Running is my bedrock activity.
I do not think about being beautiful. What I devote most of my time to is being healthy.
My brother Bill, who is a year older, is a climber, and when I was in the seventh grade, he taught me how to rappel off the frozen waterfall in our backyard.
A life lesson for me is, how do you muster the courage to take on a new risk? Whether it's starting up a business or taking on a new project or expedition. I think the risks that we take are all relative to the risk-taker.
My first expedition was at about the age of eight.
Getting through high school and college was one of my greatest achievements.
I get stubborn and dig in when people tell me I can't do something and I think I can. It goes back to my childhood when I had problems in school because I have a learning disability.
I have an opportunity now with some of the projects I've done, i.e. the North Pole and the South Pole, to speak to a larger audience and talk about things that have nothing to do with physical education or special ed.
I give a tremendous amount of weight to the mental aspect of physical activity and what it does for me.
I had no doubts I could go to the pole. I may not be as strong, but I make up for physical strength in other areas, like steadiness and not panicking under stress.
Skydiving is something I've never done! And I am very excited to take the leap with a community of like-minded courageous women.
