Ms. Garmina has made a reappearance on my wrist these days. Her simplistic nature is refreshing. It’s funny that I can’t quite remember why I stopped using her. I suppose I’ll figure that out before too long if it was for good reason.
The weather has been beautiful this weekend. I hit the trails both Saturday AND Sunday. On Saturday, I set out for a run but ended up hiking instead. I’d every intention to warm up by walking the paved path and then beginning my run. Instead, I just kept walking. And although my hips did experience some discomfort (similar to the weeks leading up to my race), that wasn’t the reason that I didn’t ever try to run. I just didn’t feel like running. Instead, I went for a casually paced hike – stopping here and there to just sit and take it all in. 
It seemed that Saturday was a day for taking in the wonders of nature. In the final mile of my trek, I overheard a boy calling his dad over to examine his latest find. His voice was full of excitement as he exclaimed that he had just found “a miracle.” This is a photo of the plants he had discovered. The flowers “floating” in the center of the leaves are what had him delighted at that moment when I walked past. But I had a feeling that it was not the only miracle he had discovered that day. It had me thinking that we all could benefit from viewing the world as this boy did.
On Sunday, I returned to the trail again. This time, I brought my little four legged friend along with me. He had his own style of exploring the trails and I did my best to keep him from getting too close to the poison oak as he explored. Oddly enough, I did not set out with running in mind, but ended up jogging intermittently here and there. As Ms. Garmina can attest, it was not fast but a jog nonetheless. And, that too, was a miracle.
After checking in at the volunteer registration table, we found a sunny place to prepare for the race – securing our headbands, timing chips, and start wrist bands. We checked our bags, emptied our bladders, did a mini stretch and warm up and reconnected with Jen & George.
The Herc Hoist was next, followed by the Multi-Rig (All Rings for the Sprint). Then came the Hurdles. After each trying to hop up to the pointy crest, Carol and I helped each other over the lot before we went on to the Atlas Carry. Remembering the technique of rolling the stone from the ground up one bent knee then across the other raised knee, I managed to lift mine off the ground without my back taking the brunt of it. It was a nice change for me.
We walked a bit before hitting the Bucket Carry. This has never been a favorite, but I picked up my bucket with hope that it wouldn’t be as bad as the last time. The hill we carried our loads up and then down was steep. I focused on firming my core and pelvis as I made my way and I had to stop a number of times to give my back a break or let the crowd ahead thin out so that I could choose my path of preference. This was important as it was hard to see over my bucket on the way downhill. Robert and Carol waited for me to finish before we climbed the next hill.
We arrived at the Spear Throw next. I set up my throw, aimed at the target, but somehow managed to hit my pack and head with the spear at the end of my throw. Thirty more Burpees for me…and Carol. But Robert hit it straight on. He went ahead of us towards the [uphill] Barbed Wire Crawl – which was lower to the ground than other races.
In addition to grip strength work, Larry and I took Simba out for a short but HILLY and MUDDY hike. There was a threat of another rain storm coming in, so we had rain gear packed in our bags. The real test was going to be how my hip and glutes handled the hill. I’ve only been walking on paved roads and sidewalks for the past 5-6 weeks. Knowing that I could manage this 3 mile trek would be a huge confidence builder.
I ran across this photo of young YaYa and me from many years ago. Those were tough times — yet somehow we found reasons to smile. At least that’s how I remember it.
