My most memorable vacation just got an upgrade….
It’s the one I’m just back from!
Not only was it my niece’s first birthday, it was also my first experience running a mountain trail.
Mountain trail is just trail running after scaling a mountain- something I was mentally ( and not physically prepared for), I was just doing a 10k – because I’m also cautious that way, but I wish I wasn’t just regular cautious and grande cautious.
Because scaling the first mountain got my breath in a knot- it was steep, it had been raining and I saw people barely making it out on the other side. I gave up- before everyone in my category- yayie I came first!
I found a volunteer who safely took me back after I ate his head off about my fear of height.
Yes, that’s the second thing I should have been prepared for!
So, I spent an hour just nature gazing just a little ahead of the base- I wanted to give up but I was also ashamed of going back just then. I was waiting for the first batch of people making their way back.
It was achingly beautiful- the kind of place you want to wake up out of a tent with your cup of morning joe or tea. And something began to hum in me- a calling to go explore the rest of the route. I called up my sleepy eyed folks who were more than happy to see me safe and sound because the weather had taken a turn for the worse the previous night, my sister was ready to get me home.
That’s exactly where things took a turn for the better- the rebel in me woke up and wanted to go explore.
I resolved to go up- the same route I’d come down sobbing and shaking from- but there was none now and I felt confident. I kept giving myself some milestones- we’ll stop at that tree, at that rock, at that waterfall- and soon I was up there. I did slip at a few occasions but I always found my way somehow. A race photographer had sagely showed me how to climb in order to get a strong footing and I followed it throughout.
And it was worth it because the trail up there felt like I was running somewhere around heaven- a canvas of green bathed in an overcast glow, clouds caressing me and people cheering me on.
I didn’t finish the race, but this has to be the most memorable trail for me. I know there would be many more- ones I would finish strong ( after cussing at myself throughout it) and ones that would look like a warm up after I turn into an elite runner ( don’t ask me when that would be).
There’s just something special about doing something just so out of your comfort zone that it just becomes a life lesson and this was one such thing- I met so many inspirational runners and athletes- people who were running upwards of 150 kms, the group of women I shared my dorm with were just awesome-a woman in her 50s who was running a 25km while her son was running a 100km, another who ran and finished a 50 km.
It also informed me about how I usually function- I get a little too inspired or influenced by other people’s journeys and let that impact me- like I witness people barely making it up and believed it to be true for myself as well. That is something I need to work on, and also on my fear of heights, so I don’t trouble any volunteer again!
Lastly, I am going to be doing another 30 day writing challenge- because only a writing marathon can be a logical extension of a running marathon. I will also finish the remaining chapters of my dystopian fiction story in the coming weeks!
And I hope you will be here to join me on my writing marathon
Fingers in symphony 