A Brand-New Start!: I climbed up a mountain....almost!

Hey everyone!
The past few weeks have been incredible! I've been really busy, but it's been amazing.
On October 12th, I competed at CrossFit Tolerance in Johnston, RI for Barbells for Boobs. It was amazing. This was my first competition outside the comforts of my South Shore area. The only person that was familiar to me was my girl, Lenore. She is a complete bad ass, and did the competition while almost 8 months pregnant!! It was her first competition & she came in 2nd in her division. What a rockstar! I was so glad she was there. I ended up PRing my squat clean by 15lbs & shaving 18 seconds off of my previous "Grace" time! It was so great. We had an awesome time, and it was all for a great cause. Huge shout out to Justin & everyone at CFT- you guys have an amazing box & community- thanks so much for hosting & having us!!

So then came the O2X challenge. The event that I've been stressing over for the past few months. I had been freaking out over this pretty much the whole time after I signed up. I still don't know what possessed me to sign up for it, but I did, and now I had to follow through. My stress level was at an all time high on Friday- while driving up to NH. There was a crazy amount of traffic- like way more than I was expecting. Damn leaf peepers! Luckily, I had a car full of funny ladies to keep me company! A ride that should've take us about 3 hours, ended up taking us about 4-5ish hours! We were hangry and tired. Yes, hangry. When we FINALLY got to the condo we were staying in (Huge thanks to the Valles family for having us all weekend!!), we had a few minutes, then had to turn around & get back in the car to make it to the fire side chat on Loon! The only reason why I went to that chat was because MAT FRASER WAS THERE. Who is Mat Fraser? He's only the second fittest man in the world, and was competing in the same race that I was doing- hello! So awesome!

One of my goals for the challenge was to get a selfie with Mat Fraser. Of course I succeeded with this. He's my fourth favorite male athlete..haha. He was very down to earth, and nice....and little- but super strong! What an excellent opportunity to meet such an amazing athlete, and share the field with him for this competition.

Mat Fraser & I!!

My other goal for the challenge was to finish without sustaining a serious injury or dying on the mountain. Seems like it would be another easy take, right? Wrong. I obviously didn't die, and I didn't sustain injuries (physically) but I did sustain a pretty big blow to my ego. The start to the run was up part of a ski hill, down the same hill, on the pavement for a little bit, then on a trail. Starting out I was okay. It was a little slippery and my socks got wet almost instantly, but it was totally doable. Of course I was the last one, but I was fine with it. I knew I wasn't coming in first- this was a total personal challenge for me. It started out as a really nice hike. I can't believe I said that, but it was nice! I made it to this part in the challenge that was absolutely terrifying & it started to rain. I started out having to get myself over this tall pipe in the ground- done. Then after that pipe is where all hell broke loose. We were in this very narrow, steep part of the woods. Before I knew it, the other heats were gaining on us. I hate holding people up, so I tried my best to get out of the way for the other crazies that were running! It was so scary in there. There was peat moss- I didn't even know that was really found outside- I thought that it was just sold at craft stores!! There were so many rocks, trees, and leaves. My foot got caught in some peat moss, and I freaked out. All I had to do was simply lift my foot up. But me being the drama queen that I am, lost it and started crying. Like, why would I ever think that crying would get my foot out? LOL. Then I saw the sign that said "You have risen 250ft." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I could have sworn we were already more than half way. So then I cried again because we were less than a quarter of the way done. All the people from the other heats were flying by me, and I was getting discouraged. Why would I think that I would ever be able to finish this? I wasn't like any of these other people. I'm not limber and I have no idea how to maneuver the outdoors. We were almost at the top of this part of the mountain. There was this guy (Brent) at the top that just kept yelling, "Come on CrossFit girl!" He was so nice, but all I could think was please be on your way- I do not need anyone else waiting for me or looking at me- I was a hot crying mess! Below us there was a guy sitting on a rock, eating a snack (Greg). He looked like one of the guys that was in our group, so I started yelling for him....it wasn't that guy, so now I looked like a crazy for sure! I tried to focus myself back on the task at hand. I was going to take a step, and my foot got stuck again, this time in a little hole in between rocks. I cried again. I could see Brent at the top, and now Greg was beside me. I could see the top, and it looked flat. All I had to do was get up there. Brent grabbed my hand, and helped me up over the last big rock. I was so happy to be on flat ground, so what do you do when you're happy? You cry! haha. We stopped to take a breather, and of course our new friends Greg and Brent stayed with us. I kept trying to tell them to go, that we were fine, and they just said no- they wanted to hang out with us. Greg gave us some energy chews- they could've been poison, and I would have still taken them!
We started again and came to the next hill. It was a ski hill. An actual ski hill...on Loon mountain. I looked up (not the best idea) and I just didn't know what to do. It was so high and the signs for the challenge seemed so far away. I would move a few steps, and then have to stop and catch my breath. This went on until we got about half way up the hill. I looked up again, and saw that the trail ended way further up than I thought originally. At that moment I completely lost it. I had a panic attack. I've never felt this way before. My heart was beating so fast, my breathing was short, and I couldn't catch my breath. I was lucky enough to have an EMT, a nurse, and a paramedic in my group. They tried to get me to calm down, but to no avail. Brent gave me some pedialyte that he had in his camelback. He told me it would replenish the electrolytes- once again, could've been poison haha. Once everyone realized that my breathing wasn't getting any better, Brent and Greg took off to find help. After what seemed like an hour, a medic on a four wheeler came to our location. Of course I was so embarrassed. Andrew the medic told me I was done for the day, and that they were going to get me back to base camp- all I had to do was make it up to where the four wheeler was parked. The only problem was that the four wheeler was so far away! We made it up there- it took a while, but we made it there. Once I got up there, I had to wait for a Gator to come and get me. What's a gator you ask? It's one of those carts that football or baseball players get carted off in when they get injured during a game. I was even more embarrassed than I was before. The ride down to the bottom of the mountain was more terrifying than anything I experienced on that mountain. I closed my eyes the whole time- I didn't want to know anything about this ride-I just wanted to get down without being in an accident! At the bottom of the mountain, after the 25 minute gator ride, there was an ambulance waiting- could things get any more embarrassing??! I was feeling better & didn't want any care. So the ambulance just gave me a ride back to base camp. I broke my 28 year streak of never being in an ambulance that day! When I got back to base camp, the first person I saw was Phil. He came right down the hill and gave me a big hug. It was just what I needed after that ordeal. He told me everyone was waiting for me & to come in when I was ready. I pulled myself together, and made my way inside- I would have to face my fellow bare covers sooner or later. When I walked in the whole group clapped and got up to hug me. Of course I cried again. The love and support coming from that group was amazing. These people are the most amazing group of people that I have the pleasure of calling my friends. It's great. They are great.

Sadie, Me, Christy, and Toni. Love these ladies! <3

I have to give a huge, huge thank you to the ladies that stayed by my side the entire time I was on that mountain. Christy, Sadie, & Toni. You ladies literally pushed me up that mountain. Every time I wanted to quit- you told me that I was fine. You let me cry, you made me laugh, you gave me a hand to hold, a shoulder to grab on to, and all the love and support in the world. I would have never got to my ending point without you three. I am eternally grateful for everything you did for me that day. I will never forget that. Much love <3.

When all was said and done, I made it up about 644ft, a little over half way through the full course. I should be proud of that, seeing as it was my first time ever on a mountain! But I wasn't. I was disappointed in myself for not being able to finish, and I was mad that I couldn't get out of my head. I let my emotions get the best of me. I was also upset because I thought that I let down one of my coaches, Mike M. He pushed me to do this challenge, and had no doubt in his mind that I would finish. When I didn't, the first thing I thought was MM is going to be so upset. He was the second person I saw, and he was so happy that I got to the spot that I did. He was happy that I even signed up and showed up. It was then that I realized that I should be proud of what I've accomplished. If you asked me last year if I would sign up for anything like this, I would most certainly would've said no.

My ending point...not too shabby!

I didn't get the fancy canteen that they gave finishers, or the awesome finish line photo, but I did get memories & pride from completing what I did. Next year I will finish- mark my words! The O2X was an amazing challenge, and is an experience I will carry with me forever. I learned that I'm stronger than I think, and I can get through a lot more than I give myself credit for. I just have to believe in myself a little more. Although I was embarrassed and disappointed at the time, I can now laugh about the experience, and learn from it. Yeah, I was the only person who had to get taken down, I was the only person without an actual finish, and I was the only person that cried at least 6 times on the mountain. But I had the courage to to sign up and show up, and that says a lot. Next year, I will cross that finish line, I'll earn that canteen and fancy picture, and I'll be happier than ever.

Now, I'm focusing on my Olympic lifting course & getting stronger! Thanks again for all the love and support!
XO- AA

Most thoughtful gift!

P.S.- I got this amazing surprise shirt in the mail from the awesome people at Latitude Gear RX. It was so sweet, and thoughtful. Thanks again! I love it! <3