Jose Antonio's challenge is to climb the highest peak on the Iberian Peninsula

An impossible dream

Taking back my forgotten dreams

That’s how my second chance in life began; by returning to my sporting life after an ankle injury due to arthritis. 48 hours after the operation and, once all my fears were overcome, I was able to walk without crutches.  I was grateful for the important work my traumatologists had done.  I had achieved another challenge in my life, along with my friend haemophilia, which at times put my life in danger, either from bleeding or falling.

Working to overcome the challenges in my life.

I consider myself the same as everyone but at the same time I am different.  From a very young age I learned that my life would not be easy and that I would have to work through things in my own way.

Even with an injured ankle, I was already reaching heights of more than 2,000 meters, but the pain made me less willing to climb the mountain, and again after my operation, the doctors gave me another chance to be happier and resume my sporting life.   I always turn to my experience and lessons in life, to achieve incredible things.   Basic training from the beginning in order to reach a very high level.

My training progress (see table)

A year of amazing rediscovery where I started basic training and by increasing it little by little, I managed to scale the highest mountain in Madrid. My mindset was getting stronger.

Never give up and physical and mental preparation

In 2016 I began to work on the connection between my body and my mind, relying on my father’s advice to never give up.

To achieve my biggest and final dream, I must take care of myself to the fullest and allow myself to recover after a difficult workout session.  After practicing sports, I revisit the tips my traumatologists have been giving me since childhood: relaxing my body using cold water and ice, taking adequate breaks and lightly working my joints after they relax so that they remain active. This method gives me resistance and much less ache in my muscles. My high-risk choice of sport also makes me constantly alert and I know how to protect myself using warmers, anklets if necessary, wearing appropriate clothing and sturdy boots to protect my ankle, and of course a dose of my factor in case it is something very serious.

Continuing the dream: believing is power 

Let’s continue with my second table of successes, increasingly intense workouts, and personal meditation to achieve my dream. Believing is power! That is the attitude I constantly employ to achieve my goals.

It is necessary to have a winning and resistant mentality by working on it day by day.  Before starting each scheduled mountain climb, I study it carefully and analyze all the dangers to gain mental confidence.

Alternating with other sports

To make progress on my performance, I started working on my personal preparation, including new sports so that my workouts were not too heavy, and I began to alternate mountain biking and canoeing to make sure I had an active and varied range of exercise.  However, I was missing something fundamental, including good nutrition.

You have to put in the effort if you want to win. 

We reached the final stretch of my preparation to try to achieve my dream and there were still things I could not reach on a psychological level to help me overcome my challenges day by day.  And Nuria Picas, my coach, arrived with an amazing cv with enormous mountaineering experience, to help me along with obtaining what was missing. I talked to her about my training and accomplishments and her psychological advice helped me a lot to fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle and taking on the risk level I needed to win!

I had already managed to scale several 2,000 m mountains in Madrid, on more than one occasion, but to realize my life's dream of touching the sky of the Iberian Peninsula, I needed even more mental effort. This time however, I had the help and advice of my coach.

My Challenge

In 2019 I managed to reach very dangerous and very difficult heights of more than 2,000 meters.  I managed to scale 8 peaks of legendary mountains, including "Reventón" and "Siete Picos"; the latter in a single day. Very rocky mountains (an unfavorable terrain for my ankle), which I was nervous about, but I gradually managed to overcome the mental challenges by visualizing what I would find at the top, the goal that I hadn’t yet achieved.

My performance was good, but I needed even more to achieve my goals and I knew that I just had to try harder. In 2019 I increased my training to the max, regardless of the amount of time I had, I made sure to complete 8 hours a day of training, 10 km a day at a fast pace and running alternately, three days a week on weights, abs, push-ups and stretching, and mountaineering at weekends.

My physical endurance and my winning mentality were my base, but adequate technical information was also necessary, so thank you my coach, Nuria Picas, for the recommendations and advice, which helped me with the great challenges that I would face along the way, such as altitude sickness and coping with the harshness of the terrain, all of which were fundamental. Nuria understood me in my challenges and I took on enough risk to win this adventure.

Finale

Achieving 93% of my performance. Only 7% of my effort is devoted to luck and the fear that stopped me sometimes.  I trusted myself, and I wanted to conquer the Peninsula in July 2019.

Dislcaimer: Before starting your own physical challenge, it is important to discuss it with your treatment team first.

It is possible to live a life beyond haemophilia.