The work continues in memory of my mother Linda, pictured above with me and her husband and my father, Robert, as I returned from a successful summit attempt of Mt. Shasta on June 19, 2014.  

Making my way from Ohio to Mt. Shasta today!

If you are interested in following our summit attempt, which will begin at the Bunny Flat trailhead June 17:

BLOG: We’ll post ongoing coverage of the climb from now until next Thursday so you can always stay up-to-date at www.insideprevention.org. We’re also featuring individual climber stories here.

PHOTOS: We’ll regularly post photos to our Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bcf/  Feel free to use any of those photos on social media or on your blog. Just please attribute to the photographer if someone is listed in the credits on Flickr.

Today, the Climb Against the Odds team received a very special email from our team trainer extraordinaire.  Cathy Ann Taylor has been leading the Climb team over the last 15 years, and since this event started, and has been with each and every team, guiding us each step of the way.  She also travels all over the world with the Breast Cancer Fund's Sacred Treks. Her dedication to the Breast Cancer Fund is amazing.  Talk about inspiration.

The email today was one of many "Cat" has sent out to the team over the last many months, encouraging all of us and helping us to prepare mentally and physically for the Climb.  In today's email, she wrote at length about the history of Mt. Shasta, and holding mountains as sacred places.  And then she shared a most wonderful poem by Nanao Sakaki:

Why climb a mountain?

Look! a mountain there.

I don't climb mountain.

Mountain climbs me.

Mountain is myself.

I climb on myself.

There is no mountain

nor myself.

Something

moves up and down

in the air.

Please check out Cattara's website: 

www.cattara.com

Cattara

Adventures with Insight

Sausalito, CA 94966

Link to Sacred Treks on the Breast Cancer Fund's website.  Trekking the Georgian Caucasus this July.

Four years ago, at about 3:15pm, I stepped out of a meeting at work to take a call that changed my life forever.  The radiologist called to tell me I had IDC (invasive ductal carcinoma).  Breast cancer.  I'll never forget that day because it was also a time when I learned:  support is everything. This morning, I remember the friends that helped me to gather my things as I left work, reeling from the news.  I can't wait to see them today!

I remember getting home and telling my boyfriend, and then calling my parents.  I remember and reflect on where I've been, and what a long road it's been.  I'm happy to be on it still.

It's hard to know what the exact date of my cancer anti-versary.  I think every day is a day to celebrate survivorship of this wretched dis-ease.  And every day is most certainly a day to be grateful for all of the people that have provided their unerring support since then.  You put your life in so many hands.  

One of the Ten Essentials:  Fuel aka FOOD!  

This is about eight pounds of the food I will be packing for my trip. Based on Eberle's chapters on Multiday Endurance Events and High Altitude, here are my crude calculations on the caloric needs of a 125-pound (57kg) person.  

30-35 calories/hour for working at altitudes of 10,000 feet.  For our two-day summit attempt this means I need to pack at least 7500 calories, and eat about 250 calories per hour if I use sixteen hours as the amount of time I have to consume...that said, it will obviously be a challenge.  At altitude, appetites wane.  It's imperative to start fueling almost immediately, and carb loading in the days before our climb will be part of the plan.  Quick energy is important, so I'm also packing a dehydrated coconut water powder, which will be mixed with molasses, sea salt, and honey to help with liquid carbs and electrolytes.

"Eat before you're hungry, and drink before you're thirsty" will be another mantra as we head up Mt. Shasta. 

As a gluten-free person, I've experimented with and tried a variety of items during my training.  There are many awesome options!  The spread I have is mostly organic, all gluten-free, and is a mixture of flavors.  I'll be bringing along a prepared rice and rice ramen to augment our evening meals. 

I will have other events to attend, so not all of this will be consumed in two days, but as I tallied my inventory, it has become obvious that moving food into my body was going to be a full-time job.  Also, I'm hoping to share some of my fuel with my teammates.  It's always fun to share!

Final thought on this:  this is an enormous amount of packaged foods which are not typically part of my repertoire for a variety of reasons.  That said, I am tremendously grateful to have the resources to carry and consume high quality, organic nutrition on the mountain.  Of course, every single wrapper is coming back with me as part of the Leave No Trace principles.  

For more information on LNT:  

The New Ten Essentials—A Systems Approach

Metabolic rate jumps about 30% at altitude, so aim to ingest 30-35 calories per pound...60% carbs...but get calories any way you can, including straight fat (pass the butter please). Bring alternatives to sweeter foods. Eat early, eat often, eat first at every rest break. Over 10,000 ft, need about 4 L of water per day. Refuel promptly at recovery.

Hm. Sounds like trying to get through chemo.

Source: Endurance Sports Nutrition--3rd Ed. --Suzanne Girard Eberle.