The Incline: The End of My Journey

In case you didn't already know, I am done losing weight. I am exactly where I want to be and so happy with the way I look. I am of course keeping a healthy diet (basically the same as when I was losing weight, but I added about 200 more calories daily) and I am working out and trying to tone up. However, getting to where I am today was a challenge. There were bumps in the road and plateaus, but with patience and perseverance I eventually made it.

A few weeks ago I took a trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to visit my best friend, Reilly. Reilly lives a very active life and runs cross country at Saint Mary's College in Indiana. Every week she takes a trip to Manitou Springs, Colorado where she goes up something called "The Manitou Incline". Before going on the trip she had told me that we would be doing the incline, which scared me because I felt unprepared.

So about the incline. It's a 1000 ft set of stairs up a mountain (a little over a mile long). It's really hard to explain so the best I can do is show some pictures.

 Picture of mountain from distance (line=incline)

                                                               Picture on the incline                      

So after a few fun days in Colorado, Sunday morning was when we were going to go up this scary- mountain-step-thing. Reilly had prepared me by telling me it's about your mind set and pacing yourself, and boy was she right. Reilly can do this in 30 minutes or so, she's kind of a big deal. For some people this can take a few hours... and my goal was to finish within one hour. We got started and Reilly did not wait for me, she charged ahead, and before I knew it she was out of sight, but this wouldn't stop me. I waited till about 15 minutes in to take my first break and after that I told myself I would walk 30 steps and then take a 10 second break, but eventually it got harder to do. Just like when I was losing weight, I really had to push myself at every step. I would have to remind myself that I could do it and that the end was near, and it looked amazing. I kept telling myself how proud I was of what I had done on the incline and with my life. I wasn't focused on the time, I was just focused on getting to the top, because when I got there I knew I would feel great. 

I hit a bump in the road on the incline at the "fake end" where it looks like you're done but you still have a good amount of steps left. This is where I needed my biggest push, and this is comparable to the moment in your weight loss process when you need to lose the final ten pounds but your body is plateauing. Like how I handled the plateau in weight loss, I told myself at the "fake end" to push harder. I pushed and pushed and pushed. When I got closer to the top I saw Reilly. I wanted to cry as I took the final few steps because I had never been more proud of myself. I didn't cry though, I got to the top, hugged Reilly, looked down at what I just did, and I sat down on a rock on what felt like the top of the world (literally and figuratively I felt like I was on top of the world). I finished in 54 minutes. 

(Left: Reilly, Right: Me, at the top of the incline)

The experience was almost spiritual. I had this feeling the whole time that I was finally in control of my body. Before weight loss, I had no will power, no self control, and my mind couldn't regulate my body. But high in the sky, on the incline, my mind was in control. It pushed me to go further and it kept me strong. I hope that you all can have this same feeling at the end of your journey, whenever you get there. Push yourself everyday and keep yourself motivated. Change your mind, so that you can change your body.