Climb Every Mountain!

Matterhorn, Switzerland just adjacent to Italian border (Swiss-Italian Alps)

Let’s talk seriously about mountain climbing and chasing dreams. Sometimes (like amidst a frigid polar vortex) as runners we seek out epic, tough challenges, to dream big, to truly get outta Dodge, “leave town” and take on something that really stretches us. An adventure race. Or at least a great adventure. Besides, running the same local races every year is boring. Feeling like I am sometimes “stuck” in Lincoln, Nebraska is limiting the scope of my adventures. For example, I’m really fascinated with the Great Wall of China.
Great Wall Marathon, China. Only 5,164 steps!
Would love to not only see the Great Wall, but to run and walk some of it. It would be EPIC. To see and explore a lot of it. So much history there. And scenic beauty. Maybe the Great Wall Marathon. Want to see it with our daughter since she’s from China. It’s a big dream somewhat chained by the realities if everyday life, maybe just a once-in-a-lifetime trip. But how do you train for this? Hills/mountain climbing. And stairs, an enormous number of stairs.
Stuck inside today due to an unusually late cold snap (ahem! It’s almost spring!), I drew a new map and took on the Matterhorn in Switzerland with a little bit in Italy today and it was really tough. Only 5k but it seemed like many more. Seemed like a constant 18% incline. 6% decline when I was lucky. This makes you slow down, shorten your strides, and really concentrate on what you are doing. Or stare at the breathtaking overhead view. And what an awesome feeling when you finish running mountains, achieving goals, reaching summits.

What other mountains/dreams can I chase? A long running streak, #runthisyear, running a 50k. Maybe that’s a long enough list for this year. But what about next year?

What challenges/mountains are you climbing right now? What is your plan to reach the summit?
Leaving you with one of the best songs from The Sound of Music, climb every Mountain. Maria Von Trapp just died at age 99, the last surviving member of the Von Trapp family so it makes me nostalgic about The Sound of Music. See you on the other side!