YOU ARE TOUGHER THAN YOU THINK - Featured Writer Jennica Hirrlinger

I am super stoked to have such amazing women writing articles for the Bella Rosa blog.  These articles are about living life to the fullest, no matter how old or young you may be!  My good friend Jennica is one of those women who loves the journey of life. Waking up at 4:30a.m to get a workout in is what I call dedication, and climbing the highest mountain with a gun is what I call AWESOME.  Here is a picture of her in the mountains while hunting with her husband.  -----------------------------------------------------


I got a Facebook message the other day asking, “How warm does it have to be for us to go for a ride?”  It made me start thinking about other times I’ve been out and the conditions on those days.  It snowed on us, once.  It was a balmy 18 degrees on another ride.  One summer evening, I raced a thunder storm home, not quite making it before the sky opened up on top of me.  And the wind!  Think flying cows, here.   But my favorite, was a short ride on mountain bikes, with my husband, when the sun was shining on our faces through both rain and snow.  We rode through rainbows, soaked to the bone.  It was glorious!  There’s nothing like sharing the road with mother-nature, when she’s feeling a little bi-polar, to make you feel alive.

I completed a snow shoe race this weekend. It was a 10k route at a ski resort.  I don’t actually snow shoe for exercise, though I’m in decent shape.  At least, I thought I was.  If you’ve never snowshoe’d up mountains before, hmmm, how can I explain how hard it is . . .it might be similar to climbing long steep hills on your 8 year old neighbors huffy.  And, maybe that huffy has been left out in the rain too many times and the chain is all rusty.   Oh, and the handle bars are bent weird.  Get it?  It’s really hard.

Anyway, the race was super challenging and I thought for sure I would die and the search party would have to come out, roll my body off the trail, and cover me with pine boughs.  But, I didn’t die.  I actually lived through it and even found myself laughing out loud as I ran/slid down the hills on my snowshoes.  It was great!  When I let myself, I was able to really enjoy mother-nature and the views from the tops of the ridges.  I even started to appreciate the fire in my muscles as they fought to befriend the sinews that running and biking usually bypass.   Oh, my long lost pals, where have you been for so long?!

I was thinking about this as I drove home and noticed that the roads were clear and it was a notch above freezing.  I was wondering if it was time to pull my bike out of its’ winter stationary hibernation.  Is it warm enough?  Am I tough enough?  Are there other crazies ready to go with me?  Then, I saw a guy on his bike.  Riding uphill.  In the cold.  With only one leg.

To that I say . . . NEVER limit yourself! I am tougher than I think I am.  I can keep going for a long time, even when my body wants to quit.  It is in those moments, when the weather is nuts and the hills are brutal that I get stronger and more confident.  Don’t be intimidated by outside sources and conditions.  EVER!

This goes for all of you, too. Now, go teach mother nature and your dormant muscles who’s boss!  You’ll live to die another day, I promise.

Jennica