Overcoming the Inner Mountain.
By: Brinda Mehta
Tags: Travel, Fitness, Life Lessons, Fitnessmotivation, Traveling

Overcoming the Inner Mountain.

This post is about my decision, preparation and struggles while doing the Trek. (Tarsar Marsar, Kashmir Aug 2021)

It is one thing to get blown away by the beauty of the mountains and other to climb them. The serenity, breathtaking views and anticipation of getting at the Summit enthralled me for more than 3 years.

Life’s priorities, self-employment, multiple injuries and a pandemic took the better of my dream. But when you want something desperately and save it in your subconscious, it manifests.

37 days to the Tarsar Marsar (summit 13200ft), I was with a mangled hamstring, impinged shoulder and injured knees. Thankfully my already existent Strength Training (rehab) program, made my life functional. But a decision of climbing a mountain made me question my own sanity.

I started with a mix of strength and cardio endurance training keeping my injuries in mind. I sought my physical training from Sandeep Achanta under keen supervision by my physiotherapist Falgun.

For the trek, @indiahikes has a basic fitness criteria of running 5kms in 37 mins. I started running (a sport I run away from) with a lot of struggle at 1.5kms in 20 min to reaching the desired criteria. Every time I ran or did the stair climber, I cursed my decision to sign up for a trek. Cardio for me is Dance, rest I despise. So working at my cardiovascular fitness, took a lot of effort, patience and several motivational podcasts.

There is often some cognitive dissonance between what you want to do and what you can actually commit to right now.

With a tight work schedule, the training program didn’t progress as per the plan. My injuries soared, pain aggravated, I felt weak and tired all day (poor nutrition vs higher energy expenditure). It became a rough ride and I couldn’t finish the program as I had envisaged. I knew my Cardiovascular fitness wasn’t upto the mark but my Strength Training gains were decent and reliable.

Trekking is not an easy sport. It puts you out of your comfort zone, demands mental grit, physical tolerance and sometimes it hurts to an extent that you want to give up. I had moments when I felt ashamed of calling myself a Fitness Coach especially during steep ascends. Feeling breathless, a Self-Pep talk became imperative. I practiced kindness and acceptance while the meadows and mountains, and the surreal landscapes gave me the strength to endure.

At Tarsar Lake, I was the first to reach. That moment while I had a breakdown, my Trek Lead Sudhanshu affirmed that he knew I could do it and I still have a summit (Marsar Lake 13200ft) to achieve. Most days I trekked amongst the last 5 trekkers . Honestly all that didn’t matter, what mattered was to keeping moving, overcoming my self doubts, being present with the nature and enjoying each moment to the fullest. In resonance with nature, I was gleeful carefree and content through every struggle.

Like they say, the best view comes after the hardest climb the Marsar Lake lived upto it. For me the hardest mountain to climb was the one within.

It has been a very transformative experience for me and I look forward to sharing more about that in my next blog.

The real work of an expedition begins when you return. I am home without any injury :) but with tons of beautiful memories and learning.

Love

-B