When it’s Incomprehensible, Break it into Pieces

It. Your mountain. The one you want to climb.

A mountain can be anything. It symbolizes the big goal you want to achieve, the giant thing you want to do. The thing that causes excitement and fear to churn in your belly. The thing that your mind tells you you can’t do.

But you can.

This story is about an actual mountain.

Our first full day in Kitzbuhel, we embarked on a hike to a peak. It usually starts the way this journey did. When we arrived the day before, we found a spot for lunch on a patio. As I sipped a beer and watched a man with his guitar and his dog serenade from across the cobbled main street, my husband says, “we should go up there.” (Or something to that effect). He pointed. I looked up. There it was, a peak with some sort of cross on top.

The next morning, we embarked on the climb. I could see the peak from the valley floor. We started the trek. The time ticked by. We climbed, climbed, and climbed some more.

As I watched the meters of ascent accumulating on my watch, I wondered how high this thing was. After reaching 1000 meters of ascent, I thought surely this thing can’t go on much longer.

Overall, I was having a good day. It seemed my body was getting somewhat used to climbing and hiking most days. When we reached a cable car station, my mind was tested. I looked up at the switchbacks snaking their way up the side of the mountain to the next station and to the peak that we were after.

As I continued, I felt my mind waiver. I can’t do this. The panic laced words shimmered in my mind. I don’t like those words, but sometimes they present themselves.

Another look up the daunting climb and I was shot back to the first time I saw Alpe d’Huez hovering over me as I clung to the bike that was supposed to take me to the top. That was the day I truly learned to break the most incomprehensible thing into digestible pieces. It was a survival mechanism. It got me up that climb.

In this moment now, I didn’t want to dwell on thoughts of I can’t.

I chose to apply my strategy from the day of Alpe d’Huez. I focused on the next switchback, and nothing else. I told myself that the rest of the climb didn’t matter in this moment. The only thing that mattered was this switchback. This footstep. This moment.

That’s the whole point of this, really. Be in that moment with nature, on the mountain, taking the next step.

When you truly focus on the next step, your being sinks into that moment. Next thing you know, you’ve taken a bunch of steps.

As I made it to the last couple of switchbacks, I realized I was completely in. There was no turning back and I felt present.

Getting to the top felt real good. There’s nothing like making it to the top of your mountain and knowing that you did it, one step at a time.

By the end of the day, I’d climbed 1700 m. That felt pretty good. I’m so happy I simply took the next step.

As I re-read this post now, preparing to post it, I’m a good week or so ahead of my hiking adventure as I got a little behind in writing. I realize that this has become a common theme on this hiking trip, and I’m learning more and more about reframing things to set myself up for success and reach my goals. More in that soon.

What’s the mountain you want to conquer?

June 12, 2023 0

Mountain Love in Leogang

The very second we reached the top of the stairs on the train platform, and I scanned the horizon, my heart sang.

We’d arrived in Leogang, Austria. After two weeks in big cities, and years of time since we’d been in the European mountains, every molecule of my being felt right. There were mountains in front of me, behind me, and in every direction. The peace of a small town rose up from the valley below, filling every bit of space. The only sounds were of birds chirping and water trickling.

This space is one of the most amazing for my being.

It’s important that we all find the space that fills us with calm, gratitude, and love. A small town in the middle of the mountains is one of those spaces for me. The only thing that tops it is the feeling on top of the mountain. But, we’ll get to that.

We leisurely made the trek down a hill through lush forest beside a stream and into the heart of the town. With every step, my heart fell in love all over again. The feel of a small, European mountain village is like no other. It consumed me with every breath I took in synch with that of the forest and the surrounding mountains.

We spent a week nestled in this cozy town. We climbed by foot every day up to peaks and across ridges. On our first day of hiking, I was thrilled with how well my mind and my body responded. The second day I was a bit challenged as it went on longer than planned, but it was a good exercise in tapping into the positive space I am trying to train my mind to be in, no matter what. The third day, I felt a natural flow. The fourth day, we did a time trial up the same mountain we climbed on the first day of hiking, and I was surprised to shave off a good 20 minutes. That bionic Julie came out for a bit. On the fifth day, I felt the accumulation and had to accept a recovery day. We did the right things. We did a shorter, slower trek with a couple steep climbs to stretch the legs. We took some rest time. On the last day of hiking, we did a lovely climb straight up on the other side from where we’d been exploring. We found a really nice pace and both eased into a nautral flow. That good ‘ole physical, mental, spiritual flow came back, reminding me of my first ascents up mountains on a bike.

I was sad to leave Leogang, but I felt ready. We’d done all the major hikes. We’d been to several wonderful mountain huts for beer and lunch with a view. We’d both reconnected with our inner mountain beings, and I’d found a flow for writing about my journey that I hadn’t tapped into for a while.

Did I have moments of doubt? Of course. Did my mind slip into a negative space? Absolutely. But not for long. I’m human. I’ll never be perfect, not that I know what that means anyway. But, I’ve continued to build my toolbox of strategies and am capable of identifying when I am going to a place I don’t want to be in and correcting it.

We are all working on things. No matter what it is, persistence and practice does pay off.

No matter what it is…Yes. You. CAN.

June 1, 2023 0

Brussels by Foot

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a proper adventure. You might be familiar with Just a Girl and Her Bike. This time, it’s Just a Girl and Her Boots.

Yes, that’s right. Back pack loaded and hiking boots laced up, I was more than ready to see new parts of the world.

This trek started with a 2 week stretch through some big cities. The best way to really see a big city is by hiking through the parks. I was utterly surprised and delighted with the immense green space in Brugges, Munich, and Prague. But, we’ll get to that.

Let’s start with Brussels. We arrived in the afternoon and hit the ground running. Putting on your walking shoes and getting in some steps right off the bat is the best way to reinvigorate yourself after a long journey and to keep yourself awake and not suffer long effects of jet lag. Just lace up those shoes and go!

We made a proper first stop at Moeder Lambic for some outrageous beer. I gravitated to the lambic style that they had on tap (this doesn’t happen at home). I replenished with moules & frites. The lover of creepy things on me came out when we grabbed a night cap at a high-end beer place that used to be a theater and is filled with puppets!

Our second day gave us a full day to hike and see things. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to walk through the forest areas that we thought we could. When it doesn’t go your way, find another one. We turned the day into a big city tour and covered a lot of ground.

We started off with a visit to a Gothic cathedral. The style is stunning, inside and out. There’s something sureal about looking up at windows, arches, and structures riddled with intricacy and that must have taken a long time to create.

We then fuelled up with a proper local breakfast of Croque Madame and a delicious beer.

We hiked all through the city and up a hill to a science center. Keeping a good pace and meandering off the main route to cover the occasional little bit of forest is a sure way to get your body and your mind feeling great after a long day of travelling. I highly recommend setting at least a guideline for your route with a target pace and distance. It’s the key to feeling great from the beginning of the trip.

After our invigorating walk, we kept the steps going. We made two stops at the famous Delirium brewery. It’s an entire street of separate places, all serving up fresh pints!

The day was getting long, and it took us a bit, but we found an amazing spot for dinner, down in a cave like place. This is when patience paid off. I was famished. The day was getting long. But when we walked into this place, I knew I needed to tap into my zen. When a plate of rabbit slow cooked in lambic beer was set down in front of me, I was in heaven. When it gets long, take a deep breathe a d regroup. Travelling by foot can be amazing if you can tap into your patience and your calm energy.

Here’s my route uploaded to Strava. Follow me there to see all the hike and the details of each.

May 24, 2023 1

Doing What’s Important

Life. It gets busy sometimes. It gets overwhelming sometimes. We all experience moments when there doesn’t seem to be a way to wade through the clutter and do what we know we need.

I suggest a simple approach. 1. Take a deep breath. 2. Identify what you need. 3. Do it.

Even one hour. Just take it and do it.

Today, I stole a good hour and a half and had the most amazing little jaunt with my beloved bike. Together we climbed some good hills, coasted through some forest, and even stopped to chat with a deer.

Don’t forget to breathe and give yourself the gift of time to do what you love. You deserve it.

August 4, 2021 0