It’s been almost a month since my first post and I’m sure you’re all absolutely desperate to know how it’s coming along…
Well, slowly.
I have an idea to motivate me (more on that in my next post), which is a really good start! I have also actually FINALLY joined a gym. It was about time anyway and I know it doesn’t sound like much, but hopefully it’ll make a difference. I thought that perhaps the fitter I am and the more I focus on that, the less I’ll think about actually being thousands of feet in the air climbing up a giant rock with no experience or harness – I know a harness is ridiculous but I would feel a billion times better if it were possible to be harnessed to something very stable throughout the hike.
Anyway, after a few sessions I thought I’d give spinning ago. I did a class while I was at uni in Swansea (which I learnt very quickly is not the normal kind of spinning. In typically Welsh style it was incredibly laid back and casual and this is why I often miss Wales with all my heart), so I thought that I’d be totally fine.
I was in absolutely no way fine.
Ten minutes in I genuinely didn’t think I would make it to the end – this is probably some horrible foreshadowing of how much I’m going to struggle with Snowdon, even though every single person I speak to still maintains that it’s no big deal. IT’S A FLIPPING MOUNTAIN HOW IS THAT NOT A BIG DEAL?! Anyway, I really thought I was going to be violently sick/have a heart attack/faint and fall off the bike with both feet still strapped in and break both my ankles.
Thankfully, I then realised that I had begun the class on the maximum bike-setting-knob-thing difficulty (what a plonker) so it then started to get a little easier!
Granted, the next day it got a hell of a lot worse when I lost all feeling in my bum, only for it to then regain feeling and for that feeling to be such extreme pain that even my favourite hobby (sitting down) hurt. But I felt pretty good – I’ve taken the difficult first step towards getting a bit fitter so that when the time comes to actually head up the mountain I don’t get halfway before fainting, smashing into a rock, breaking both my ankles and rolling down it into a ditch where I’ll be nibbled to death by the rogue sheep that I’ve heard are all over Snowdon.
The past week I have neglected the gym due to twisting my ankle (both ankles are generally pretty weak so whilst annoying, this was not unexpected – hense my fear of them breaking) whilst walking. To the bus stop about 30 seconds away from my front door. To take me two stops up a hill to the station. In my defense, I’d much rather have 10 extra minutes in bed before work than have to run up the hill and probably miss my train anyway and then spend the next 50 minutes stressed about being both late and so wildly unfit that the walk leaves me a bit breathless. But I’m planning on getting back into it and really trying to up my fitness levels quite rapidly now as there’s only ten weeks to go!
Anyway, I’ll give you an update soon on exactly why I’m doing this – it’s important to keep reminding myself otherwise I’d be very tempted to give up, cancel my gym pass and have a Twix or five.
Holly x
up the mountain 