A wonderful day today! I started with Amy, my trainer, who continues to raise the bar -- or, in today's case, have me carry a ten pound medicine ball raised high over my head all the way around the gym, clocking me as I went...and then, of course as is her wont, she had me do it again and shave time off. Then I drove out to Brier where my friend Jen lives...and she took me on a walk around and through Brier and a bit of Montlake Terrace, with curves and hills and steps. Jen is the reason I got interested in doing the 3 Day Walk. After reading about the walk and hearing her describe why she was doing it, and donating to her website, I thought long and hard about taking it on myself. I'm not nearly as well trained as she is, but we both agreed today that we will be more prepared than many who will be walking. Jen has had more flexible time than me, and creatively arranged (for example) to walk to and from her substitute teaching assignments; and then often walk 3-4 hours a day when she's not teaching. She started doing the longer training walks with Kindred Spirits pretty much at the outset of her training. She is at this point a true athlete. We have been friends for at least 22 years, with sons the same age who grew up playing with one another. We've managed to stay in touch and catch one another up on our lives as they've changed; and so it's like picking up a recent conversation when we get together. John Lennon had it right.
Unfortunately, of late our conversations are mostly about hydration, bathroom stops, what to carry in one's fanny pack, and how many layers of clothing to start with in the early morning. But each of our lives has been enlarged by the experience of this training, and it's one more bond that we share.
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