Sweet sucess with the help of friends

This morning I did something I have never done before in my life.  I climbed Y mountain.  I have lived in Utah Valley for 36 of my 52 years of life.  Yet I had never attempted to climb to the Y.  For those who are unfamiliar with Y mountain, here is a photo. 

After the past two months of good physical exercise I thought I was ready to take on this new challenge.  My physical routine includes treadmill, biking, and elliptical.  These work the legs and give good cardiovascular exercise.  It did not take long to for me to realize that I was not really ready for such a hike.  The trail to the Y is 1.2 miles long and has a series of 10 cutbacks.  By the time we hit cut back one, my legs were well beyond feeling the burn.  My heart was pumping, pumping, and pumping.  Sweat was dropping like rain.  At that early stage I wondered if I could really make it to the Y.  It was great to have the support of my two sons, Joshua, and Chris and my daugter-in-law Sherry.  Had I been on my own, I may have given up at about the halfway mark saying that I just wasn't ready for this hike.  Chris would periodically say "Come on dad, you can do it".  Sherry keep me in conversations that allowed my mind to think of other things beside my aching legs.  When the going got rough, the trail steep and it took every ounce of energy I had to take just one more step, Joshua would put a hand on my shoulder and give a gentle push.  That little push certainly lightened my burden and made my steps so much easier.  My thanks to Josh, Sherry and Chris for being there with me.  I could not and would not have done it without you.

Sherry, Joshua, and me at the Y.  Picture taken by Chris

Joshua, me & Chris at the Y.  Picture taken by Sherry

On the way down, as we got close to the end of the trail, we saw three athletic type young men sprinting up the trail.  Man, oh man.  How can they do that?  It took everything I had to make it and I was simply walking.  My body feels plenty sore ... just enough to appreciate the exertion that it went through and the fact that I did accomplish this goal.