Mount St. Helens Loop - Facing Fear!

People like Ben, Erik and I are drawn to extreme adventure that pushes our mind and body to its true limit.

I had my doubts that I would be prepared to complete a loop of Mt. St. Helens in one day last weekend. This doubt was driven largely by what felt like a lack of preparedness that evolved into a sense of fear during the days preceding. My fear was driven by injuries over the past several months from running and the fact that I had not ran over 20 miles in nearly a full year.

Questions and statements like those that follow began filling my mind…..
What have I got myself in to? How much is this going to hurt? Am I really strong enough? Where am I really going and why? You are not strong enough. You have only ran 10 miles in one go since the Bend half marathon. You are going to be in so much pain. You are going to hurt yourself.

I think many of us experience these kind of mental blocks before trying something new that we know is outside of our comfort zone. Until we become friends with the unknown there is really no way to face it. When we begin to face it we get stronger and with each foot forward that is what I felt and surely Ben and Erik did too.

We completed the loop in just over ten and a half hours. It was incredibly hard and the beer at the end was ooooo soooo good.

I have organized the photos below in the order that we experienced our day. Enjoy!