Living in Utah, I am surrounded by mountains. People always told me the mountains are to the East but you can literally see mountains all around so it took me a while to figure out a mountain from a MOUNTAIN!! LOL.
I arrived in the State at night in May of 1996 and my then 3 & 4 year old sons were sleeping. The next morning, or at least when the sun came up, my jet lagged boy, looked out the window and said (in his best British accent)" Mummy, these hills are massive" Indeed they are and ever since I have desired to climb to the top.
I know people do this and I have always had an excuse of time, pregnancy etc but really I just wasn't in good enough shape and it scared me, it's not an easy task. 4500 feet to a total of 11,000 ft. 8 miles each way, approx 8 -10 hours hiking with your water/food etc on your back. possible wind storms, heat..... I was scared.
After starting the Transformation challenge in February and reading about setting goals and mapping a course, (they used a mountain reference) I knew now was the time and I really did have to plan a date based on least chance of snow etc.
I mentioned it to a few friends and before long I had many people interested. I sent out the invite and a total of 18 gave me a maybe, then 10 for sures and in the final week I got excuse after excuse until my husband, son and one neighbor where all that was left to join me. I thought the neighbor was a rock star til I got the text at 6am.... So the 3 of us headed out and it couldn't have been a more perfect day.
It was long and hot but my body worked hard for me, the only breaks I took were because of my families varying pains, all of which they pushed through and made it to the summit.I listened to the LDS General conference in my ears and heard so many references to things symbolic of what I was doing at that very moment. The last mile, we literally climbed rocks and I was more terrified about the descent than anything.
By the last hour I was jogging along the trail, just full of energy and life and I can only imagine now the rush I will get when I cross that finish line in Denver after completing my first half marathon.
So no medal for this mountain but a huge goal accomplished with 2 of my favorite people. It was a joy to spend the day with Curtis before he heads out to climb a mountain of his own.
Many wish to start this journey, many quit before making it to the summit. Yes it is hard but we CAN do hard things. I challenge you to get out and do something hard for you. This is how we grow.
3 comments:
CONGRATULATIONS!! That's really awesome. And I TOTALLY get your comment about the climb being symbolic...I thought that very thought the last time I hauled my sorry A** up there!!
Did you see my name in the hut? It's there TWICE.
And a half marathon?? YOU GO, GIRL! You're amazing.
Fantastic Nat, as a mountain walker myself I know how hard it is and how painful, physically and emotionally it is, bet the view at the top was awesome, cant wait to see the pics of another one you do. Congrats again as 11,000 ft is high. Bet you hurt the next day though !!
Love that mountain :). It's one of my very favorite places. It makes me all sorts of happy inside to conquer it. I think a lot about mental barriers when I'm hiking or running - I would dare say that the last three years since I've been able to really take up both again have been very good for me that way. Applying the physical experience of overcoming barriers you didn't think possible to the emotional, mental and spiritual roadblocks in life makes so much sense to me.
Congrats to Curtis on the mission call!
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