Week 6: Climb for Clean Air – Get back on the program

Plan this week:

Monday:  Long Cardio

Tuesday:  Strength Training with Weston

Wednesday:  Long Cardio

Thursday:  Rest Day!

Friday: Strength Training + Interval

Saturday: Long Cardio

Sunday: Training Hike

Just for a kick – I’m going to start this recap with the video from last year climb.   Whenever I watch this video, I get really pumped up and this is exactly what I need – less than 10 weeks away.   This is last year video, and my brother-in-law, Aaron Robel, actually one of the climber who made it to the top.

Pretty awesome, eh?  I thought so.   I want everybody to see what is waiting for me on July.   THIS is what I am working towards.  Well, not only I’ll be standing on top of the highest mountain at the state of Washington but from a persona level, just last October, I was struggling with 3 weeks of radiation and not knowing if I can make it through another day of hell and yet, less than a year later, I would be standing on top of the mountain.  How awesome is THAT??

This week went by so fast.   I deviated from my plan again, well, sorta.   I am still having a hard time finding a balance between my commitment to training, being a mother to my children, a full time employee, a wife, and just in giving back in community in general.  I feel that I am stretching myself really thin and I have to adjust things on the fly.    Life happen and I had to make the choice, and I made the best out of it.   I am definitely getting stronger.   I still have a lot of work to do, but comparing to my baseline on week 1 – I am making a huuuuge progress.

How it actually went down:

Monday:

After going back and forth with the decision of which summit pack I’m going to use, I finally settle on Osprey Women Ariel 75.   This pack is made for chica, and Osprey actually known for the best pack for women (they made awesome pack for men too).    So for long cardio today, I started to put most of my gear inside this pack, such as my sleeping bag, parka, etc plus some add-on weight to make total weight about 42lbs.   I also put on my La Sportiva Neval Evo Mountaineering Boot, the one that I’m going to wear on my summit trip (I’m still trying to break that boot in) and I did an half hour on 15% grade treadmill and half hour on training hill elliptical.  Note to self – elliptical machine is not the greatest cardio machine when you have 40lbs plus pack in your back AND a mountaineering boot.

Tuesday:

So Weston have this new routine in store for me.   Let see, there are 16 total routine (yes – you read right) and I have to do 2 sets with 12 reps.   We started the workout with 4 different lunges.   Front and Back, Side and Curtsy.   All with me holding a pair of 12lbs dumbbell.   Then I did lateral step-up with kick, also with pair of 12lbs dumbbell.   From there, I did squat with ball against the wall while holding 8lbs medicine ball.   After the squat,   I did 2 total body routine.  One with me holding with just one 12lbs dumbbell, one arm, alternate, from squat to standing and the other one was just holding it with both arm.   From there, I laid on the ma, hips up in the air and lift my leg up, alternating between two legs — I hated this routine so much, I had to stop and told him to remind me on why I was paying him to be my trainer — then he had me on all four, and stretching my leg up and to the side, alternate between leg.   After that – I did crunches with 8lbs medicine ball.   Back to the step up, he had me do another step up, but now with an arm curl follow by a row and chest press using a terra-band.   To end with a bang, he had me do a dip with a single legged squat.    When I was done – I can barely move!

Wednesday:

Another long cardio – I put on the same pack, with another 42lbs weight and this time,  I did an hour at the stair master.   Now, that’s hard core.   I hate stair master to begin with and to be in that machine for an hour plus a 42lbs pack and wear a mountaineering boot – I mean business!  I did really good tho!

Thursday:

Rest Day!

Friday:

Strength Training.   I repeated the routine that I did with Weston on Tuesday.   All 16 of them, 2 sets and 12 reps.   I didn’t do the interval training since I really didn’t have the time.  We had to do our work out after work and we had to drop our girls on the day care.  The strength training routine took about 1.5hrs and we had to get going to pick up our girls

Saturday:

Instead of long cardio today, I decide to do a hike with my girls.   This is actually a highlight of my week.   I’ve been missing some quality time with my girls and every weekend, whenever we had to go hiking and I had to drop them at their grandma or their dad, they kept asking me to go with me.   This week – I decided to skip my long cardio and did a leisure hike with my girls.   They both were soooo excited and it was so refreshing and different to hike and walk on their pace.   You were suddenly looking at things that you normally ignore.   The moss, the root of the tree, the funny shape leaf – you named it.     We went to Twin Falls and walked for about 1 mile to watch the water falls and back.   That is a LOT of walk for a little ladies like my girls.     They had a blast and seems to enjoy it, and I had the quality time with my girls that I’ve been missing.   Yes, I didn’t do my long cardio and only walk for 2 miles – but I get to walk 2 miles with my 3 and 5 years old.   I take that any day.

Sunday:

I managed to arranged some child care so I can join the training hike that arrange by American Lung Association.   On this day, they are supposed to go to Pebble Creek, elevation 7,000ft at Mt Rainier National Park.     Due to the weather, the training hike was canceled.   There’s huge avalanche warning out and it was almost white out over there.   A bunch of climber decided to go to Mt. Si.   I was contemplating to go to Mt. Si as well, even already had my pack ready to go but we had a late morning and didn’t get ourselves together until around noon so we decided to go on hike since it was pretty wet out there.   I started play Wii and did a few aerobics game for 20 minutes and I looked out and rain was tapering off, so I put my shoes on, put my rain shell and head on out.   I ran for 3.6 miles around the neighborhood for an hour.   For someone that never run outside (I did my running on the treadmill) – I think I did really well, consider my neighborhood is very, very hilly!

Fundraising:

Another awesome week on the fundraising front. I raised total $230.00 this week and am so close with my goal.   I am so touch with everybody’s generosity and amazed on how many lives that actually touch by asthma, or any other lung disease.   Almost every one of my donor told me that they have either a history of lung disease, or their family does.    It just this week, I watched my 5 years old struggled to breath again when her asthma flared up and her lung didn’t get enough oxygen.   I still have all of the brochure from Children’s hospital, which has an insert from American Lung Association about how to live with Asthma. As a parents, an education about chronic disease is so important and American Lung Association does a wonderful job about it.   Keep the donation coming please.   Visit my fundraising page and learn more about it.   Every dollar count.  

Update:  This post is now part of Get Hawt #6

One Response to “Week 6: Climb for Clean Air – Get back on the program”

1. Sarah Sjolander says:

   May 24, 2011 at 6:42 pm

   Way to go on the walk with your girls. That’s AWESOME!!! There’s NOTHING like quality time with the kids!

   It’s so hard to have a kid with asthma. My Michael deals with that too… he does great walking with me, but every once in a while he complains about tickling in his chest, or wakes up clutching his chest as he’s having an asthma attack. Luckily, it’s not too often anymore.

   Thank you again for climbing for this great cause!!!

   Reply