot what it felt like to be pushed so hard and how great it felt after. I started going to the gym by myself 2 times a week. Robyn mentioned I should probably increase it if I want to see faster results. I noticed that the cost of the gym was too high and joined a new gym not to far away. This is where I stepped up my game. I started going in the mornings and nights 3 times/week. Robyn would check in with me ever so often and we would adjust my workout for variation and increasing difficulty and I just kept at it. Around the time of Robyn's muscle competition I decided I needed a goal in mind too. I got it! I love hiking! I do not have time for field hockey or fast pitch or slo-pitch now so hiking it is! I thought of all the hiking places I had done and which ones were on my to-do list pre-kids. I mapped it all out. I asked Robyn if she wanted to come and he happily obliged. We then amped up my cardio in June and I started going to the gym 5 days a week in mid-July. I was starting to feel fit again. I started needing less sleep. I started eating less naturally and being happier all the time. I was hooked.

I am unsure of how much weight I lost, I don't care about the number. What I do care about was being able to climb a mountain and not die doing it.

Saturday September 5th. (Day 1 - 9 kilometers, one blister, and I packed too much shit)

Robyn picked me up around 10:00 AM. I kissed Thing 1 and 2 goodbye and Thing 1 games me very explicit instructions to not go to the top of any mountains. The poor Thing was scared for me. I got a hug and kiss from the hubs as he said, "You've got this." Then we took off to Squamish for some lunch. The traffic was terrible and I was getting nervous as I know I could not take my time as we would lose too much sunlight. We got to the park and drove the 7 km to the tail entrance. I put on my 45lb pack and off we went for 3 days in the bush. It took us 3 and a half hours to walk one km of flat terrain and 8 kms for switchbacks and climbing the back end of a mountain. My 45 lb pack felt ridiculously heavy. We get to the alpine meadows of Helm Creek Campground. A large field with only 7 tent pads and over 35 tents. Poeple were camping where ever they could find dry ground. The muskeg was soft, lumpy, and damp which make for very interesting sleeping conditions. We set up camp and met some very nice neighbors, ate dinner and fell asleep by 8:30 pm.

Sunday September 6th (Day 2 - 32.65 kilometers, one blackened toenail, 10 hours, elevation gains - stupid)

Robyn and I were up by 6:30 AM and made breakfast and left for the day by 8:00 AM. We carried our days packs filled with water, cliff bars, and trail mix. I was so excited to eat nuts again. Since Thing 2 is allergic I went to town on the nuts. I was a chipmunk. We made out way up and up the sloped, rocky alpine fields full of trickling streams and beautiful alpine scenery. We passed several beautiful alpine lakes and rivers. Then we hit the top of the plateau area and it was all lava rock. At the base of the Black tusk it was nothing but kilometers of lava rock and flat terrain. The flatness was welcoming as we had hit nothing but elevation before this. It looked like a moonscape. It was really strange and seemed so out of place but a welcomed new sight. Past the moonscape and several sketchy slopes we hit more elevation to the base of panorama ridge. I took a look up, it was not how I remember it when I climbed it in 2003; there was way less snow. Robyn, always 20 paces ahead keeping a good pace, just hoofed it like a mountain goat. I however was slower and more methodical. I would set tiny goals for myself like keep going until the next marker or just 30 more steps and then you can take a break. Next thing I knew I was at the top. The view was exactly how I remembered it. As I sat at the top we watched the cloud cover roll in and out and just stated at the azure blue colour of the lake below. It was one of the most beautiful sights of my life. I sat with Robyn and discussed how I killed my goal. She then asked, "Court, how are you feeling?" I responded, "Great!" She then said, "Good! Lets hike to Garibaldi lake below." I thought about this. That would add 5 hours to out trip. But Robyn made a very valid point. Out camp was a very cold place and sitting around at 2 in the afternoon would be cold and boring. So down we went to the start of the Panorama ridge turn off and headed south to the lake. I tried to look at the topo map to see the elevation we would be losing so I could gauge how much elevation we had to make back. I thought it was 300 feet. It was not 300 feet it was more like 800. We headed towards the lake, down, down, down we went. Through alpine fields and along goat ridges. We saw bears, mountain goats, chipmunks, and marmots. It was amazing. We hit the top of the switchbacks at the lake and down we went cursing the entire way thinking whatever we do going down I have to go back up. We got to the lake and found 2 stumps and rested out weary butts for more food and water. Robyn pointed to the top of a nearby mountain and said we came from that peak way up there. It was at that point I, like Robyn, not only achieved my goal but blew it out of the water. We then started to head back. We stopped a bunch of times for water and food. By the time we had regained our elevation I was giddy. Literally all the walking going forward was going to be down hill here on out. Through the rambling meadows, along the steep goat trails, through the moonscape and down , down, down through the open terrain back to camp. With one kilometer left I was so happy and tired I jogged back.We ate dinner and promptly went to bed. I killed it.

Monday September 7th - Labour Day (Day 3 - 9 kilometers, all downhill from here, forgot about the knees)

Robyn and I woke at 5:30 AM the sun was just coming up. We quickly ate, packed up, and headed out. It was all downhill from here. I forget how much a 40 lb pack can do to a person's back and how going down kills the knees. It took us 3 hours to stumble down the side of the mountain. Along the way we sang songs, rapped, and even tried to set off a bear banger but it was a dud. We then headed to the car took some celebratory pics and drove to a pub for a burger and fries, well I did.

What did i learn from all of this... you cannot tell a person's fitness level by there size. The last time I did this hike was in 2003. I was significantly smaller but not as in good of shape. I did way less kilos in 2003 and I left that hike half dead. This hike I was fit and able like any other hiker out there. It was nice to call myself an athlete again. I have come to the conclusion I am doing more hiking but at least one major weekend hike/year. It gives me goals and something to work towards. I feel like I am back. So I still go to the gym 5 days a week. I still love it as crazy as that sounds. I wake up so early now I don;t even know myself any more. I used to be a night owl but that is all changing. Waking up at 5 AM 5 days a week will do that.

I'm rejuvenated. I'm healing. I am alive.

If you want to train with me and join me on next year's hiking excursion, let me know!

Hugs & Shit

The Momma

I'm a mommy mummy

October 2014

September 2015

The Momma Show

Saturday 26 September 2015

Wednesday 23 September 2015

Drunk Blogging 2.0

Monday 14 September 2015

A Journey Part 2 - Garbaldi Park