jane, kyo and I did an ‘impromptu’ 30km run on thurs…. haha well, we weren’t actually expected to run that long, considering the fact that the longest distance that i ran since coming back from Cho Oyu was only like 15km, and at a snail’s pace. but oh well, the company and great cooling weather really helped and we were all glad we managed to clock 30km. my legs were really aching and sore right after the run though…. we’re actually abit ‘off’ in the sense cuz everybody is supposed to be tapering at this point in time for the Stand Chart Marathon but we were actually trying to build up, having not run long distances for like since Aug before we left! oh well, i’m not gonna get my hopes too high in thinking of clocking a good timing, just hope i can at least finish it without too much agony! i suppose there will surely be agony and pain, but i shall try as far as possible to keep it to the minimum 😛
then today i had a one-to-one rock climbing + ice climbing session with KB at SAFRA Yishun today, only cuz nobody turned up in the morning! apparently he had invited like almost the whole climbing community to rock/ice climb but well nobody turned up and it became only him and myself. it was quite good cuz both of us basically tied into both ends of the rope and took turns to climb without having to unrope etc So looking forward to ice climbing in Sichuan in Jan! Yay it’s definitely something to look forward to and to keep me motivated 🙂 For now till then, we will just have to continue to train and build up our endurance and strength for long periods of climbing, to prepare for the Lhotse Face, which is a ‘1,125m wall of glacial blue ice and rises at 40 and 50 degree pitches with the occasional 80 degree bulges’. And all that at an altitude of about 7,200m. Gulp. Well, we had spent the last few years preparing and training for all our training climbs, and now that it’s finally a few more months to Everest, everything seems abit more daunting. It’s like, you can never know for sure if you are prepared enough, or training enough, whether your fitness level and mental strength will be enough to bring you to the summit and back in one piece…. the only thing you can do is to train and prepare yourself to the best of your ability, and yet, be prepared to face and deal with all the unknowns.
Yihui’s first foray into the outdoors was climbing a snow-capped mountain during a Technical Mountaineering Course in New Zealand back in 2003. She has since developed a passion for hiking and climbing mountains in extreme places.