Costa Rica Adventure Challenge: Climbing, Rappelling and SUPing

If you’re jumping in here, part 1 talks about this retreat and the hikes, along with links to more photos!

This running retreat was about so much more than one foot in front of the other on a trail. It was one foot in front of the other to make it up, down and around all kinds of new challenges. Like I said, more of an Adventure Challenge and this city girl was indeed seriously challenged.

My Real Inspiration

I couldn’t truly recap this week of firsts without telling you more about the people.

In fact, I think the people for me might have been the best part of this whole trip, which could sound crazy…but it’s very true. Being around women who aren’t afraid to try new things and fear nothing is astounding.

Many of us are already in talks on how to create another trail running get together here in the states with more instruction and possibly spa time!
Retreats offer an incredible opportunity to learn more about yourself and others.

Quiet can be interpreted so many ways, but the reality could simply be sleep deprivation or maybe fear or maybe shyness.
Boisterous could be seen as fun loving, cocky or overcompensating.
Serious could mean deep in thought, intense or angry.

It’s amazing how one action can be taken so many different ways depending on the situation and yes even your own mood!

Usually the truth lies somewhere in the middle and until you make the effort to connect, you have no idea.Maybe I’m just fascinated by how different and alike we all are, but I loved seeing the interactions play out and the encouragement EVERYONE provided each other as we each conquered something different.

A few fun tidbits about this group!

Melissa – This was her first time out of the US!! What a killer way to start.
Heather – Joyfully agreed to join her sister Melissa when asked.
Bea – Adventure is in her city girl blood, I’m sure she’s even tested for it at work as a nurse. It was fantastic to be around someone else who speaks her mind.
Alicia – Is getting married in just a few weeks, but wasn’t concerned! She needed a getaway and took it.
Jodi – A proclaimed introvert who leaped out of her comfort zone to connect with us.
Jackie – Just a few short years ago she started trails and has already done a couple 100 milers.
Lisa – Putting to rest the idea that age is anything but a number. She kicked my button everything and with a smile!
Alex – She craves adventure and is willing to head out at 4AM to get time on the slopes before work.
Kara – She just returned from weeks of backpacking Iceland on her own.
Kristen – In the last few years she lost weight, quit smoking and started running! This was a big jump for her too.Kate – The kindest heart I’ve ever met and a woman who understood my hormonal journey too. She’s considering an Alaska retreat (she lives there!) and I’d follow her anywhere with complete blind trust.
Melanie – Finishing off her week with us, she took her gear and headed to Patagonia for three weeks with her photographer boyfriend.
Hailey – Founder of Run Like a Girl and uber lover of Costa Rica and a trail master.
Val – My slacklining hero. Nothing seemed to phase her and within minutes of being shown a slackline she was show us how to do it.
Me – A hormonal mess, explaining a lot of my feelings, who couldn’t have been more inspired.

I didn’t just learn about them, I learned a lot of things about myself. Like when I’m scared, instead of reaching out for help I go internal and get very quiet. So now that’s something I can use in the future to remind myself, I need to ask for help.

Tree Climbing

Have you ever tried one of those rock walls on a cruise ship? I have…half way up my legs were shaking so bad from the height that I decided to come down and enjoy the benefits of solid ground. And that my friends is the full extent of my climbing experience in the last 35 years.

One look at this massive 60 foot tree, had me quaking in my wet muddy shoes. After watching a number of other ladies, scramble, claw and fight their way up the tree, I decided it was time to get going.

No more debating, just time to try and conquer my fear.Again, I faced the same dilemma as with the trails. I needed instruction and guidance, not a pep talk. But the that just wasn’t in the cards, so I tried to listen to the advice of the other ladies and surprised myself by getting more than a couple feet off the ground!

I know I was moving at a snails pace, but I was trying!

Eventually arms shaking, I simply couldn’t figure out my next foot hold no matter how hard I lifted my legs to and fro. Looking down, I signaled it was time to come down and received “no, you’re making it to the top.” Totally get the encouragement, but I’d been trying for awhile in that spot and honestly my brain was beginning to register my distance from the ground.

Indicating two more times, I wanted down I received the same response. At which point I started crying and became very vehement that I would be brought down right now. Every bit of me felt like a horrible awful person for getting angry and yet well within my rights to say, “hey I’ve never done this before and I tried. Just because my best didn’t suit you, doesn’t mean I’m not still happy with it.”

Sigh, this is all about what I mentioned above…learning what different people need. Hailey our fearless leader is someone who responds extremely well to being pushed and loves the feeling of accomplishment when she goes farther than she ever imagined. I’m an independent nerd who likes to push myself, but doesn’t like others pushing me.

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.
~ Henry David Thoreau

Rappelling

After that I was extremely nervous to head over to the next activity, rappelling. It was another face your fear of heights thing and my nerves were on end after that exchange.

But as it turns out I had the worlds best instructors who walked us through baby steps up to the big rappel. They showed us all the safety measures, followed along behind us and guided us through all the proper hand holds to learn to do it on our own.

Reaching the final rappel, I was nervous, but in control and thrilled to do it. I’ll absolutely try rappelling again thanks to them. There was one additional rappelling option, which involved getting soaked in a the icy waters, as you rappelled through a waterfall. A few days of being wet and cold had already taught me that I wasn’t up for another evening of not being able to warm up. {Turns out my low hormones actually make it harder to retain body heat. Fun fact.}

So I cheered as my new friends Bea, Jackie and many others, made their way down the slippery rocks and roughly 10 feet from the bottom had to overcome a second fear by simply LETTING go and falling to the water. It was so cool to seem them do it and nope I didn’t once feel liked I’d let myself down by not doing it. We all have to follow our own path to get what we need from this great journey.

Beach Time

Whew after all those days of hiking and facing fears, it was time for a bit of chillaxing by the water. Day 5 we arrived in the evening to our beach side hotel, in a small town along the coast. I loved the vibe of the little main street and local only restaurants. This left us with the next day to explore the National Park nearby in Uvita…yup a beach day.

Since we didn’t have our morning yoga session, it made perfect sense to do some on the beach! Then Eduardo set up a couple of slacklines. Who needs to just lay at the beach, when you can take advantage of what nature has provided!

Having seen the pro’s bounce around on lines here in Colorado, I was really interested to see what it feels like on a line. We started by walking with a line above us for support and then practiced standing on one leg without holding on.

It’s a killer core workout and Val’s constant yoga practice made her great at it, while again Jodi blew me away by doing other practice techniques to learn about mounting without holding on. Clearly this is me, not them rocking the line. And one of the few to only bikini pics that will grace this website.After awhile, the groups rotated and those of us one the line headed out for one of my favorite things SUPing!! Luckily we avoided a hard paddle in the ocean waves and instead headed in to a calm stream through the mangrove trees.

In Florida, we kayaked a lot through the mangroves, so it was neat to see them in a new environment. They’re such an important part of the natural ecosystem and very rarely noticed by people because you do need to be on the water and amidst them to understand them. If it seems like an action packed week (and I didn’t even talk about the twice daily yoga, coffee plantation and volunteering) you’d be right. I loved going to sleep nice and early when it was dark, waking up with the sunrise, fueling with wholesome foods and being outdoors.

Certainly I shared my moments of frustration and even being home for a week, I’ve tried to unpack a lot of those feelings. I realize now from even attempting to run this week, that my body is more run down from the hormone drops than I realized. Fatigue and a low mood, don’t make for the perfect adventurer. So I claim my roll in that, but there are definitely some points that I hope they improve on for the next group.

So for all the moments of fear and frustration, I took a lot away from this trip…most importantly new friendships.

Craving your own adventure? Ready to break out of a rut?
Learn more about Run Like a Girl Retreats >> (They do them in Costa Rica and Canada!)

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