Success or Failure?

I set out a few days ago to attempt an Everesting (Pick any hill, anywhere in the world and ride repeats of it in a single activity until you climb 29,029 feet – the equivalent height of Mt Everest. I did not succeed – this time. Mark my word, though, I will be back! This was one of my chosen personal challenges. It’s a challenge because it isn’t easy. This one, I found out, is freaking hard and I’ve got more work to do! I’ve given myself challenges before that took several attempts before I achieved them and so too it will be with this one.

As my daughter, “the girl” pointed out, I may not have conquered Everest, but I did climb the height of Mt. Whitney (the mountain in the photo), so I’ve now ridden the Continental US both horizontally and vertically! I’ll take that for now. Thanks to her always positive perspective, I’m reminded that success and failure are relative terms.

My many successes from the ride:

1. Elevation gained: 14,567 feet
2. Distance: 122.29 miles (another century in the books!)
3. Burned almost 9700 calories.
4. Rode 115 repeats of the same hill and did not get bored.
5. Kept my current expected pace of about 1000 feet/hour – just had too much unexpected down time.
6. Brought new awareness to the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry
7. Raised $1200.+ for the Comfort Dogs
8. Made some new friends
9. Provided a good connecting activity for Team Aaron Comfort Dog
10. Was able to keep my recording equipment charged.
11. Had lots of love and support from near and far.
12. Got a really cool custom jersey.

What I learned:

1. My husband is still THE BEST. He even earned a new title: SAG-E (Support and Gear- Elevated) for his always superior and unquestioning support. Who else would get up at 4:00 am to cook a hot breakfast and bring it to me at the base of the hill?
2. I can do this, I just need much more work on my quads/gluts and climbing speed. (More HIITs and weights, here I come).
3. When you injure your hip and foot in a crash on July 4, it might not be a good idea to commit to a major challenge two months later.
4. There is a lot of crap in the air that we don’t necessarily see! Check out what my headlight picked up. I didn’t notice any of it (except the biting bugs!)

    

My hats off with so much respect for all those who have successfully Everested!  I still hope to join you some day. 🙂

Song of the day:

Ride on!