Training camp ended days ago, and it doesn't seem fair for leadership to have thrown us back into 'normal' life so…swiftly? There was no formal goodbye Saturday morning, it was completely up to your squad to get goodbyes out of the way before shuffling out into civilization and frantically rushing to make flights.
I promise I had every intention of getting home, and writing a training camp tell all/expose for those who just want to know all the deets (even while they were asking us not to in the blogging session). It's not like there was World Race Need To Know Confidential stuff going on, but I didn't really see the point.
At some point over the last few days while I was processing through all of what training camp was, it hit me that I was glad I went into it not really knowing what to expect. I knew there would be fish head soup (it's awful), that we'd be camping, and that I'd meet a lot of friends for the first time after Skyping for months.
I know a lot of people did read what to expect, and I think they missed something about the experience. They went into it knowing what obstacles we'd have to overcome as a team, and they spent weeks or months or however long dreading or planning or thinking about them. The world is full of surprises and every Racer's journey is completely different from another, so no matter how many people you ask what to expect, you'll still be hit in the face with a surprise. There's just no point in planning for everything.
I didn't leave training camp a completely different person. I didn't leave having had a total break down crying so hard I couldn't breath. I didn't leave thinking the hardest thing I've ever done is now over (honestly, it wasn't nearly as hard as anyone made it out to be. Enjoy the experience). For some (what seemed like most) God does show up that way.
I left incredibly excited about what next year has in store. The coaches, leaders, and trainers were phenomenal and I can't wait to see what God has in store over the next 13 months.
