we climbed a mountain

On Sunday we climbed a mountain. It was hard. The view was glorious. Did I mention it was hard? I tripped over, people overtook us, Milly came home with a blister, half an hour after we arrived at the top and had been sitting and enjoying the view my face was still beet red.

We wanted to cross it (climbing a mountain) off our list. And we did. Now that my legs and muscles in my bum are no longer aching I think I can say it was worth it. It is a long time since I bushwalked regularly. Even as my legs were burning and my heart beating out of my chest I stopped to look around and had a quiet laugh to myself that even though it is a lot harder than it used to be, I really do enjoy bushwalking.

Our friend Noel joined us. He is an Adventure Racer and races around continents regularly (click here or here to see him in action). Obviously a hike to the summit was beneath his physical requirements so he ran around the national park at top speed for 11 kilometres before sprinting to the top to meet us. He took Sam running back down the mountain and then they climbed a quarter of the way back up again to meet us on our way down. Then they took off cross country, ignoring the path, eventually popping out from a rock above us just before we got to the carpark. Sam was in heaven.

I am slowly working out how to challenge myself a little this year and perhaps bushwalking should be back on my agenda. The fact that given my current level of fitness it is really hard should not be stopping me. Perhaps I'll find some flat tracks to start with.