Rob Meredith

My Best Investment

By 29029 Everesting

September 13^th, 2019

The perfect metaphor

When I crested the first peak, the sun was just coming up. It was a perfect metaphor for the entire weekend, I was coming out of the darkness and into the light. I had this realization of what the 29029 experience would be like, where the tough parts were and where I could get some momentum.

It became REAL.

It was exhilarating to complete the first summit; an excellent way to start my journey to 29,029 feet. It wasn't until the fourth or fifth ascent that it truly began to set in, I started to get a realistic sense of what to expect. It was as tough as anticipated, but I was doing it, and I was not about to give in. I experienced different types of motivation throughout the weekend. In the early stages, I could see that I was making substantial progress. Later on, it was self-validation, and confirmation that I had put in the work and I was ready to take on whatever came my way.

In saying that, nothing at 29029 is a given, you have to earn it. And the only way you can do that is on the mountain. After about eleven climbs, my legs were totally seized up, I thought that if I might have to quit. I couldn't walk. I decided to take a moment to FaceTime with my family, I was in so much discomfort and felt like I shouldn't continue. While speaking with them, it reminded me of why I was here. Hearing how proud my family was of my progress, I went from feeling alone to experiencing a renewed purpose. I wanted to complete this challenge to prove something to myself but moreover to inspire my wife and kids that anything is possible. If you are focused, driven, and convicted in your belief, then you can achieve whatever you want.

Take Action

When I was offered the opportunity to take on this event, I immediately said 'yes.' Although, I had no idea what I was saying yes to! After some further research, I realized to climb 29,029 feet, the vertical feet from sea level to the top of Mt Everest was not going to be easy. I had never taken on anything like this before. I was not an endurance athlete by any means. I was a baseball and basketball player in college, but that was many years ago.

It hit me, this was going to be a serious challenge. I had never 'hiked' before, let alone up a mountain – I needed to develop a plan, to train, and to figure out how I was going to survive this thing. I realized that if I didn't start to invest my time and energy into transforming myself physically and mentally, then completing this event was likely impossible. I found that motivating and frightening, and it sparked change in me and forced me to take action.

Fear is a good thing

I'm a financial planner by trade. So, as I do, I decided to work backward from the final result and built a plan. I knew that cardio would be critical as I had to essentially cover a marathon distance – only, uphill. I knew that core strength would help me when my back became sore and that my legs would need to be strong to handle 22 miles of uphill climbing.I started my training six months in advance of the event. The 29029 team gives you lots of training manuals and ideas, but I personally needed to craft the plan on my own.

I needed to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

On my drive to work each day, I would look to my right and see a large hill, I would think – I need to run that hill. And eventually, it would become a part of my daily ritual, I'd go to work, do some cross-training, head home, eat, get the kids to bed, spend some time with my wife, and then go and run the hill. It was a few hundred feet of vertical over a few hundred meters, I'd do five sprints up and walk down. Whether it was a brutal 100 degrees summer day or the cold rain at night, every day I put in the work – I had to – I had to reposition and rebuild my mentality. With the support of my wife, this became a 7 day a week mission. My kids became involved, heading out to climb with me, they started saying they wanted to 'be strong like daddy.' It became infectious.

The results were amazing. I dropped 26 pounds in about 4 months, and while I felt ready to take on 29029, I was still apprehensive and unsure of whether I could actually finish. I think that little bit of fear was a good thing. In retrospect, the fact that I was uncertain that I could complete it pushed me further than I thought possible.

"I vividly remember my 14th climb, in that moment I realized that I still had 4 more ascents to make. It was 3:30am, and my legs were absolutely annihilated, I was wearing sloppy wet clothes, and it was a snowstorm. I looked outside and thought 'the last thing I feel like doing is going and climbing that stupid hill one more time.' Just taking the first step up that mountain was tough; it was the toughest one of all. But as soon as I got out there and realized, some people had been doing this all night, dredging through the snow; it started to get my juices flowing a little bit."

It was surreal

The amount of support that came from the 29029 team was off the wall.

I've never met such kind and motivating people. I remember Marc Hodulich standing at the top of the hill, clapping his hands. You could hear him shouting from a hundred feet away, 'come on Rob, you've got this.' It gave me extra pep in my step. It was also the little details, taking the time to make sure that everyone is taken care of, as simple as warming up the Gatorade at the top of the hill, it went a long way. My experience was people being incredibly supportive, of course, everyone reciprocates with high-fives at the top and encouragement along the way.

A special moment is when you put on the Red Bib, your final ascent jersey. All of a sudden you have support from everyone you see, whether they were on their 15th climb, or already finished, it didn't matter. I would stop to take a breath, to slow down because my legs were destroyed and people were like, "Final ascent, come on Rob, you can do it, you're almost there." People were banging on the windows from the Gondola. It was a surreal experience.

my best investment

I was emotional when I finished. Not for the reason everybody else talks about, that 'they're' glad it's over. I didn't have that feeling at all. I was pretty excited that it was done, but I did feel this sense of 'wow, that was six months of hard work that came to fruition.' Whether it was the emotion of being exhausted, or otherwise, I teared up on the Gondola ride down. I rode down by myself, so I could take it all in.

I was able to create a mental snapshot in my head that I go back to now. Before this experience, the thought of 'going back to the mountain' never made sense to me. But now having done it, I understand. It's a consequence of overcoming adversity. If you think about the little things we face daily, they pale in comparison to this. This three-day event has had such a significant impact on my life. My patience has increased, and I've learned to embrace every day, it sounds weird, but you spend three days in the middle of nowhere with nothing else to do! And you walk away with incredible mental strength. Where else can you test the boundaries of what you can achieve in a safe environment?

I reflect on what I learned and how these lessons apply to business, to my family, and specifically to myself. I am far from an endurance athlete, but I was able to change myself mentally and physically to become one for this event. It was the best investment I have ever made.