Climber and breast cancer survivor Jennifer Wilson, of Delray Beach, Fla., shares her thoughts on Climb Against the Odds, with a little over a week remaining until the climbers begin their 14,162-foot trek.This year's team of 29 women and men from across the country will gather in Mt. Shasta, Calif., on Sunday, June 21, to begin preprations for the June 24 expedition. Look to our blog throughout the week of the climb for the moment-to-moment details.
It's hard to believe that our climb is less than two weeks away! I'm so excited to meet all the other team members and continue our adventure.
I have been overwhelmed by the support and generosity of so many people towards my - and other team members' - fundraising, even in these economic times. Sadly, I have such a powerful message. If a very healthy and fit 44-year-old, without relevant family history, can get breast cancer, almost anyone can, so we really need to look harder at the preventable causes.
So, how DOES a Floridian train to climb a 14,162-foot mountain? Part of the answer is, she goes to other states! I was fortunate to do some hiking in Utah with good friends, and last weekend met some of the other wonderful people on the east coast team of the climb to hike Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The rest of the training was in deep sand on the beach with a backpack filled with kitty litter and two Antarctica parkas on my back, hot trails in Florida parks, stairs in condo buildings, and who can forget the old standby, the gym.
Coming so soon after treatment, the training has been hard, and there have been plenty of times when I have reached points where I've had to push myself physically and mentally beyond where I feel the "new me" is capable. I try to think that if I can conquer cancer, I can conquer the training and the mountain. Climbing with the team in N.H. helped me realize how important the mental challenge is, and I have spent the last week planning my thoughts of gratitude for the hard moments of the climb. Even before meeting many members of the team, I feel the strength that being a part of this group experience will give us all, while we help give for the future.
Comments