Welcome to my seventh decade. I celebrated with a scramble up a peak in the Brecon Beacons describe by one commentator ‘as though the ground is rising exponentially as it zigzags up to an impressive cairn at the summit of Carn Pica’. The wind was biting cold but the sun was out and the view was amazing.

Not that we meant to do a scramble up Carn Pica. We were aiming for Pen y Big but our mapping reading skills are a lot to be desired. On reflection we concluded that we need to do something about this deficit. As it was only due to the good visibility that we got ourselves back to the celebratory pint. If the weather had closed in we could have found ourselves with a problem. 

But no such problem on this climb of 14 miles.

It did, however, remind me that mountain climbing is hard. It is not so much about the occasional scrambling over rocks but the relentless ascents. It’s is not long before I’m huffing and puffing. And after a while my legs are screaming for mercy. Much of this is due to my recent focus on strength training. With a big climb coming up in August I now need to up my endurance training.  

The Welsh Three Peaks Challenge takes in Snowdon in the North, Cadair Idris in mid-Wales and Pen y Fan in the South. 17 miles (27.4km) in less than 24 hours. We start the climb of Snowdon at 10am on the Saturday morning with the aim of completing Cadair Idris at 11pm and starting Pen y Fan at 3am. So a lot of climbing in the dark. Not that I’m particularly worried about that but for my friend that is going to be the hardest part of the challenge. For me it is being able to do the climbs at a reasonable pace. I don’t want to be the sad, old woman at the back holding everyone up. So I need to train. But training for mountains in Essex is not easy so I need to give it some thought and planning. The daily run up the escalator when I emerge from London Underground is not going to hack it.

I must admit when I was scrambling up to Carn Pica I fleetingly thought to myself ‘should I be doing this’. A nano second later it was replaced by ‘of course I should’. Our bodies are made for such activity. And it is ‘use it or lose it’ with the inevitable decline into frailty. So while there is breath and strength in my body I will continue to use it. And it is such a lovely feeling tucking into burger and chips washed down by a pint of two knowing that you have truly earned those calories.