The Rock Wall

The Holidays are over, routine has been restored. And... PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE! Yes my friends, I have made progress in my goals, and its time you all know about the Rock Wall.

You see, I was beginning to get discouraged as the Holidays proved difficult to run or write in, and then regular life kicked in and again I found excuses crowding out the time I should have taken to get my butt out the door. And then, last Friday night, I climbed a rock wall. Stephen and I went on a double date with my best friend and her husband (who just happen to be my aunt and uncle). After eating dinner at Los Hermanos (our server was from Norway! Mexican food, Norwegian waitress. Interesting mix), we all went over to the Quarry, the indoor rock climbing place in Provo. After doing a few climbs we were wrapping up and I decided that I wanted to do one more climb.

At this point my muscles were already screaming at me, my harness (which was a really weird harness) was digging into me in the most uncomfortable places and yet I wanted to attempt to scale a wall with an overhang. Overly ambitious? Yes. Yes it was. I started climbing. About 1/3 up the wall I got stuck. I heard Stephen yell from beneath me, "You've got this babe!" and I said to myself, "Oh. Right. Of course I've got this" and I suddenly found myself climbing higher. And then I hit the overhang.

My whole body groaned as I attempted to hoist myself up over that stupid overhang. When I wasn't able to get over it the first few tries, I tried to find a way around it, with no luck. Sweat streaming down my face, hands clammy, with chalk doing little to no good, I almost called it quits. And then, again, came that disgustingly happy, encouraging voice from below, "Come on! You can do this!" And I thought, "I married a delusional man. There is no way I can do this. " But then he yelled again, "You are so close! You can do it!" and, with some cursing and grunts and the constant "I can do this! I can do this! At least Stephen thinks I can do this and if he thinks I can, I know I can..." running through my mind. That over hang was conquered.  But I still had a few feet to go, and my arms were shaking and my legs felt dead beneath me.

"You are so close! You can do this babe!" I love my husband. His encouraging words can make me move mountains. Or at least climb them. But at this point, something in my mind was telling me "Your body can't do this. Its been pushed too far as it is. You got pretty close. Go ahead, come on down." But I knew, I knew, that Stephen thought I could do it. And, for some crazy reason, I believed him. And, with much heaving, groaning and reaching into the depths of my own stubbornness, I reached the top.

The next day I decided it was high time that really started running. With the elation of the night before, I dressed in the warmest running clothes I had, and then put on another layer. And out the door I went. With Stephen's "I know you can do this!" still ringing in my ears, I ran 2/3rds of a mile, without stopping, without any issues, and I probably could have kept going if I hadn't stopped in shock because I was still running. You see, I have been able to run about 1/5th of a mile so far without getting winded. That is about 2 minutes. I ran for 8.5 minutes straight, and still felt great when I stopped. Incredible. A miracle. And all because, my husband told me I could. And guess what? I kept on running once I got over the shock of my own accomplishment. Of those 2 miles, I ran 1.5!

I have learned some valuable lessons from this. 1) Having a good support team is vital to accomplishing goals. My husband is the most amazing, most valuable person on my support team and in my life. And he deserves the same kind of undying belief in his abilities that he has for mine. 2) I CAN DO THIS! I really am capable of many things, but I keep putting up this mental wall that I can't climb. Well, until now. Now, I know that the wall isn't only climbable, but its pretty darn fun to get to the top. I can do anything. 3) Finishing things feels so good! Perfectionism has been stopping me from obtaining goals because I am afraid I won't do it right or as well as somebody else. No more. I am allowed to mess up, make mistakes, run to the beat of my own drum and I don't have to apologize for it.

So, here is the goal. Operation Smile is hosting a 5K to raise funds for the amazing work they do. It is on March 26th. And I am running it. Anyone want to come with me? Trust me You Can Do This! (and so can I!)