Hiking...

I recently began to join the world of exercising again after a decade of doing nothing that resembles any form of exercise (unless you consider walking from the office to the car park or shopping in malls for several hours as a form of exercise). Not that I have begun to be health conscious whatsoever. Even my expanding waistline did not spur me into the whole fat loss training programme craze.
However, if there is one thing that can force me to do things that I despise, that’s my ego. Yup, I’m just like any other mortals on Earth, bound by something as flimsy as ego. Although my ego is not as big as Marty McFly in Back to the Future, it nevertheless had brought me countless troubles than could have been easily avoided. Anyway, it all started when my frenzied friends decided to go on a hiking trip to Sabah, Malaysia. They wanted to conquer the Mount Kinabalu, which is 13,435 ft. above sea level. I would never understand why any human would want to suffer on a holiday trip. Holidays are supposed to be about relaxing and pampering oneself, but my obviously crazed friends decided to fill themselves with sweat and grime instead.
Try as I might, I could not remember the last time I was involved in any “healthy” activity. However, with all my self-confidence and all, I know that reaching the peak of Mount Kinabalu is not the same as walking in a shopping mall for several hours. Unable to bear the thought of probably being the only one in my group to not complete the climb, I decided to go for hiking in a small hill that is located near my place. Before I went to college, I was quite active in extra-curricular activities. Once, I went to a camp in which a part of the activities was hiking. We went into the hill in a group of eight people and it took us two hours to complete the trail. I remembered being bored by the whole hiking thing. I remembered being stung by countless numbers of mosquitoes. However, I did not remember being tired at all.
With that memory in mind, I started my hiking at the hill near the place I am staying at 7 in the morning. At first, I have to walk up a slope leading to the trail… and it was easy. Then, I started my way up the dirt road with roughly made steps. It was about 5 minutes later when my breathing started to get ragged. Another 5 minutes, my vision started to blur. The milk that I drank in the morning before the hiking threatened to crawl its way back out from my mouth. It remained somewhere in between the throat and the chest, unable to go down or up. Sweat started to pour out like a flood and pretty soon, my whole shirt was wet and I vividly remembered making a pool of sweat around the place that I was sitting on.
Feeling terribly sick and weak, I was going to give up even though I completed less than one quarter of the trail. As my vision returned, I saw a grandfather in his 70s walking calmly down the steps with an aid of a walking stick. At the same time, a group of mothers in their 50s were climbing up the hill without stopping to breathe. Jumping behind them was a group of students in their teens flying past me. I could only glare sullenly at them. Thus, my ego kicked in and I forced myself to continue my torturing climb. How can I bear the fact that people younger and older than me completed the trail while I can’t? In my haughtiness, I did not bring any towel and with the sweat pouring down my face, my glasses kept on slipping from their position. Taking them off is dangerous as I could not see clearly enough to watch my steps. Trying to dry my face with my shirt did not rectify the problem as both my face and shirt are already saturated with the salty water. Then, the next problem hit me… I did not even bring water for the hiking. My lips were getting parched, and the thirst was killing me.
So, with a vomit that won’t come out, buckling legs, slipping glasses, waning stamina, ragged breath and dripping shirt, I basically crawled my way up the hill. I am sure that many other hikers were looking at me, wondering if there is a need to call an ambulance for me and some others would be laughing at my strange way of hiking, but I don’t care. My focus was entirely on the trail only. After endless stops and a century later, I finally reached a clearing that signify the peak of the hill. I immediately went to the nearest bench and I could not even feel the glare of the sun that was already burning fiercely in the sky. I looked at my watch and I used 45 minutes to complete a 15 minute trail. Yup… that’s how terrible I am.
Well, the upside of this is (yes, there is always an upside in everything) I still have some time to train up myself before the official trip. I only need to remember back the laughing eyes and condemning stares of other hikers to be motivated enough to get better. Of course, the way down from the hill was much, much easier than going up; I was at the bottom of the hill before I even realize it. However, it is easier to get hurt while going downhill. There were several times when I almost sprained my ankle due to the uneven surfaces while leaping downhill. Thus, including my rest at the top of the hill, I completed the whole trail in almost 90 minutes, while my friend said that it was possible for a normal person to finish it in 30 minutes… well, I guess I’m “special” then. Fret not ladies and gentlemen, in two weeks time, it would be nothing but an anthill to me. I always believe that mind conquers all and this will not be any exception.
Last but not least, I am thankful for my friend who remained encouraging me during the whole trip. If I was in my friend’s position, I would be cursing the person for being such a nuisance… but of course, being a person who believes in karma, I would take this as a lesson in the future when I feel my impatience welling up.