It’s just two months until our challenge and I am starting to get more nervous but very excited at the same time. Training has been a bit of a rocky path for me… I had a good week of power walking and then a 14 mile hill walk on my own about a month ago (in the blazing heat – was that the British summer?) but this was followed rather quickly by a frustrating period of health problems, so I have been struggling – both mentally and physically – to come to terms with this challenge. I guess that is what challenges are about – it’s a personal matter.
So, it was a real boost to head up to Snowdon last weekend, with the fantastic support of my brother, my 13 year old nephew and my brother’s best friend (the three musketeers), to try a mountain for real! I had mastered use of my recently acquired headtorch (and demonstrated this in the office, much to the amusement of my dear colleagues – three of whom have been crazy enough to join me in this challenge), as well as my indestructible mountain whistle. I also feel seriously knowledgeable about hiking socks – I suspect this sort of knowledge will not be terribly useful when we are on to the second or third peak in August, but at this stage, it’s kind of comforting.
Anyway, we started off well after a hearty breakfast, choosing the Pyg Track as our route. It sounded quite straightforward to me – after all, it’s only eight miles, and half of that is downhill! Surely this will be quite ok? The first couple of miles – with a sharp incline to start with – yielded amazing views. I must have said how beautiful it was at least 20 times. Much to my nephew’s embarrassment, I stopped to try out the pink pants approach. I thought they looked just fine (see photo for evidence) although not the most useful piece of kit!
With the sunshine reflecting off the lakes in between the peaks, it was turning out to be a marvellous day. Then all of a sudden, we were climbing in the clouds – on a rocky ascent with quite a number of walkers going up and down. I still can’t believe how many people do such a walk quite ill equipped – people in shorts, casual footwear etc. I was even passed by a man in a kilt! At this stage, I was bewailing the lack of public toilets and even a shortage of bushes. For me, one of the challenges of this walk will involve managing the pain of my ureter endometriosis. Still, it did result in me practically sprinting the last part of the mountain in my bid to get to the ladies’. I have reached that stage of ‘looking forward’ to surgery in September, but it shouldn’t have to be like this.
Carol waves her knickers about unashamedly whilst up a mountain
Several painkillers later and after lunch in the fabulous mountain café, we started the descent. I can’t believe how seriously I underestimated the challenges involved in descending a mountain! I guess the surprise for me was the concentration involved in making sure one’s footing did not slip at any point (those rocks are hard!) and the different muscles used. It was very amusing to be overtaken by quite a large wedding party (and also accidentally ending up in the wedding photos) but not so amusing when it started raining. One of my colleagues, who has completed the three peaks twice before, did say that there are generally only three sunny days a year in Snowdon – I do hope this is not true?! It made me very grateful to have good waterproofs and my trusty hiking boots, which have served me so well for the last 20 years. I hope they last out the next few months!
A couple of hours later, we made it down to the bottom – yippee! It was an amazing feeling and I was really delighted to encounter a party of three peaks climbers as I came out of the gate at Pen-y-pass. They had climbed Ben Nevis the night before and Scafell Pike in the morning – now they had Snowdon to complete. They were setting off at 6pm and all looked amazingly fresh. Would I feel like that in August after two peaks? I hope so. For now, all I want is a wonderful hot bath and a celebratory drink!
There is still a significant way to go and much to accomplish. Next stage is for the team to meet for training together. I am honoured to be joined by some really special people on this walk – thank you so much to all the team for their hard work so far (please take care on your training!).
There is still time to join us – please do get in touch if you are interested – you only have until the end of June to register! If you can’t make the date this year but would have loved to join us, please do register your interest for next year when I hope we can do something similar – all ideas and suggestions welcome!
Lastly, a huge thank you to the fantastic people who have sponsored me so far – I have an incredible target to achieve and it is only with your support that I can make this. Thank you for believing I can do this. It has made all the difference on the difficult days when I haven’t been well. Women with this disease deserve much better so thank you so much for helping me raise money and awareness for Endometriosis UK.
Mount Snowdon 
It’s just two months until our challenge and I am starting to get more nervous but very excited at the same time. Training has been a bit of a rocky path for me… I had a good week of power walking and then a 14 mile hill walk on my own about a month ago (in the blazing heat – was that the British summer?) but this was followed rather quickly by a frustrating period of health problems, so I have been struggling – both mentally and physically – to come to terms with this challenge. I guess that is what challenges are about – it’s a personal matter.
