My Mental Toughness > My Physical Toughness

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Crystal Light Pure Fitness.

When it comes to labels, I would not consider myself athletic.  Or sporty.  If I were a Spice Girl, I'd probably be Goofy Spice or Odd Spice.  That being said, I do work out five to six times a week and play an intensely physical sport in roller derby.  I enjoy exercise and have my whole life been a decent skater, but overall don't see me fitting in with great athletes or super sporty people. I don't think I give myself enough credit.  Sure, I was a bookworm growing up, but I also loved playing outside and climbing trees and kickball.  I played both soccer and tennis, and though I may not have been on varsity, I did start and play almost every gave in soccer and once won second place in a tennis tournament.  (Um, okay, so there were only three people in the tournament.)  For me, I've found that having the confidence in my ability really strengthens my ability and allows me to excel.

 The hardest physical challenge I ever had (besides giving birth) was backpacking in Colorado in the summer of 2000, and it's a great example of how the mental feeds the physical.  I was working in Texas at a church and we took a small group of guys and girls from zero feet above sea level to something like 2000 feet above sea level to backpack in the mountains for five straight days.  The altitude sickness alone had people puking and panting and crying after an hour of hiking. As a leader, I felt the pressure to really stay positive and keep going, despite my own exhaustion.

The beauty makes it look easy in pictures.  

I still remember that first day:  an ill-planned 9-hour hike to our first campsite.  Our guides must have really overestimated our stamina.  By the end, people were stumbling and had passed their heavy packs onto our guides, who were trying to balance their own packs as well.  We stopped to make camp and basically everyone crumpled to the ground.  Ten minutes later, our guides informed us that we really needed to move our campsite to a space about two football fields away. After a nine-hour uphill hiked with 40 pounds on your back, two football fields is an immense distance.  Especially after you've put your pack down and allowed yourself to rest.  The idea of putting it back on to walk even two-hundred yards is insane.  The guides felt bad and offered to make several trips themselves over the small hill, carrying other people's packs for them so they could just walk.  The offer was SO tempting, let me tell you.  I wanted to weep when I strapped my bag back on.  But I did it.  I put on my pack again, forced myself to stand, and put one foot in front of the other to get over that last hill of the day. The week did get a little easier, but most days I spent telling myself:  "Just one foot in front of the other.  Just one foot in front of the other.  Keep moving."

I felt incredibly proud of myself and our team of teenage girls for making it to the end.  Not that there was really a choice--once we started out, the only way to finish was to FINISH.  We didn't have the luxury of pillows, personal hygiene, or food choice.  No Crystal Light or sodas or coffee--only water from nearby streams mixed with a tiny bit of bleach.  (Yes, bleach.) At the end of the week, the camp was so impressed with my ability that they asked me to stay on and be a guide for the summer.  As much as the idea of repeating that same intense struggle, going without deodorant or bathing, and living out of a backpack for two months appealed to me, I kept my job at the church.

This is the last post for the month sponsored by Crystal Light Pure Fitness, which means the last chance for you to comment and win $100.  I hope you've also been taking advantage of reading other blogger's posts for more chances to win--visit the roundup page here to read and comment.  For rules and restrictions, click here. As we close, what is your proudest fitness accomplishment?  Leave a comment for another entry to win $100 from Blogher and Crystal Light.