Climbing the mountain

It’s a little symbolidc, but it’s also part of a number of the challenges that I am embarking on. No less the one the “post on this site” challenge. 

Mt Coot-tha is near home and it took me a long time to realise that climbing a mountain could be pretty easy. Especially this one. On my first trip up, I stopped a few times. The number of stops decreased each time until I could make it to the top in one hit. It’s only just over 2 km from where I start. And I don’t take the steep trails. But for someone who hasn’t done that before, it was an achievement. 

I used the Mt Coot-tha climb as a metaphor on the morning of my 40th birthday - achieving new heights, seeing a new dawn rise and all of that. Today, it was also the metaphor of rising to the challenge, although it wasn’t a dawn trip this time round. 

Today it was to kickstart my fitness again. It has taken a slide over the last month or so with fewer runs (some hot weather and increased laziness) and some ill-discipline in the eating stakes. If I am going to hit my “12 kg” and “1200 km” challenges, this kind of thing needs to be more regular. Especially as I am behind the eight ball already on both challenges. 

This video is in the last section of the run, just 10 seconds of my 55 minute effort. I ran most of the way down and the short flat sections on the way up, only stopping to stretch mistreated muscles and to take in the view from the top. Let’s look for some improvement on this running route!