Lessons from the mountain

It’s been two weeks since I completed 29029 Everesting, my very first endurance event at the age of 50 and I am still riding the high from this amazing experience. As I continue to reflect on this journey, I wanted to share my learnings from the mountain as a way to inspire you to get outside of your comfort zone, scare your soul and be the best version of you right now!

When I signed up for 29029 Everesting I didn’t entirely know what I would go through mentally and physically over the 8+ month journey. If it weren’t for my fabulous co-host and friend, Marnie, I honestly don’t believe I would have pulled the trigger and I would not have been as prepared mentally and physically to succeed with this challenge without her support and encouragement.

So what did this event in Mont-Tremblant entail? I hiked 15 accents up the mountain, which amounted to 25.5 miles and 29,029 vertical feet, the equivalent of hiking Mount Everest, in less than 33 hours (you have 36 hours to earn the coveted red hat). Aside from the short break we took at night to nap, shower and refuel, we were on the mountain with roughly 250 other athletes.

So why did I sign up for this crazy endurance event? My inner athlete was telling me to do it. Going back to when I was a young girl I’ve had a calling to become an athlete, an inner knowing that I could achieve more than what I was currently capable of doing on the field. However, until now, athlete was not a word I used to describe myself. Growing up I received messages, both directly and indirectly, from a variety of adults, including coaches and gym teachers, that I was not an athlete and that I wasn’t good enough for the team (softball, soccer, etc). While I’m sure these adults didn’t intend for their words to penetrate deep into my soul, they did have a profound impact on my self-worth and how I’ve shown up in this world, until now.

For the past 30+ years I have enjoyed regular exercise and am always up for trying new classes and activities, including learning tennis in my 40’s and becoming a certified yoga instructor during the pandemic. Over the past decade I became exposed to the mountains and slowly started spending more time in nature, which was not something I did in my younger years. Whenever I am asked to envision my happy place, that spot where I feel the most peace and joy, I always visualize being in the mountains with the warm sun on my face and the sound of water nearby.

Over the past 10-15 years I started to realize that maybe I was stronger and faster than I ever believed. I began receiving comments from people about my strength, speed, and flexibility. People made comments assuming that I must have been an athlete in high school, to which I would quickly reply “No!”.

When I’ve talked with adults who excitedly share their athletic accomplishments with me, I have always felt a pang of jealousy and feeling that I am “less than”, contributing to my low self-worth. What I’ve come to realize, through the therapy and other inner child work I’ve done, is that my emotional reaction and admiration for others with athletic accomplishments was simply showing me, my own, untapped potential. All I needed was to find a sport that I enjoyed and shift my mindset to make it happen.

In addition to proving to myself that I am an athlete and can do hard things, I sought out this experience to show my three children that you can accomplish your innermost desires with hard work, determination, a positive mindset and grit at any age.

Fast forward to early 2023 when my podcast co-host and I were introduced through a mutual friend to the co-founder of 29029 Everesting. After learning about this unique endurance event when we interviewed Marc Hodulich on The Art of Living Well Podcast® that I co-host, I was immediately intrigued and drawn to this endurance event while being scared and intimidated at the same time.

I’ve always enjoyed hiking and while I hadn’t completed any super long hikes, I knew that this was something I would enjoy and could accomplish in a community environment. When the time came to sign up, both Marnie and I were excited and nervous to embark on this journey. Over the course of the next several months I began training both my body for the physical endeavor of hiking 29K vertical feet over 36 hours and also my mind. I would regularly visualize myself walking the red carpet and receiving my red hat, usually with tears of joy pouring down my face.

During the 5 months of dedicated training, I experienced several dreams where I showed up to the event without the right gear and without enough time to purchase what I needed on site. This happened many times, including just 2 weeks out from the big event. It was then that I decided to take my own advice and start saying affirmations in my bathroom mirror every day. I used post-it notes to create affirmations such as “I have all of the gear I need to Everest and earn my red hat.” I believe that our thoughts create our reality and by stating these affirmations each day I was setting my mind up for success. My body was physically ready but my mind needed some fine tuning.

While I enjoyed the 20 week training program, including the weekly plan to follow and a community to hold me accountable, it wasn’t without its setbacks. At the end of July my right knee started bothering me and after a few days I decided to see a specialist as I didn’t want an injury to prevent me from accomplishing my goal to Everest. He advised me that hiking at my local ski “hill”, which required me to climb up as well as down seven times to hit just 1,100 vertical feet, was putting too much weight on my knee with each descent. After taking a few days off to rest, I flexed my training plan and did nearly all of my incline work on a treadmill. A few weeks later I experienced what I believe was tendinitis near my calf/tibia as well as foot pain and again had to adjust my strength training and incline work and incorporate more rest days.

In hindsight I probably over exerted myself during a 10 hour training day by spending most of it walking at 15% grade on a treadmill (not what the training plan called for). I was so determined to compensate for living in a flat environment and not being able to hike in the mountains this summer, that I really pushed myself for these longer workouts. At this point I was less than three weeks out from the big event and the need to take a rest and listen to my body dampened my mood and outlook. It was hard to stay upbeat and positive that I would recover, but as I focused on recovery and slowing down my workouts for a few days I soon felt improvement. I had to believe that the training I had done to date would get me my red hat and that taking a break from the intense workouts was what my body needed.

When the big day was finally here to leave for our trip I had many emotions flooding over me including excitement, nervousness and definitely some anxiety. Marnie and I arrived the night before the official program kicked off and were blown away by the beauty of this French/European inspired mountain town. We were immediately immersed into the amazing community that 29029 has built from the moment we arrived at our hotel to the people we met the first night at dinner and everyone on the mountain. I was blown away by the feeling that I was surrounded by so many like minded people. Individuals from across the country and overseas who signed up for a challenge to scare their soul (in the words of coach Chris Hauth) and prove to themselves that they can do hard things. There wasn’t a person I met who was only out for themselves or wasn’t willing to slow down to offer advice or moral support for someone in need. I am beyond thankful for the coaches who walked with me during various parts of the hikes and offered their advice about our strategy in those moments when we doubted our plan.

I honestly loved every minute of this journey. From the coaching calls, grueling workouts, buying gear and more new gear, trying new fuel products, adjusting my nutrition, the anticipation of each week’s training plan and every climb up the mountain. Yes, there were some accents where my body was sore, I was feeling nauseous and my digestion was definitely off, but I persevered. I ate foods that I haven’t had in years and listened to my body when it no longer wanted bananas and peanut butter and I started to crave salty crunchy fuel like chips, pretzels and french fries (the best).

Here are my biggest learnings and insights from this experience:

Listen to your inner voice, that voice in your gut, that’s telling you what your soul desires, and then go do it even if it scares you.
Show up in your day-to-day life how I observed and experienced fellow participants on the mountain: stop to smell the roses, be present with others, be curious when meeting new people and listen with an open mind, stop to help others even when you’re in a hurry.
Be the best version of yourself in those areas of your life that are important to you.
Surround yourself with like-minded people and a community who will lift you up.
Put effort and soul into everything you do; add one thing that scares your soul to your calendar this month.
Ask yourself: “who can I be for others adversity?”
Attack life with conviction.
Remember that your attitude for life and the qualities your display every day are not learned skills but can be found within all of us.
In the words of Jesse Itzler (our surprise guest speaker), “All we will have left is our legacy. The stories we pass on. Build a story that you’re proud of for yourself and for your kids .”
In the words of Marc Hodulich “Strive for a fit body, calm mind and a house full of love.”
Consider who in your life can help you achieve your innermost desires? There is a saying that the five people you surround yourself with is who you will become and I firmly believe this to be true. Seek out others in your community or drop me a note to help guide you on your journey.
I could not have accomplished this feat without the support and guidance from many people including: Marnie, the fabulous group of 29029 coaches (Brent, Emilee and Dawn to name a few), friends who hiked with me during my training (you know who you are) and of course my family.