It's only mid-January of 2009, and I have another goal that is in progress!

A friend of mine is organizing a backpacking trip to Mt. Shasta, which happens to be 14,179 feet (thus completing my requirement of 14,000+ feet). And man, it's going to be grueling: according to my friend's post on the subject:

1. It has an elevation gain of 7,259 ft, and...
2. a total trail distance of around 6 miles (1,000+ vertical feet per mile!)
3. We'll be camping on a glacier (hello, brr)
4. We'll be beginning the attempt for the summit between midnight and 3am
5. Then, slide on our butts the entire way down! Seriously, it's apparently called glissading.

If I'm going to attempt this in May, I have to start working out now. Which is already beginning - I undertook a grueling hike up Mt. Diablo this last Sunday, and while the trail was only deemed "moderate" on bahiker.com, the hike totally kicked my butt with only 1,300 feet of elevation change.

Specific steps to complete this goal:

1. I should spend at least one day (and probably two) devoted to upping my leg strength... meaning I should find local bleachers and start running them (hey, this will help the goal #41: Achieve a healthy BMI).
2. I shouldn't forget my upper body strength and core strength, so spending some time at the gym or at home working on crunches/pushups should help.
3. Last, spend a weekend day on a long hike, preferably strenuous and lasting several hours.

I've already started working on the weekend hikes, and while carving out a weekday hour for exercise is actually a little tough (okay, backtrack, I just need to make the effort to make an hour... I, seriously, am just being lazy here). So, Thursday (1/15/09), I'll make the effort to find bleachers and spend some time running up and down them.