Celebrating Hard Times
This past Saturday, September 25th was the 10th anniversary of my first ever mountain bike race. It's an annual event that draws 800 competitors (registration sells out in about 5 minutes) to mountain bike 50 miles through the woods and mountains of Vermont. There is also a running race that is part of it...the 50km (about 31 miles) and the 50 Mile. This is always a tough race and one that many people sign up for to challenge their physical and mental toughness. Me? I thought it would be "fun".....
Never having raced a mountain bike and still considered a beginner on the trails, fun was the farthest thing from my mind that day. I won't bore you with all the details but I'll tell you it took me just over 11 hours to complete. Hurricane Irene knocked down tons of trees, re-routed some rivers and streams, and this course took a real beating. I would also say my body and mind took quite the beating.
As much as this day was one of the most demanding days of my life, I look back on it often to remind myself that I can do hard things. Once I was out there, the only way to finish was to finish. I laughed quite a bit out there. I cried quite a bit out there, I won't lie. I swore quite a bit out there. I'm pretty sure I also said I would never ride my bike again a few times. And it is on video, me coming down the mountain saying I'm never going to do this race again.
So why did I sign up? And how did I finish? Because of my community. I watched my husband and some friends complete the race in 2010 and the atmosphere was amazing! It was grueling for everyone, but when you find your community, whether you know anyone at the start or not, you will stick with things much easier. The community of riders that saw me out there struggling that day kept me going...even though I know some of them didn't think I was going to make it. The community of people who didn't know me and cheered me on down the mountain towards the finish line made me smile when I just wanted to cry.
I say this for a couple reasons:
We launched communities in our online platform two weeks which I’m pumped about. It is a community that allows you to be part of something where you matter. You can learn from others and others will learn from you.
Not everything is easy, even if you sign up and pay money to do it.
Celebrating the struggles helps remind you that everything isn't supposed to be easy, but you can still do the work to finish.
Whether you decide to attempt something else again or not, you can always learn from past experiences. Sharing ALL of this with a community you trust, that also trusts you, evokes trust within yourself. To tackle the hard things with support. I’m thankful for the community of people who helped me finish my first ever mountain bike race. And I’m thankful for the opportunity to pay it forward. I invite you to join our online wellness community! Share it with your friends. And stay tuned for all the goodness that’s coming…
Our Monthly Membership is our online wellness community with access to loads of healthy information. We just launched communities which is our private group chat. I encourage you to check it out NOW for only $49/month. In January of 2022, the Monthly Membership is changing it’s name to Team Bod Squad (I really can’t wait). With all the extras coming (not just the name) with the change, the price will also be changing, but not for those who sign up now! There’s no commitment so you can cancel anytime. Lock in the current price for as long as you want. If you have questions, send us a note. Hope to see you there!