The Big O Mountain

Happy Summer Olympics to All,

I haven’t had a chance to watch much of the Olympics as I don’t have a TV capable or receiving a signal but I’ve been following them some on the Internet. It is an intense time in world sport watching, to quote the tagline line of “Wide World of Sports” the sports show I was raised on, “The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of Defeat.” I remember being a young girl glued to the television on Saturday afternoon dreaming of being an athlete on the world’s stage. Through such shows, I came to understand how much athletes sacrifice when they train and compete at such levels.

When I first training for Denali, I remember equating that journey with the Olympics. I said, “This is my Olympics,” as I knew most likely I would never reach the games as an athlete. (I did learn to race a luge in advance of the Calgary games and have thought about trying to play for the German women’s hockey team.) Like Olympic athletes, many mountaineers train hard, make many sacrifices in their daily lives, and spend many a mountain of money in pursuit of elusive and uncertain goals. Standing atop any mountain requires that training, weather, snow conditions, health, intense effort, and some luck all come together in the right moment. I think the same can be said of a trip to the podium in Beijing. Though the Games bring questions of politics, human rights, and cheating to the fore, they also remind me of the indomitable human spirit and the power of striving for dreams.

I had a great week in training. I went into the week tired from a weekend of hockey camp but pushed through that fatigue to get in three strength/power sessions, a few step classes, more hypoxia training and two fabulous training hikes. I’ve moved my pack weight up to 45 pounds for both indoor and outdoor training. My legs are doing fine with it and my lungs are working hard to catch up to the new demands. I’ve wrapped up my training with the six-week program of onehundredpushups.com. I moved myself from 60 to 200 pushups and have appreciated the increased upper body strength. I will now move back down to 100 and incorporate a whole variety of pushup techniques (diamond, vertical, on the medicine ball, off a therapy ball, etc). I have about four more weeks of intense training before beginning to taper for the mountain. Kilimanjaro taught me the value of going to the mountain rested and relaxed so I’m committed to putting that lesson into place.

There are other clues that the climb is getting closer. I placed a big order with Mountain Equipment Co-op for the gear I need for Pumori. I’ll have a new base camp tent to call home. A brighter headlamp to replace the one that was stolen and some new climbing slings also made the shopping list. I will begin soon to select out the gear that makes the cut and gets to go on the climb. I often use my living room as a staging centre for expedition preparations. The couch is a great organizer for clothes and the mantle for small supplies. Just like Santa Claus’ list, mine will be checked at least twice if not three times.

Thanks to all who made contributions to the climb this week. I’m meeting with Paula tomorrow to get the first update on how the fundraising is going. The downloadable form should be on my website this week and there is also now a “Donate Now” button on the sidebar that takes you directly to the donation page. The money goes directly to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, none of it goes towards climb expenses. Please pass on word of the climb to anyone who you think might be interested. Click here to donate to the climb.

About a month ago, I was asked by a national speaking bureau for some video of one of my presentations. I hadn’t had any time to even think about producing such materials but I happened to have had a presentation that night. I packed my video camera to take with and hoped I could find someone to run it. Unfortunately, the thing was out of battery power and my digital voice recorder was in the same state. I had to tell the Lavin folks that I couldn’t produce and they said they had to move forward on their timeline and couldn’t wait. After I handed in my grades for the semester, I set to work to edit a few pieces so I wouldn’t miss another invitation like that one. Some of these speaking vignettes are now up on my website, my Facebook Pumori group, and YouTube if you’d like to see me in action (and see my summer shearing).

Thanks for all of your encouraging words. They move me to train harder and I appreciate having your support. Have a good week.

TA

A Cup of Tea

Howdy,

Thanks to all who replied with such enthusiasm and support for the Pumori climb. I was touched deeply when you shared stories of people you knew who have walked the breast cancer path. I kept their names close in my mind as I did each push-up, walking lunge, and abdominal crunch this week. Thanks as well to those who have already pledged donations. The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Atlantic office is hard at work designing downloadable pledge forms and an on-line donation option to make contributing to Pumori: Climb for Awareness quick and easy.

The week passed quickly given my teaching and training schedule. It was my fourth week of training for Pumori and I noticed some changes in my body. My hockey shot is harder and wilder (evidence of gaining strength), the head of my quad muscles are taking a new form (evidence that walking lunges and step classes are tasking my legs in the right way), and my appetite is increasing (evidence that I’m training hard). I read a book this week where the author differentiated between training and exercise. He said training was more intent and purpose-filled. I know it’s true for me. When I am training and I can hold the vision of what I am training for in my mind, I push a little harder or run a little faster.

People in the field house have begun to stop and ask me, “What are you training for?” I guess it shows…either that, or no one in her right mind would choose to do burpees for fun. You may have experienced burpees in physical education class–basically, you start standing, bend over and put your hands on the floor and kick your feet out to push-up position, then bring the feet back towards the hands and spring up into a jump. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I have no idea why they are called burpees (as no one would ever even consider eating before doing them). They leave me winded after a few, and gasping for air after fifteen. Over the past four weeks, I’ve worked my way from six at one go to sixteen and from a total of twenty to eighty-five.

I’m using a very simple strength-training plan these days. I’m basing it on the website: hundredpushups.com. Three times per week, after skipping for ten minutes, I consult the chart and do the requisite number of push-ups it calls for. I added burpees, walking lunges, and abdominal crunches to the mix and after an hour of all this, I’m soaked in sweat having made another deposit in the training bank. Training in the summer means lots of sweat so I got my hair cut very short to promote heat loss and easy drying. I refer to my new hairdo as “my summer shearing.”

For cardio training, I’m running, going to step class with a pack, biking, and hauling a large pack up and down the hills surrounding St. John’s. I’m grateful to WOKies Diane and Marian for keeping me company (and pushing me to climb faster and sweat harder). I’m also using the Go2Altitude system again for both training and pre-acclimatization. I’ve often loved the saying that “Saltwater cures everything: sweat, tears, and the sea.”

These days I feel like I’m getting plenty of the first and last. I’ve been out in my sea kayak and hiking near the sea several times a week. Unfortunately, all the sweat hasn’t cured my dental/jaw infection. I’m on my fourth course of Clindamycin and we added Flagyl to the mix this week as well. I spoke at a conference for public health inspectors this week. They were the first audience that could identify the slide of Giardia that I show. Several of them came up to me and encouraged me to get tested to make sure I wasn’t a latent carrier so when the dentist offered Flagyl I accepted since it is also a treatment for Giardia. I bless my intestinal flora every time I send a pill down the hatch and am eating yogurt like it is going out of style.

I ran the Tely Ten this morning to support my hockey teammate, Tara, reach her mountainous goal of completing the ten-mile race. I’ve been offering training suggestions for several months and WOKie Wanda joined us for the race. We told stories of Kilimanjaro and I pointed out every motorcycle shop on the route (I had done my second road lesson the day before and had visited two shops in search of learning more about buying a bike). Sometimes, in order to get over a physical/mental hurdle, all is takes a bit of distraction.

I remember summit morning being called the front of the climbing line on Kili. “TA, we need you up here,” was urgently called out. “Oh no!” I thought and beat it breathlessly up the hill. When I got near the front, the group said, “We need twenty questions.” I sighed in relief that nothing serious was wrong and proceeded to lead a game to distract the group from the pain of the climb. This morning I was telling Tara the story of summit day/night on Kili and when I stopped for a second and she said, “You can’t stop there-keep telling the story.” Sometimes we all need someone who can tell us a story to get us over a hard spot on the mountain, in a race, or when going through medical treatment. Congrats to Tara on finishing the Tely Ten!

I remember when my friend Deb was going through breast cancer chemo. I made a point to get to every treatment and tried to find a fun card to bring along to lighten the mood. I would come and tell stories and listen and, though hating the reason we were there, came to see what a wonderful gift it was to me to support someone else. It important sometimes to enable and accept the generosity of others, to allowed ourselves to be cared for, and then to extend that care and support to others along the way.

That is why I am so grateful to have you in my cyber community of support for this climb. As I sit down each week to write to you, I imagine sitting across the table from you sharing a cup of tea and stories of our week. People often think I am inundated with responses to these updates but generally only a few folks each week drop by my in-box with words of encouragement or to let me know what’s on the go for them. So don’t be afraid to pull up a keyboard and have a “cup of tea.”

I hope to have the logistics lined out by next update to let you know how to send your support for the Pumori climb. Until then, have a wonderful week and take care,

TA

Pumori: Climb for Awareness

Pumori: Climb For Awareness

Every October since my mom, Denise, was diagnosed with breast cancer, I have run the Race for the Cure in her honour. I vividly remember the first time I wrote her name on my race bib. I was just learning to run and I wasn’t sure I could do the entire five kilometers. During the race, there were times I could hardly breathe as I was overcome with so much emotion. After the race, I sent that race bib off to my mom with a note expressing my love and hopes for her recovery.

As each year passed since then, I felt both sadness and anger as the list of names I added to my race bib grew. It seemed as though every month I was hearing of a friend or family member that was affected by breast cancer. I’m going to miss this year’s race. Instead of running shoes and T-shirt, I will be donning climbing boots and soft-shell jacket. Instead of writing my mom’s name on my race bib, I will write it on my ice ax. Instead of running around Quidi Vidi Lake with thousands of others close to home, I will be the only woman on an expedition climbing Mount Pumori thousands of kilometers away in Nepal.

The name, Pumori, is translated as Everest’s daughter. It is a 7161-metre peak that sits across the valley from Mount Everest. I am dedicating this climb to my mother, a breast cancer survivor, and to all who have also had to make the mountainous journey through breast cancer. By honouring those who’ve faced breast cancer, I hope to heighten awareness of breast cancer prevention, screening, and early detection.

I know I lead a healthy lifestyle and get plenty of exercise, but I have many risk factors for breast cancer. I started menstruating early, I have never been pregnant, and my mom had breast cancer. Sometimes I think, “It’s not if I get breast cancer, but when?” With this climb, I intend to raise funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – Atlantic Region because they are committed to creating a future free of breast cancer through awareness and research. I have set a fundraising goal of one dollar per metre of the peak.

It is tradition on climbs in Nepal to fly prayer flags over base camp. These colorful flags have prayers printed on them and are blessed by a Lama during a ceremony before the climb. For each donation of $20, a prayer flag will be dedicated and flown over base camp for the duration of the expedition. One hundred percent of the money raised through the climb will go directly to the foundation (i.e. none of it will go towards the costs of the climb).

By climbing Everest’s daughter, I hope to contribute to a future for all children that is free from the suffering caused by breast cancer. With each step in training and each step up the mountain, I will keep both the mountain and the larger cause for which I am climbing in mind. I will remember my mother’s strength and courage in facing her treatment and draw upon that during the inevitable moments of doubt and discouragement as I attempt to become the first Canadian woman to summit Pumori.

I look forward to having you along in the upcoming months of training and on the climb. Your support helps me reach new heights in many aspects of my life.

TA