I’m Going to do What Any Reasonable 65-YO Woman Should Do — Set a BHAG
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The inquiry was reasonable enough. Ben (Jennings, CEO of E-Trip Africa) wrote me if I’d ever thought about Kenya, and more specifically climbing Mt. Kenya, Kilimanjaro’s little sister. Just over 17,000 feet high, she’s two thousand feet lower than her far more famous and heavily-trodden sister just over the border in Tanzania.
No, I hadn’t. I had bought a ticket to return to Tanzania but Ben and I hadn’t begun real planning yet. The DRC was still in civil unrest and folks were getting killed. I’ve already been to Uganda and Rwanda, and Tanzania twice for that matter. What to do next?
Over the last few years life’s been interesting. I have smashed my pelvis, broken my arm and wrist, broken my back in four places, and am currently barely six weeks out from a major rotator cuff surgery back in May. I just rebooted my running program, have returned to the gym, and am edging back into yoga. Not quite ready to ride a bike yet. Or get back on a horse, but that’s coming soon. I can’t wait. Sure, they’ve tried to kill me. Worse things have happened.
I’ve spent a good part of the last three years recovering from major injuries. Just got wickedly ill during a trip to Borneo and lost fifteen pounds.
The BF, who was about to move into my basement, wrote
“You don’t need to be doing this any more.”
Time to throw in the towel?
Hardly. I wrote Ben back and told him to book it. I’ll be there in November, precisely five years from the month I summited Kilimanjaro. Precisely what any reasonable, thoughtful, mindful elderly woman should do.
Uh-huh.
Then this morning I drove out to our local natural amphitheater, Red Rocks, and ran 3600 steps. That doesn’t count the downs, just the ups. Three hours in the hot sun. The last time I did that I was in training for Kili. My calves are gonna hurt…
