Am I fit enough?

You see a group activity advertised, a mountain hike, a club run, a work-team bike ride. It looks great, you'd love to do it, you feel excited, you want to sign up, but then the doubt sets in, you start to feel uncomfortable and the question starts to form in your mind...'am I fit enough'?

We've all been there. It’s a question I’ve been asked so many times, a question that stops women from signing up to group outdoor activities, despite wanting to do them and despite, deep down, probably already being fit enough, and it’s a question I’ve asked of myself more times than I can remember.

But what are we really asking when we think to ourselves, or ask an organiser, 'am I fit enough?'

There's definitely a physical element to our question in relation to a particular group activity. The very real question of can my body reach that summit, walk for that many hours, manage the steepness of that trail and so on.  It’s a completely reasonable question to ask because mountains can be physically demanding places.  Walking uphill can feel challenging, bodies do get tired and with that comes all sorts of sensations and responses.  But generally we have a pretty good sense of whether we're physically capable of doing the advertised activity, at least broadly. Unless we're complete beginners and getting active for the first time (which we might be) we'll have a rough idea of whether we can cover that distance, do that elevation, or stay on our feet for that number of hours.

The majority of the time we're actually more worried about our ability in relation to the other members of the group, less the activity itself. What we are usually wondering, and what starts to stress us out, is less 'can I do it?' and more 'can I keep up?', 'what if I’m too slow?', 'what if I slow everyone else down?' Underneath that, two things tend to be lurking: the fear of letting other people down and the feeling of shame and frustration if we can’t quite meet what we think is expected of us, or (more usually) what we expect of ourselves. 

Hang on, why are we talking about shame when we’re ‘just’ going for a walk in the mountains?  It’s supposed to be fun, we’re supposed to be going on an adventure! Right, except this is the stuff that is stopping so many women from going on that adventure and stopping them from having that fun if they do. Ever been on a hike with a group (or your partner!) and found yourself behind, racing to keep up, feeling hot, out of breath, heart racing, getting frustrated, upset, annoyed? Yep, me too. I've not necessarily been thinking ‘I can’t do this’ but instead ‘I can't do this at that pace’. That feeling of watching the fastest people disappear ahead while the group stretches out across the trail, the worry that everyone else is having a worse time because you’re there, the stress of wondering what happens if you physically can’t keep going.  Do I go back alone? Or do I ruin everyone else’s day because everyone has to go back? It's not fun in the slightest.

So what can you do about it?

Well, actually, it's not on you. It's on your guide. Because group experiences outdoors are never just about individual fitness. They are also about pace, group dynamics, the mixed range of experiences and abilities that will undoubtedly be present, different personality types, level of challenge, how different people respond to that challenge and the conditions on the day.  In a well-led group, those things are actively managed, not left to chance.

Good guides are paying close attention to pace, energy, confidence, terrain and how the group is functioning as a whole. They are making adjustments quietly and continuously the whole time so that the experience works for everyone, not just the fastest or the strongest.  When that’s done well, something amazing happens, you stop worrying about where you sit in the group, because the group itself feels coherent. You’re not being strung out across a trail or left to manage your own experience in isolation.  You’re moving together, and that completely changes how the day feels. You feel much more at ease and able to concentrate on the challenge you were looking forward to and actually enjoy it.

That’s one of the reasons I keep Women Move Mountains groups small, so I can actually see what’s going on with every person in the group, so we can move together, so I can support different needs as they arise. If someone is learning to scramble for the first time or build confidence moving on rough ground, or simply finding their rhythm uphill, they are not doing that in isolation.

It’s not that everything we do with Women Move Mountains is aimed at beginners, we have a range of activities for people with different levels of experience, and it's not that there won't be challenges and you won't feel anything at all. That's all part of it. But I know that those seeking adventure are intelligent, capable and curious women who want experiences that stretch them, not stress them, and that's what I aim to deliver.

For me, good guiding isn’t about simply leading a long line of people up a path and it definitely isn't about getting people to the summit as quickly as possible and calling that success. I love a summit and goal as much as the next person but the real adventure and the real success is in helping people become more capable and more confident in the mountains themselves and making sure everyone gets home safe, having had a brilliant day in the mountains.

That, really, is what Women Move Mountains is about.

So… are you fit enough?

I can’t answer that for you. But I can tell you this: you are stronger than you think, whatever level you’re at, and when you join one of our groups, you will never be left behind.