JENNIFER DEMBA

Wins, even in failure

By 29029 Everesting

August 17^th, 2021

29029 isn’t only for self-identified athletes. 29029 is a challenge for anybody looking to test their limits. Jennifer Demba never identified as an endurance athlete, but in 2021, she tackled 29029 Idaho.

Jennifer’s last test of endurance came almost 20 years ago when she completed a couple of half-marathons.

“That was literally the last time I did an endurance event, around 20 years ago.”

Since then, like it always tends to do, life got busy. Jennifer built up a busy career as an equity analyst, a profession that requires a large amount of travel. In addition to her career, Jennifer is also the proud mother of three children.

“Between three kids, my husband, and a busy career, my focus on health and exercise was erratic at times. I would be really good and focus on it for a couple of months, and then be focused elsewhere for a few years again. I didn’t have the time to commit.”

In 2020, when many of us were searching for tangible goals and things in our control while the world flipped upside down, Jennifer set the goal to lose weight. She didn’t just set a goal, she knocked it out of the park! By the end of 2020, Jennifer had lost 25% of her body weight.

Coming off that feeling of achievement, she was looking for something new in 2021: another goal to propel herself forwards. In early January, she was out for lunch with a good friend, chatting about that very thing.

Her friend had heard of an event where participants would climb the vertical equivalent of Everest. They searched on their phones for more specifics, and discovered 29029. Not long after, Jennifer was on the phone with staff from 29029, asking all kinds of questions, drilling down for information before she decided whether to commit to making that event her goal for 2021 or not.

OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE

Choosing to enter 29029 was almost surprising to her.

“It was a goal so far out of my comfort zone. I’m not a camper… I’m used to staying in hotels. I’ve never thought of myself as an outdoorsy person”

Yet she found herself committed, and ready to take it on.

I asked Jennifer how she found the training. Had she struggled with motivation? How did she get herself out the door when she didn’t feel like it? After all, training for 29029 is a serious time commitment.

“It hasn’t been difficult to motivate myself. I just do the training. I tell myself I have to do it.”

Motivation to get out the door clearly wasn’t an issue for Jennifer, so I asked about how the training went once she was out there; what are the hard days like?

“Some of the long training days now are a bit of a struggle. It’s tough to find the time! But I know that I just have to do it. So I do.”

If you’re like me, you’re probably a little envious about that level of mental strength and grit, the same mental strength Jennifer is counting on to propel her through each assault on the mountain summit as she goes for 29,029 vertical feet of gain.

Jennifer isn’t a robot of course. The longer training days have opened her eyes around what to expect as the event wears on into the evening.

“After around 6 hours, your feet start to hurt, you start to get tired, and it starts to get harder to keep pushing forward. I think that will be when things get hard during the event.”

REACHING FOR THE MOUNTAINTOP

Such mental strength and grit has to be fueled by something, and for Jennifer, the first and foremost factor driving her forward is the satisfaction she knows will come from accomplishing a long-term goal, the kind of goal that requires a significant investment of time. Early mornings, late nights, saying no to other commitments in order to say yes to training, all in an effort to get up that mountain.

But there’s more than just reaching for the goal that drives Jennifer.

“I know it’s supposed to be about competition with yourself, not with others, but those more experienced athletes there will motivate me. I want to keep up!”

Jennifer is counting on the community of 29029 to help her up the mountain, one footstep at a time. Call it a mix of support and peer pressure - she wants to succeed all the way to the top. Making it halfway won’t cut it for her.

“I won’t be happy if I don’t finish it. I know that. I know I could keep up…” Jennifer’s voice trails off before she quickly corrects herself. “I know I CAN keep up to the others.”

WHEN I FIRST SIGNED UP, MY HUSBAND THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY

Finally, I had to ask what her family thought of all of this? Training to climb a mountain is a pretty dramatic change for somebody who would never describe themselves as an athlete.

“My family was really excited and supportive when I told them,” Jennifer tells me, before smirking. “When I first signed up, my husband thought I was crazy!”

He thought she was crazy, but in a supportive way. If that makes sense. Perhaps out of a sense of caring - not wanting his wife to injure herself or tackle something too crazy. It’s hard to wrap your head around a feat like 29029 if you’ve never done anything like it before.

But after following her journey, watching her put in the time, as she walked out the door to leave for Idaho, he said “You’ve already won. This is your win.”

STEEPER THAN EXPECTED

Now it’s a few weeks after 29029 Idaho, and I’m listening to Jennifer rehash her experience. When all was said and done, she braved the heat for 11 ascents of the mountain. She had reached Denali.

The heat was a challenge. The steepness of the terrain was a challenge. The mental struggle was a challenge.

“You just can’t replicate it,” she told me. The mental challenge is something that nobody is ever truly prepared for.

In the hottest part of the day, she was forced to take an extended break with stomach issues. Eating the right food in the right amount is a major challenge when conquering the slopes.

“I got in my own head when I had to take a break in the lodge.”

The break in the lodge – time alone – wasn’t good for Jennifer’s motivation.

“Stopping is the hardest part.”

WINS, EVEN IN FAILURE

It wasn’t long after starting again the following morning that Jennifer realized her goal of completing 15 ascents to reach Everest wasn’t going to be attainable. For many, that would be enough. Many would stop, but not Jennifer.