Overcoming your fears is not something easy to do. At least, not for me. Some people are risk takers. Some people are not. I am in the "not" category. I don't like to do things that have an element of danger (or danger as I perceive it). Yesterday, we were challenged to conquer Jockeys Ridge. For those of you who do not know, Jockeys Ridge is the tallest sand dune on the East coast. I don't know exactly how high it is, but it is steep. This picture doesn't do it justice.
Anyway, I was challenged to do this after losing 100 pounds, so yesterday was the day. My friend, Cynthia, and I made a day of it. We trained with Danny at 7:00 a.m., then started on our journey. We stopped at a couple stores in Kill Devil Hills before heading to the dunes. In fact, one of the stores was right across from the dunes. I panicked. I saw how high the dune was and I literally panicked. I was ready to head home. I was afraid to fail. I didn't to disappoint myself, Cynthia, Mary or Danny. But, I am thankful for friends who didn't let me give up. We stopped by and picked up our friend, Mary, who just so happens to be Danny's mom. She is the nearest person. Anyway, she tagged along and photographed our journey. When we got to Jockeys Ridge, she told us Danny had sent along a little surprise for us. Now, we should've known that just climbing the dunes was not how this was going to go down. Danny sent us each two 1-gallon water jugs to carry up and down the dunes.
So off we went. I decided to keep my tennis shoes on just in case something was in the dunes...well that didn't last long. After the first face plant, I left the shoes. I kept my socks on, and they were neon yellow so I'm sure I was a sight.
Carrying those water bottles was no easy task. In fact, at one point, I couldn't keep my balance because the dune was so steep...so Mary took them for a bit until I could get my stride going. I did have a mini meltdown just before I lost my shoes and had the urge to just sit there and cry over what I had let happen to my body. I was disgusted that I couldn't just truck up the dune. I calmed myself down, determined I was going to do it and went on my way. It took about 45 minutes or so to reach the top (or so I thought) of the dune. Then, Cynthia says the next dune is actually the tallest dune. So, off we went. We made it up that one with no catastrophes or meltdowns. As you can see, I was glad to reach the top! I know it's not the most flattering picture of me, but it's part of the journey.
After I caught my breath, we took in the views of the ocean in the distance.
Once we were up there and had caught our breath, we decided to do a little core exercise...you know, just in case we had not burned enough calories on the way up! Planking and sit-ups were the chosen forms of torture. My planking picture didn't turn out so well, so I hope Cynthia doesn't kill me for posting this one of her!
We also did 40 sit-ups up there. Then, it was time for the trek down. That honestly freaked me out more than the trek up. I have a horrible fear of falling and injuring myself. It seems lately that when I do, I end up in the hospital. Anyway, we started down....the way we came up. We had the option to take the easy way down or the steep way down. My theory...go big or go home. At the steepest point, Mary was kind enough to take the water so that I could side lunge down the dunes. Although I wasn't carrying the water, that was a whole different workout altogether.
All in all...we made it. No one broke a bone or died. We did get a tad sunburned and windburned, but nothing too serious.
The water jugs made it there and back. Mine had a little less in it...I busted mine open and drank a little of it when I was hot!
It was definitely a challenge I will never forget. I couldn't have asked for better people to do this with. To end our journey, we left Danny a message:
On our way out, we did the obligatory picture...see, the water jugs made it back with us!
Looking back on it, it was fun. I enjoyed being with two lovely ladies who encouraged me to finish...to not give up, and to press on and finish the journey.
Now, on to the next challenge. I wonder what Danny has in store next...
