This is a long one. Tomorrow I head to Wyoming with BBP for the Camenco Cowboy Tough 4 day expedition race (rev3adventure/race/rev3cowboytough/). My stomach is in knots--the longest training Ive done is about 30 hrs. This distance of this event will be the equivalent of 1.5 Ironmans every day for 3 days, followed by a 1/2 ironman on day 4 . . . or the same as 7 Tough Mudders each day for 3 days and 4 Tough Mudders on the last day . . . or 3 days each of 18 hr adventure races and 12 hr on day 4. We will be in rugged country, there will not be aid stations, there may not be sleep and if there is, it may be 15 min at a time in a ditch somewhere. Am I physically ready? No--I dont think that is possible, because I have tried--and the more I tried, the worse I felt . Its been a long winter, spring and summer so far in preparation, and there have been many moments of doubt along the way. Its been harder than it needed to be, because my heart and my head were not in the same place as soon as I realized that the life of balance I have been striving for was completely on end . . . prioritizing preparation for the event quickly moved ahead of family, friends, finances, travel and health. Ive done adventure racing for several years now, and its always been about the experience, the travel, the teamwork and its given me a great reason to continue an active lifestyle . . . but this, this is a whole new world. When given the opportunity recently to back out though, all of the sudden I couldnt think about not doing it. If I didnt go, then my teammates who Id been preparing with would come back with all the stories and I would have regret. But more than anything I discovered that I wanted to go somewhere Id never been after all (and not Wyoming, Ive been there). I wanted to go to that place in my mind and body that I have NEVER been to. My heart and mind were completely set on this adventure experience finally . . . but I was still worried about my body. Yesterday I told my daughter that I didnt think that I trained enough. She was shocked and said, you have been training for over the last several years--you are as ready as you will be. Then she reminded me of those other values of mine, exploring wild places outdoors and learning how to live in the moment. She said that I will get to focus on nothing else for 4 days and be outside the whole time . . . now that is the gold medal in my book, regardless of how we finish in the rankings. My goals for this race are to be fully present with 100% effort and appreciate the start, finish and every challenge in between. I hope to be a good teammate and add value to my friends experiences. I am all in. Lets do this Boom Boom Pow Womens AR Team! youtu.be/h45mviDrJhc
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 17:45:30 +0000
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