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My girlfriend and I are preparing to go on a hiking trip to Glacier National Park. We are going to alternate between some camping and some staying at various small hotels and inns. I have been involved with doing some aerobic exercise my whole life, either by walking or biking. When I told my husband the plans to go on a hiking trip with my friend he laughed it away. He does not think either one of us will have enough stamina to last two days, let alone a full-length hiking trip. I told my friend about my husband's disbelieving reaction. She is in shape, but does not consistently do any aerobic exercise. She took this as a challenge.

She started scouting for the best aerobic exercise to prepare for our trip. I tried calling her during our lunch breaks, but could never get her on the phone at her desk because as soon as people rushed out for a bite, she was out walking. Twice a week she went to evening aerobic exercise classes. I visited her apartment and discovered three DVD's on various aerobic exercise programs. The woman is totally preoccupied. Initially when we first planned the trip, we thought of hiking for short distances each day to admire the beautiful surroundings, now she was taking this as seriously as an international aerobic exercise challenge! She told me that I'd better start pushing myself more to build up my stamina so that I would be able to catch up with her.

I went home and told my husband that I feared our relaxing, get- in- touch- with- nature trip is going to turn into an Olympic - scale triathlon. He took this situation in a humorous light. At least my friend is improving her health with the aerobic exercise, but I was definitely not planning to pant my way up a hiking path. I purchased an aerobic exercise tape for my walkman and started pushing myself more. The first few walks I worked harder trying to vent out my energy of frustrations towards my friend and husband, but as my stamina improved and my lung capacity expanded I found I was actually enjoying this higher level of aerobic exercise. When I went shopping for clothes for the trip I found that I had been slimmer by a full pant size! My clothes at home looked looser also. I told my husband that this was my sweet revenge for his challenge, a whole new wardrobe. He does not raise any objections because he thinks I look greater than ever.

As our trip approaches we find ourselves getting more excited about embarking on our adventure. We both look and feel a lot better since we increased our aerobic exercise. Now, if you hear about two crazy women racing around the hiking trials in Glacier National Park, I am one of them. Wanna join us?