What kicks my butt on Monday nights
Or, "Don't worry about me, I'll just be here in the back."
I've joined a women's hiking group. By "joined" I mean I have been twice, and by "hiking" I mean walking up a very steep natural stair stepping machine. They meet every Monday evening from April until September and hike a different hike around Boulder. (For those of you not in Boulder, I'll let that sink in -- yes, there are that many different hikes in and around Boulder.) They hike throughout the season and then as fall approaches they hike a "14er," or a 14,000 foot mountain. Then, they hike "the three mountain challenge," which is hiking the three major mountains in Boulder in a single day. So, you can imagine my wonderful timing in joining this group when everyone else is in peak shape, all prepared for their two big events of the year. They're hiking their 14er on September 6th, so this was the last regular Monday hike. I'm sad to see it go even though I just started.
The Flatirons, Boulder's signature geologic feature, as seen from the base of Chautaqua park at the beginning of our hike. Moving from right to left, there are the creatively named First, Second, and Third Flatiron. We hiked just left of this picture, to near the top of the third Flatiron. I didn't know where we were going or I would have taken a different picture.
The thing is, I kinda thought I wasn't in bad shape. It wasn't so long ago I walked nearly 40 miles. I pull the kids around in the bike chariot, I bike to work whenever possible, I go to the gym at least weekly. I've lost a little weight, even. I thought, not bad for a working mom -- until I joined this group. Apparently I have some more work to do -- because both times I've gone I've been dead last in the train of women hiking to wherever we're going. And, I mean dead last by a fair distance. The caboose. There were seven women one week, and 12 tonight, so it's a good-sized crowd for a hike...Tonight, even the 60-year-old retiree was faster than me. Perhaps that means there's hope.
Today I thought my heart was pounding so hard on the way up that others could surely hear it, and to be honest I was not enjoying myself for a the second half of the up part. But, I made it, and I didn't complain (well, not that much). I kept saying, this is good exercise, keep going, this is so good for you, keep going. But it'll be FUN good exercise next year when I've been working up to these harder hikes since April and am more comfortable in both my pace and cardio-vascular level. I like the women and am looking forward to having a way to exercise and get to know a new crowd come spring.
There are rewards, of course. Tonight we hiked to "Royal Arch" which is up near the top of the Flatirons. It's a sandstone arch, and from it we had an incredible view of Boulder and its surrounding areas.
The Royal Arch, looking back through at the third Flatiron.
The view over Boulder, looking east at the NCAR Mesa. Trust me, the camera doesn't do it justice. (We live in the north part of town, to the left of this picture.)
I've joined a women's hiking group. By "joined" I mean I have been twice, and by "hiking" I mean walking up a very steep natural stair stepping machine. They meet every Monday evening from April until September and hike a different hike around Boulder. (For those of you not in Boulder, I'll let that sink in -- yes, there are that many different hikes in and around Boulder.) They hike throughout the season and then as fall approaches they hike a "14er," or a 14,000 foot mountain. Then, they hike "the three mountain challenge," which is hiking the three major mountains in Boulder in a single day. So, you can imagine my wonderful timing in joining this group when everyone else is in peak shape, all prepared for their two big events of the year. They're hiking their 14er on September 6th, so this was the last regular Monday hike. I'm sad to see it go even though I just started.
The thing is, I kinda thought I wasn't in bad shape. It wasn't so long ago I walked nearly 40 miles. I pull the kids around in the bike chariot, I bike to work whenever possible, I go to the gym at least weekly. I've lost a little weight, even. I thought, not bad for a working mom -- until I joined this group. Apparently I have some more work to do -- because both times I've gone I've been dead last in the train of women hiking to wherever we're going. And, I mean dead last by a fair distance. The caboose. There were seven women one week, and 12 tonight, so it's a good-sized crowd for a hike...Tonight, even the 60-year-old retiree was faster than me. Perhaps that means there's hope.
Today I thought my heart was pounding so hard on the way up that others could surely hear it, and to be honest I was not enjoying myself for a the second half of the up part. But, I made it, and I didn't complain (well, not that much). I kept saying, this is good exercise, keep going, this is so good for you, keep going. But it'll be FUN good exercise next year when I've been working up to these harder hikes since April and am more comfortable in both my pace and cardio-vascular level. I like the women and am looking forward to having a way to exercise and get to know a new crowd come spring.
There are rewards, of course. Tonight we hiked to "Royal Arch" which is up near the top of the Flatirons. It's a sandstone arch, and from it we had an incredible view of Boulder and its surrounding areas.
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