Chapter One: Training For India and Nepal

   

Pilgrimage to India and Nepal

March 8-31, 2019

 In March of 2019, my husband and I flew to Mumbai, India, and Kathmandu, Nepal for an adventure.  I don’t know how to begin this narrative, other than to say that I was terrified at the idea of spending three weeks touring around India and Nepal without a formal tour group.  I agreed to go on this trip because it was so important to my husband Rob that I experience what he had done three years ago in Nepal with his friends.  He had travelled to India during his working career, and then went trekking in 2016 for a full month in the Annapurna Circuit and the Langtang Valley with two other men in retirement.

   Just the physical preparation was daunting.  I have had six foot operations altogether on both feet.  Only ten years ago I didn’t know if I would ever walk again unaided. How could I possibly go trekking in the Himalayas?  Rob urged me to work with a personal trainer at our local YMCA branch.  I began that process in September of 2018.

   Training soon became almost an obsession.  I am 63 years old.  My trainer is an Englishman whose nickname is “Cuddles.”  That is completely absurd, since he is basically a Marine Corps drill sergeant who pushes me beyond my humble capabilities like a slave driver. However, he soon realized the depth of my commitment to this process of becoming fit enough to tackle trekking in the Himalayas.  I began going to the gym 4-5 times a week, alternating between cardio/strength training and swimming in an equally-difficult Aqua Fit class taught by another trainer.  By December I was becoming much stronger, and the pouchy “pooch” of my aging belly began to tighten up and disappear.  My legs and arms slimmed down, and muscle began to build.  This was actually happening! I became strong again.  My clothes fit better and I felt much better.

   During the month of January Rob and I went to Florida.  I was really concerned that I would lose ground with my fitness routine. After all, historically we eat and drink a lot while there, and although we walk a lot of beaches and nature trails, we haven’t ever developed a fitness discipline to offset all those sangria sunsets. This time, we looked up a local branch of the Tampa, Florida YMCA.  

   The South Tampa branch is a huge facility, with a very large gym and several waterpark-style pools.  We didn’t have to pay any extra fees to use the facility for the month we were there, as the Y went national recently.  We ended up going 3x a week.  During that time I watched the physical trainers working with their clients, and tried to push myself harder until I could get home and complete my program.

   Once home, I started training again.  I hadn’t lost any ground at all.  In fact, I was ready to advance to another level of difficulty.  I began to work out on the treadmill and stair-stepper wearing my hiking clothes, boots, daypack loaded with weights, and an altitude mask. The mask is designed to slowly limit airflow as one trains, emulating trekking at high altitudes without additional oxygen.  It took several visits for me to overcome my self-consciousness at appearing in public in this getup.  Some people did look at me questioningly, others asked outright what I was doing.  

      In this blog, I'll be posting chapter-by-chapter what we did, where we travelled, and above all, what we experienced and learned on this marvelous journey.  Stay tuned for more!