Sara in Colorado: Day 4

Day 4 (July 9th) was rock climbing day.  For those of you who know me you know I have a relatively intense fear of heights yet every year I challenge myself to confront this fear head on and attempt either rock climbing or a high ropes course or both.  This year my good friend Matt who I've known since approximately 1999 was the rock climbing instructor along with his climbing buddy Nick and was assisted by another long time friend, James.

We were climbing on these beautiful red and orange toned rocks.  The boys had set up our ropes on two opposing walls and it was simply put, gorgeous.  Matt and Nick were great at explaining how to tie our own ropes to our harnesses and teaching us how to belay- that is, how to be the person making sure the climber doesn't fall if they slip while on the rock.

Before I knew it it was my turn.  I had my climbing shoes on, my harness, and my helmet; I was ready to go.  I looked at James, who was belaying me and stated, "on belay?"  He calmly replied, "belay on."  I continued our climbing communication, "climbing?" "Climb on" came the response and I was officially on the rock wall.  The thing about rock climbing is, as a spectator, you see all these cracks and ridges and holds for a climber's hands and feet but when you are right there, face to face with the wall it feels impossible.  But it's not.

I slowly began carefully placing my hands and feet on the wall while continually asking James to keep tension on my rope.  I was soon up a few feet and to my surprise felt extremely comfortable on the wall.  My muscles weren't tight, my hands weren't cramping, and my legs weren't shaking.  I hadn't started freaking out.  I was suddenly hit with this feeling that I really could make it!  I continued up until I hit an area of difficulty.

As I paused to assess my options I heard my friends yelling their encouragement and offering their suggestions.  I hoisted my leg up- using my long legs to their full advantage and surpassed the smooth section of rock before me.  I was within two feet or so of the top of the rope but I had moved several feet off to the side from it.  Not about to stop so close to my goal I edged my way, hugging the rock, to the area directly under the carabiners that were holding my ropes.  Another step or two up and BAM my hand reached up and slapped the carabiners!  I had made it.  Insisting upon proof, I had my friends snap a few pictures of me!  It was amazing, I was so comfortable on the rock that I was able to chill at the top enjoying the view and posing.

I'm sure you've all heard the saying... "What goes up, must come down."  After I reached the top, posed for my pictures, and enjoyed the view it was time to get back down!  I told James, my belayer, that I was ready and he reminded me to place my feet flat on the rock wall and to sit back.  This was probably the most nerve-wracking, but it was fun too and I was able to back myself all the way down to firm ground.

Phew, I was finally done.  Or so I thought.  The boys had other ideas for me... scary ideas... like walking backwards off of the side of a cliff.  (That is, repelling.)  I tried to avoid it, but feeling a bit enthusiastic after the best climb of my life I agreed to it.  

First, I had to scramble over a bunch of rocks to get to the top.  Then I hooked into a horizontal line as I edged along the cliff to the repelling station.  Lastly, I received my instructions on how to lower myself slowly to the ground.  After getting strapped in Nick told me I could start.  It was such a weird feeling to me to walk backwards towards the edge of this rock wall and start going backwards.  Once I was on the wall it wasn't nearly as scary since it was a lot like coming back down after climbing.  

And with that, my rock climbing experience for this summit was over.  I was so proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and really not freaking out!  There is a first for everything.

But what do you follow rock climbing with?  Other than a quick rest in my hotel room I followed it with.... A SQUARE DANCE!   Every summer we square dance at the Family Nature Summit and it is a great time!  I threw on my "country" outfit and headed out on the dance floor with my friends!

We partnered up and do-si-do'ed, promenaded, and generally had a great time.  It was actually a pretty decent workout as well.  If you ever get the chance, definitely go to a square dance.

As you can see Day 4 of my Colorado adventure was chock full of excitement... but there's so much more to come.  

Lazy Girl: In The Gym

So this lazy girl has been stepping up her game.  On Friday, since I had to be out of my apartment while it was shown by a realtor, I went to the gym for a run on the treadmill and a Zumba class.  I've been building my confidence on the treadmill experimenting with sprints and such for the past two weeks.  I've also been looking at lots of different training plans to increase speed and endurance.  Keeping both of those things in mind I decided to try to run for as long as possible at 6.5 which is a 9:14 pace.  Then after a few minutes at that I kicked it up to around 8.0 which is a 7:30 pace for a full minute and gradually took it back down every 5-10 seconds till I got back to 6.5.  I kept my eye on the clock and I hit the one mile mark after 8 minutes and 54 seconds!  This was by far my personal best.  I haven't been even under 10 minutes ever- at least to my knowledge.  This has given me another boost of confidence and I plan on working on running 2 miles in under 20 minutes as my next goal because I do know I'm a better sprinter than distance runner and I'd like to be decent at both.  I need more goals.  But for now I'm tracking myself on Nike+ and am "running" through New York City.

How do you stay motivated?

Feel Good News Out of Cleveland

A friend had this posted on Facebook, and it's a great feel good story around the holiday's.  A family in Lakewood, my hometown, has revealed that their wife/mother was the woman who donated her face to the first ever face transplant that took place at the Cleveland Clinic.  The article can be found on Cleveland.com here.

This article touched me for a number of reasons.  Growing up my family had a great family friend, J.R.  As a Type 1 diabetic he had his share of health problems, and he had three different transplants that allowed him to live a longer and easier life than if he hadn't.  He has since succumbed to his illness, but was always so appreciative of the people who donated their organs to him.  In the spring of 2008 my aunt died unexpectedly and as per her wishes she was an organ donor.  We will never meet the people who benefited from her donations, but I am sure that they are appreciative as well.  It's nice to read an article about a family who did get to meet the recipient and to again be reminded how much of a gift this can be for people.

I am proud to have the organ donor stamp on my license, have a living will that dictates what I want done should I find myself in a brain dead state, and have discussed it extensively with my family.  None of us have plans to leave this earth early or soon even, but as life is unpredictable it is important to think about these things. 

Have you considered becoming an organ donor?