Stop Means Go

This morning I discovered just how much I've gotten out of this week. My group's Friday morning hike was the infamous "Stop Sign"--a hike I've been hearing about ever since I arrived at Fitness Ridge. It doesn't involve climbing up ravines or trudging throguh miles of sand, or scaling sandstone ledges...in fact, the route is completely paved. It's not the toughest hike offered at Fitness Ridge, from what I've heard.

What makes Stop Sign different from all the other hikes is that it's 4.2 miles that start out as rolling hills and end with a huge vertical climb for the last mile...the road doesn't flatten out again until you reach the very, very end. Stop Sign is also different because the guides drop us off, and send us on our way (this is so they can drive the resort vans up and down the mountain to check on us and, if needed, give struggling bikers a ride.

Stop Sign has a time limit. You have to reach the top by 10:00 or so (our drop off at the bottom was 8:15) so the vans can get everyone back in time for the next class. Those who really want to push themselves can try to get back to the bottom before 10:30. In my group (the slow group : ) we all just wanted to get to the top.

The first mile and a half of the hike was exhilirating. I got into my stride and found a pace that was steady and sustainable but also fast enough to get my heart rate going. I felt great! And then, the hills started. Not the little dips and curves of the start of the trail. I'm talking steep, glutes-on-fire hills that forced me to catch my breath several times. But I kept on, passing the 2 mile marker (which seemed a lot further away than the previous markers!) 2.5 miles seemed like it would never come. The hill got steeper, and the fire in my quads burned hotter. I cranked up the volume on my iPod to try to drown out the self-doubt that was starting to creep in. Could I really do this after all? Wasn't this meant for people who are in better shape than me? How am I ever going to make it to the top.

And that is the real secret of Stop Sign. It's as much a mental challenge as a physical one. You're out there on your own, in the hot sun, looking at nothing but the incredibly steep incline of pavement under your feet, wondering how in the world you're going to make it.

That's how it was to me, until I started remebering the words of Nicole, one of our amazing trainers, during yesterday's treading class. "It's ok to be uncomfortable...that means you're not holding anything back." And,"Imagine the people you love are waiting at the finish line. Are you going to quit, or are you going to sprint to the end and make them proud? When you picture the people there cheering for you, are YOU one of them?"

I was in pain, hot and tired with a mile of hill to go, and as I played Nicole's words over and over in my mind, and realized not only COULD I do this, I WOULD do it, and finish strong. I stepped up my pace and stopped thinking about the pain. I started saying out loud, "I'm worth it! I am strong. I can do this!" I'm not going to lie--it was so hard. So painful. But all of that melted away when I saw the roof of the guard shack that marked the end of the road. I had made it!

Today was one of the hardest single physical challenges I have ever undertaken. Finding the strength inside myself to push through the self doubt and pain was the perfect culmination to my experience here. It reminded me that I needed to be here, and I'm ready ton leave the nest, so to speak. Of all my amazing experiences at the Biggest Loser Resort, I think Stop Sign is the one I'll conjure up when I need to be reminded that I can do ANYTHING I set my mind to.