Once upon a time there was a young girl who loved riding her bike, running around the neighborhood with her friends, and playing softball. She wasn’t the strongest rider, fastest runner, or best hitter (she struck out at the plate more than most of her teammates). While she felt discouragement along the way, she kept moving forward thanks to one voice. The voice inside that kept reminding her that she was capable of more and could do better regardless of what society was telling her. To her, it wasn’t about being number one but being the best and strongest version of herself.
Today I’m going share my personal story of how I overcame self-doubt to eventually climb a 14,000 foot mountain in one day, ride 50 miles on a new-to-me bike when the farthest I’d rode was 40 miles up to that point, and complete one of the most dangerous hiking trails in the world on my first backpacking trip. Even if climbing mountains and riding dozens of miles isn’t a goal of yours, keep reading. If your goal is creating an exercise routine that helps you build lean muscle mass when you’ve never had tone arms and legs before or feel your best in your 40’s and beyond, this article is for you.
There’s a stigma that women are delicate humans that can lift weights, but super light weights. Obviously, it’s not like Gone with The Wind where the women are sent upstairs in the afternoon to take a nap while the men drink and solve the world’s problems. While more women these days are hitting the gym and lifting weights they never thought they’d be able to, there’s still an underlying belief that holds women back from pushing their physical limits.
Here’s the thing about your body: it’s capable of so much more than you think. I’m living proof of this.
One of my best and most challenging characteristics is stubbornness. Often times it drives my hubby crazy while other times it’s the driving force inside of me to push my comfort zone during a workout out or a challenging hill climb. Channeling my stubbornness when I’m on the verge of giving up is usually what gets me over the hill.
As I mentioned earlier, I played softball as a kid and absolutely loved it. The camaraderie with the girls on my team was something I craved as a shy kid who wanted to be social. I remember feeling a little intimidated by the girls on the team who were the star players. One of the girls was actually one of my best friends with whom I had countless sleepovers with at this time. I really wanted to be as good as them and would sometimes go down the rabbit hole of comparing myself to them which led to not feeling good enough. The thing is, I knew I had my own unique talents but I didn’t know how to express them at this time.
I ended up getting a trophy one season for Most Improved Player. This was a huge confidence boost because it proved to me that my focused efforts of mastering my softball skills paid off. I’ve always been a hands-on and visual learner so I paid close attention to how my teammates threw the ball, caught the ball, and swung the bat. Each day at practice I would implement new skills that I learned and kept practicing them until I felt my confidence surge. While I didn’t make the softball team in high school, my experience playing in elementary and middle school made a lasting impression on me that I could do almost anything physically.
So, fast forward to 2016. My now hubby and I were planning a vacation to one the Hawaiian islands. He had the crazy idea to go backpacking on the Napali Coast on the island of Kauai. My idea of a vacation is relaxing, eating local cuisine, sleeping in, and hitting the trails or the gym to keep my exercise routine going (if it’s possible). He showed me photos online of the Kalalau Trail and it was so beautiful. So, I agreed. I mean how often do you have an opportunity to see firsthand island scenery that can only be seen up close on a hike or boat ride along the coast. This was a rare opportunity and I wanted to take advantage of it.
We bought backpacking gear (I didn’t have much since I’d only been on day hikes), checked our luggage, and headed across the Pacific ocean towards our first multi-day hike together. Once we arrived at the hotel to spend a few days relaxing, we learned the trail we were about to hike was one of the most dangerous in the world. I thought, okay how hard can it be at sea level. Then we learned the island was getting an unusually heavy amount of rain for June. This stirred up a lot of anxiety because we had about 7 or 8 streams to cross to get to the beach and then back to civilization. I didn’t sleep great the night before and questioned my ability to hike this trail and come back alive.
The first day was successful and exhausting at the same time. At around mile 7 there’s a section of the trail called Crawler’s Ledge. This is about a two foot wide trail up against a rock wall on one side and a 400 foot cliff on the other. One misstep and you end up in ocean. I was not expecting this and Scot intentionally did not tell me about it before hand. He thought I would be too scared to do it and he was probably right. He knew I was fully capable of doing it if I just did it and didn’t think about it too much. He was right again. By the way, don’t tell my husband I said he was right. I don’t want to set a precedent (SMILE).
We made it to the beach, set up camp, dipped our feet in the ocean, and ate dinner. I felt good about myself and how I pushed myself not just physically, but mentally as well. It was a difficult trail with all the ups and downs and stream crossings.
The next day we started our trek to the other campsite we passed on the way to the beach. Crawler’s Ledge was a little more sketchy on the way back because it was super windy. Holding on the rock wall while going around corners with a pack on your back isn’t the easiest (or safest) thing to do. We helped each other stay calm on the short stretch by reminding ourselves that we did it once and we could do it again.
We made it to camp in the afternoon so we had time to relax and unwind after a few days of strenuous movement. Everything was going smoothly until it started raining. The streams I mentioned earlier? Yeah, those were filling up rapidly with every drop of rain throughout the night. I remember having a lot of anxiety that night about crossing the streams safely. I’m talking crying and shaking. Serious anxiety.
The rain eventually stopped and I actually got some sleep. We woke up to a stream so swollen from the rainfall that it took us about 45 minutes to figure out how to cross it safely. This was the first of probably 4 or 5 streams that we need to cross to get of the trail.
After crossing, I felt a wave of relief and confidence that we were going to get of the trail safely. I was very determined to get off the trail and catch our flight the next day to Maui to relax at a 5-start resort for the rest of our trip. We kept hiking and crossing every stream with caution when needed. When we arrived at the last stream, the water was up to my chest. The rule of thumb is to never cross a stream if the water is above your knees. I was throwing this rule out the window. My stubbornness kicked into high gear and I was ready to get off the trail.
Scot was really nervous about me crossing, which I get. One swift undercurrent and I would be carried out to the ocean. I was confident we would both make it across because there were a few people on the other side of the stream pulling people across and one of them was park ranger.
So, without thinking about it, I nudged Scot forward into the water holding on to his pack. After a few steps, we came across a boulder underwater that we were able to step onto to give us some height above the water. We grabbed onto the arms of the people on the other side of the stream and put our feet down on solid ground. We made it. With wave of relief, I felt tears well up in my eyes and started to cry. Scot said, “We don’t have time to get emotional. We still have two more miles to get off the trail.” I understood where he was coming from. We were exhausted and ready to be done with our Napali Coast adventure.
We powered through the last few miles (thankfully it was a super easy hike to the end), caught a ride from another hiker into Hanalei, and savored a delicious cup of cold brew coffee with macadamia nut ice cream. It was a great way celebrate our accomplishment of pushing our comfort zones.
Our Kalalau Trail adventure was the catalyst for pushing my comfort zone physically for future adventures. I’ve hiked Mount Whitney in one day. It’s 22 miles round trip with about 6,000 feet in elevation gain. Not a walk in the park. As we navigated the 99 switchbacks (yes, there’s actually 99-ish), I kept telling myself I could do it even when my muscles were feeling fatigued. I pushed through and experienced the view from the highest point in the lower 48 states. There are no words to describe the feeling of being up that high.
Alongside our hiking adventures, we’ve been on several bike rides that definitely pushed me to the limit. While I don’t push my comfort zone to this extent on a weekly basis, it has inspired and motivated me to increase my weight in the gym, do one more rep, or do a new movement that takes more coordination than I think I have in me.
All my hiking and biking adventures have taught me that my body is way more capable than I give it credit for. Your body is the only one you’re given and it can take on adventures you’ve never thought possible when you build lifestyle habits around whole food nutrition, frequent movement and strength training, and lots of recovery. Every single daily habit gets you ready for the next level.