Subj: Help me get there
Date: 10/24/2006
To: trail@emap.com
Hello!
In July this year, I climbed Cat Bells.
I’m 26, a size 22 and I’m pushing 19 stone.
Not two statements you’d expect to see in the same email, are they? That’s why, when I saw your plea in Trail this month, I felt compelled to get in touch.
To look at me, you wont believe that I actually eat quite healthily – none of those tables laden with donuts and burgers that you see on You Are What You Eat. My problem is that I do precious little exercise, and I’m spectacularly unmotivated by walking miles on a machine that goes nowhere or rowing for miles on a machine that never leaves the gym. What I love is the satisfaction of getting up that hill and stopping for raisins at the top, or unzipping that tent door and knowing you’ve got a whole new challenge ahead of you that day.
The first, huge, problem is, at this size, it’s a painful and breathless route to the top. My boyfriend puts up with a fair amount of whinging and rest stops because he knows that I know deep down that it’s worth it in the end. It would just be so much easier and enjoyable (for both of us) if I was fitter! As much as I love the hills, I don’t want to die of a heart attack half way up one!
Second problem is that I’m confined to being a ’summer only’ walker because the gear makers seem to think that someone my size couldn’t possibly be seriously interested in walking. I have two waterproofs – a bulky Lowe Alpine and a lightweight Berghaus – and an aged fleece. And that’s it, apart from a couple of breathable t-shirts in navy blue because someone out there thinks that fat people don’t like colour. It’s all men’s because there isn’t women’s outdoor gear to fit me. Even the largest available men’s sizes are a bit tight on the hips because I’m not exactly a straight up and down lady!
Show me a manufacturer who actually makes waterproof trousers in my size, or slim me down to a size that they DO make, and you’ll soothe years of having to fight back tears in outdoor shops as I’m looked up and down and informed that “we don’t have anything to suit you here, sorry.”
I’ve got the boots, I’ve got the backpack, I’ve got the yearning and I’ve got the most perfect walking partner a girl could wish for. I’d be the proper challenge you’re looking for. Please help me reach my potential and discover a whole new world out there without being held back by…. myself.
Thank you
Sarah
P.S This is me, when I conquered the tiny bump that is Table Mountain while camping in Brecon. It didn’t feel small at the time!
http://www.go4awalk.com/reachyourpeak/ryp1649.php
P.P.S Boyfriend wants to do Pen y Fan next year. Help!
