Climb for Hospice

Last night I was watching TV at my mom’s, when I saw that the Knowledge Network was going to be showing a documentary called In The Shadow of The Chief. It’s a film about the first ascent of the grand wall of the Stawamus Chief in Squamish, BC. A friend of mine from long ago is in the film, and as I had yet to actually see it, I decided to give it a glance.

Talk about motivating!

In May of 1961, two young men (Jim Baldwin and Ed Cooper) looked up at the nearly 2300 ft of towering rock face of the “unclimbable” Chief and said to themselves, “let’s do it!”. While everyone else said they were crazy to put their lives at risk, they knew that they were doing something monumental and historic.

Their equpiment was less than ideal; having shoes that were full of holes and devoid of grip, an insufficient supply of ropes and bolts, and having no map to guide them nor any route to follow. To make matters worse, while they were on The Wall one day, some heartless knob decided to root through Ed and Jim’s tent at base camp, and stole their supplies and money ($8.00).

However… Ed and Jim had the support of the town, (that still thought the two boys were lunatics), and without that support, the climb could never have been done. They were supplied with new shoes, ropes, bolts, custom-made pitons, and food. After two weeks, their climb had become a massive media spectacle, bringing their story to others who offered assistance in any way.

It took them about a month to finally summit (a climb that can be done in less than one day now), battling intense heat on their backs, crippling cold granite under their finger tips, swarms of grateful mosquitos, and fearless scavenging rats. At one point during their final push to the top, they ran out of water and had to resort to sucking on moss for hydration (funny note: the media at the time reported that Jim and Ed were “sucking on moths” for hydration). But they did it. They did it!

As I look at my own journey compared to Ed and Jim’s, I marvel at their determination and cringe at my own silly fears. I have the best equipment, the greatest guides and porters, and am essentially going on a very long walk up a well-traveled mountain. I’ll be inoculated, sun-screened, hydrated, and camping in luxury. And, like Ed and Jim, I have my good friend with me, and the support of my community. I find it all entirely thought-provoking. And so, as I contemplate, ruminate and think, think, think, I guess I can really only come up with one thing to say about all this…

“Let’s do it!”.

LOOKLOOKLOOK!

Did ya’ see?! Did ya’ see!?

You and your generous hearts have donated OVER $2000 to Delta Hospice so far!!

THANK YOU!!

Time ticks by, Kilimanjaro approaches…

So much to do, and I’m hoping I’ve left myself enough time to do it all in!

Buy gear, get donations, find auction items and door prizes, plan Kili Gala…

Training, camping, insurance, meds, transportation, Visas, book safari, research gorilla trek…

Time to set some non-fitness-related goals for myself, I think.

My goal for this week: Secure a space and a date for the Kili Gala.

Yesterday I went to Fred Gingell Park and for the first time, tackled the steps. There are approximately 200 steps up from the beach below. Factor in some non-staired parts, and it takes me approximately 320 steps to get from bottom to top.

Ahhhh, what a view!
But that does seem to be a loooooooooooong way down. Maybe I should rethink this plan. But wait, what’s this? One, two, three… that’s a lot of rocks! See, the way it works is, you walk down the steps to the beach, collect a rock, then hike back up the steps and place the rock on the railing to keep track of how many ‘laps’ you’ve done. Look how many this person did! Maybe this won’t be so bad after all!

And so, with my headphones on, and my iPod joyfully playing DJ Doboy techno music, I begin my first descent to the beach. This really isn’t so bad at all. I think I was getting worked up for nothing. My over-active imagination strikes again! I get down to the beach, marvel at the view, and pick up my first rock.
My friend Sal said that if I do the stairs 10 times, it’s the equivalent of doing 4km. Perfect! I started calculating in my head that I’d need to do the stairs about 25 times to have completed 10km. No problem. And now… I climb! I started off at a light run, figuring at least I should run the first time up!

At about stair 42 I began regretting the pasta I had about an hour earlier.

At stair 58 I began regretting the idea I had to climb these stairs about a day earlier.

At stair 63 I think one of lungs exploded and I was forced to stop. Maybe this isn’t going to be as easy as I thought.
Oh dear god, what have I done? I have to do this AGAIN?! Are you kidding me? There is no way I am doing this ten freakin’ times. As I pathetically keel over halfway up my first climb, I’m beginning to wonder if my 9th Grade experimental smoking habit has come back to claim my lungs once and for all. But NO! I must press on! I can DO this! GO! GO! GO!

I put my head down, and start again, taking it more slowly this time. It’s easier, but by no means easy. I get to step 120, look up and am greeted with this view:

The view it receives is this:

As you can clearly tell, near-vomiting is not a good look for me. But I keep going, keeping my head down, gripping my little rock, and just hoping I come to the top soon. I do. I rest.

I am met by another resting woman who indulges me in a conversation about cheesecake. I think I love her. But before I can try to convince her to ditch this whole climb-a-bunch-of-stairs thing and go to White Spot with me, she says, “I don’t think I can do more than 2 laps today. I’ve already ridden 35km on my bike this morning”. Oh yah? Have you? Have you really? Well, *I* made muffins. AND I even walked to Save-On to buy the ingredients. SO THERE.

I leave my new cheesecake-tease friend behind, starting down the stairs again, inspired by her commitment to fitness. I lie. I just wanted to get away from her because I was embarassed by how tired (beet red, panting, sweating like a pack mule) I was after ONE lap. Me and my bravado started running down the steps as I waved goodbye to her. Stupid ego.

So, I came to the conclusion that I will be coming back to do this again, and so why do I need to do ten laps the first time? I can set a goal for myself, and work at acheiving it. Today, I promise myself that I will do five laps. That seems fair. I also promise myself that the next time I attempt to do something for charity, I am going to work very hard at promoting the Cheesecake Chow and Nap-A-Thon for Animals. I can’t wait to start training for THAT!

Anyway, down I go, up I climb, down I go, up I climb, and lo and behold, I am soon looking at this oh-so-wonderful sight:

I DID IT! I have completed five laps of the Fred Gingell stairs! I do not know how long it took me, because I deliberately did not time myself, for fear of being overly judgemental of myself. Once I am able to do ten laps (in hiking boots, mind you), THEN I will begin timing myself and working toward a new goal.

And so, as I climb the last stairs to the park, (being met so gracefully by some guy smoking as he passes by), I marvel at how tired I am!

I had no idea it was going to be this hard. But I’m willing to come back. I’m willing to train. I’m willing to set goals for myself and acheive them after trials of hard work and dedication. And maybe by the summer, I too will be on my bike, riding from Ladner to Fred Gingell Park and then doing ten laps!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahaaa… yah, no.

Today I tackle… The Fred Gingell Park stairs…

Wish me luck. Buy me Tiger Balm.

Missing: Robyn’s Motivation

Description: Brown hair in a somewhat scraggly state, hazel eyes looking rather tired, apathy-inflicted personality, rapidly dropping self-esteem, quickly-rising anger and frustration. Approximately 5ft 7in tall, weighing 130lbs…135lbs… 140lbs… 142lbs…

Last Seen: Hiking joyously up Brother’s Creek in North Vancouver pre-Olympics, enjoying the outdoors, the fresh air, and the company of a good friend who complains just as much as Robyn does.

Caution: Will be armed with grumpiness and spontaneous crying. Approach with celery!

If Seen, Please Contact: climbforhospice@gmail.com

One of the best parts about telling people of my upcoming adventure to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro is the “advice” I get. It doesn’t matter if people have climbed Kili or haven’t climbed Kili – they all want to give me advice.

Now, I appreciate the kindness, really I do, but I find that I seem to hear the same things over and over again. Therefore, I have decided to be proactive: I am going to make a list of all the advice that I’ve been given to date. That way, if you’d like to give me advice, you can check to see if I’ve heard it before. If I *have* heard it before, I’d appreciate it if you gave me advice on something completely different. For example, I could really use some advice on how to make the perfect omelet. I’d also appreciate advice on how to get dog fur out of micro suede. Or really, I’d love some advice on how to fix floor lamps, because the one in my living room decided to stop working and it frustrates me to no end.

And so, here follows the list of advice that I have received (to date) regarding my climbing of Mount Kilimanjaro…

1) Go slow
2) Make sure you take the time to acclimatize properly
3) Go slow
4) Make sure you go slow enough to acclimatize properly
5) Do NOT wear 20 year old Doc Marten boots to climb this mountain
6) Have a good shell (rain jacket)
7) Prepare yourself to be very dirty and dusty, all day, every day
8) Go slow
9) Prepare to go slowly – so slowly that you’ll want to beat your guide with a donkey stick
10) The beer stand at the bottom of the mountain takes Visa
11) Work on your cardio before you go
12) Make sure you’re in shape before you go
13) You don’t need a lot of cardio or to be in good shape to climb this mountain
14) Take it slow. You need to acclimatize properly
15) Drink LOTS of water… and go slowly
16) Go slowly on the way down, too! “Don’t be stupid like I was” (Thanks Sal!)
17) Make sure you have a guide with you
18) Headaches are to be expected, but listen if your body tells you to stop.
19) Don’t push yourself farther than you should
20) GO SLOWLY. Acclimatize properly, and you’ll be just fine.

So… Guess I’ll be going slowly. Which will, you know, give me a good deal of time to mull over the best way to make a perfect omelet.

Hey hey, check it out! My personal trainer Cara Thien is in the Optimist today!

w00t!

She’s been training very, very hard to compete in the Arnold Classic – she’s also been stuck eating green beans and chicken for about 3 weeks, so she’s a little grumpy. Trust me, an unhappy personal trainer is not fun to work with: “Only 320 sit ups, Robyn!? C’MON! GET WORKING!”

Naaaah, she’s not really like that. On the contrary, when she trains hard, I train hard. I’ll walk into her home gym and see her standing there all buff and in amazing shape, and it really inspires me. And then she flexes, and I get all overwhelmed and depressed. I’ll never look like that.

But that’s ok! She and I have very different bodies, and very different goals. I’m really glad that she’s around to help me out – physically and mentally. She keeps my perfectionism in check as best she can, and encourages me to do what I can, and not get upset when I fall short of one of those unrealistic, impossible-to-acheive goals that I tend to set for myself. She really is a good trainer, and I am so glad that I stumbled across her (thanks Google!).

However, that being said, I’ll be very happy when she gets to chow down on cheesecake, Big Macs and Dairy Queen Blizzards again. She much nicer when she’s hopped up on fat and sugar.

GOOD LUCK, CARA!!

Weird Robyn Facts

I was born “in the caul”. According to myth, this is a sign of good luck, and apparently I am destined for greatness. I am also immune to drowning, have a fairy accompanying me wherever I go, have the power to read palms, and can see into the future. It is also a sign that I may become a vampire.

I had my collar bone broken when I was a kid after SOMEONE tossed me under a spinning merry-go-round. Of course, I had just smacked that someone in the face with a tree branch, so I guess I got what I deserved. Sorry Steven.

I foster Border Collies for the That’ll Do Border Collie Rescue. Errr… well, I did. I keep adopting my foster dogs, so I kind of ran out of room. (But if YOU want to foster Border Collies, click HERE for more info) .

I cannot even THINK about the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron without tearing up. A “friend” of mine used to sneakily play the trailer just to see me cry. I CAN’T HELP IT! That poor horse… all tied up… and… and… *sniff*… oh god. I am really, really hoping that when I go on a safari in Tanzania that I don’t witness a lion mauling a zebra or something.

You know that sound when you remove the lid from a piece of unglazed pottery? Yah, I hate that sound. A lot. You know what kind of sounds like that? Walking on scree. Thaaaaat’s right. I get to climb an Unglazed Pottery sounding scree slope on Kili.

Greeeeeeat.

Well here it is – March 1st. Today I get down to it and really start focusing on the fact that chocolate has become a food group in my diet, there’s an extra flubby roll across my waistband when I bend down to tie up my shoes, and I jiggle in the places I’m not supposed to jiggle. (Sadly, I also don’t jiggle where I’m supposed to jiggle, but that’s a whole other topic, really).

I have thrown away all my popcorn. I have tossed out the butter. I have emptied the Chocolate Jar (I attempted to do this by eating the contents, but this was apparently counter-productive). I have locked the liquor cabinet, tossed out the crackers, and glued my Cookies and Cakes cookbook shut.

Sooooo… my life pretty much sucks right now. *sigh*

Nah, not really. It’s rather exciting, actually, but that’s mostly because I drink about 4 litres of water a day now, and find myself journeying into strange and exotic places looking for a washroom. (FYI: Joey’s on Broadway and Granville has the best bathroom EVER).

So, aside from my Olympic Urinating Relay, and my Olympic Naughty Grocery Toss, I now need to tackle the Olympic Get My Butt In Shape-a-thon.

And in the end, I’ll get to hang a snow-covered, equatorial, free-standing mountain around my neck.

This is amazing.

http://www.saintsrescue.ca/about/index.htm

S.A.I.N.T.S. is a rescue society that… you know what? I’ll let my amazing friend The Food Lady explain it to you, because she can do it way better than I can:

http://www.wootube.net/