Another Miss Fit Adventures story: Thank you Dana! Here goes.... My introduction to Miss Fit was through my dear friend Kathleen. She invited me to a Miss Fit fund raising auction and I met an amazing group of people. I then volunteered at the Dragon Boat Races and cheered the Miss Fit Dragons while admiring the teamss cohesiveness and determination which in my mind spoke not only to individual effort but also to the coach Nikki Becker Ettners gift to bring people together and train them to achieve personal excellence. The next season Kath forwarded an email that Nikki was looking for paddlers. At this time in my life I was a committed couch potato, having left behind athletics, yoga and dancing. So I wondered if I could drag myself away from lethargy and commit to being a member of a team, commit to getting up, getting moving and attempt to regain long lost strength and endurance. I was uncertain and afraid but decided to give it a go. I had no idea that this simple decision would bring so many rich gifts to my life, but I decided to face my fears and the rewards of this one decision continue to bless. Being a part of a team sport is remarkable. I had previously participated in individual events only; gymnastics, track and horseback riding competitions as well as dancing and yoga. I had no idea that working together with a group of women to paddle a 2 ton Dragon boat could be so empowering. The joy of group effort to accomplish a difficult task surprisingly helped me access unknown strength and determination to keep going and even TAKE IT UP and surge to the finish line. And to learn about the joy of team camaraderie, an awesome new experience which words cannot convey. Working together with a team of committed women, encouraged and coached by our phenomenal coach Nikki is an ongoing gift that increases exponentially. We grow both individually and as a team bringing all we have to each race; I learned what leaving it all on the river means in a visceral way. Another gift, friendships with some amazing people, again there are no words. These relationships are each unique and enriched by the diversity of our group and I look forward to sharing life with these remarkable people through the years. A gift I NEVER anticipated; once I was a part of the Dragon Boat team, participating in bootcamp and committing to independent exercise I wondered if I could do other things. I started hiking with Nikki thinking I could walk along but surely not carry a backpack due to previous back injury, so I plodded along with my little fanny pack. Then Nikki suggested that I join her adventure to hike into the Sawtooth Mountains and camp at Lake Baron. I resisted, my back is not strong enough, I could never actually hike (not plod but actually hike) 13 miles with a nearly 5000 foot elevation rise. Me? Never! But I wondered......could I jump into this without participating in all the training hikes the other members of this adventure had undergone? Could I amp up my effort over a couple months and get strong enough to do this? Could I carry a backpack? Could I actually climb those mountains? I wondered if Nikki might know something about me that I had not yet discovered. I wondered if by declining I might lose out on a discovery about myself and decided to give it a try. I did get stronger. I started carrying a backpack weighted with rice and flour on training hikes. I got excited about testing myself. Wow, what an experience I had with my Sawtooth Sisters. I did learn a lot about myself, my strength, my determination and was honored to witness each of my Sawtooth Sisters face challenges with courage and prevail. And that hug from Nikki when we got to stunning Lake Baron....tears of joyful exhaustion said it all. Another gift, deciding to paddle not only led to participating in hiking but also presented other opportunities. I decided to join the Sisters climbing adventure this summer and training started in January including bootcamp, weight training, hiking, snowshoeing as well as running. Training was delayed for a time by injury but Im back at it. This in turn led to a decision to try the Tough Mudder this summer. Out of a simple decision to paddle came the self confidence to challenge myself to continue training as well as set goals to not only climb Sisters but also to participate in Tough Mudder (again encouraged and supported by Nikki). Im now thinking about and planning other adventures and challenges. When I decided to paddle I had no idea that my life would explode with so many gifts; friendships-family, team camaraderie, exploring my strength, and ADVENTURES. I am grateful to Nikki for her belief in me, encouragement, and mostly her friendship. Dana P.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 18:20:51 +0000
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