Training Camp was awesome! And challenging. I don’t want to give too much away because I know there are many future racers who will be reading this, but I am very excited to tell all the amazing things that happened.
First off, I asked my church to be praying for me for the physical requirements (3 mile hike in under 50 minutes carrying my pack). God answered! For the hike I knew with my short legs that I needed to spend about 5-10 minutes running and the rest I could walk. I had a digital watch so I could time myself and keep track of my pace. In my head I knew that I needed to get to the half way mark by 20 minutes so I could just walk the rest of the way. But while I was out there on the hike my brain jumbled it up and I thought 20 minutes each way, so a total of 40 minutes. I made it to the half way point by about 22 minutes and was exhausted, but knew I needed to push it faster. I was about half way back and looking at the time I was certain I wasn’t going to make it. I wanted to give up. But a staff member was stationed on the side of the road and asked my time and he told me I was doing great. At first I thought he was just trying to be nice, but then it dawned on me that I didn’t have 9 minutes left, I had 19! I made it with 3 minutes to spare!
I also asked prayer for my picky appetite. And again, God is good! I had heard rumors of fish head soup, and assumed a lot of spicy foods or strange things I have never even heard of. Every meal I waited for something inedible. I packed a box of cheese-its, but I didn’t need them! I ended up bringing them out half way through camp and shared the box with a bunch of people. There was only one meal that I didn’t eat my entire portion, but even that I could have eaten if it was served by someone who would be offended if I didn’t eat it.
Other cool things I didn’t even ask for but God took care of: I really hate the sticky feeling of sunscreen and bug spray, so I didn’t use either of them…I know, really smart of me…but I didn’t get burnt and not a single bug bite! Also, there was some sort of cold bug going around, and I didn’t catch it.
There was awesome worship, great messages, excellent sessions on ministry ideas and tips. Team building games and outings were so much fun. I am excited to say there is not a single person on my squad who I wouldn’t love to be on my team.
Also, some news… My squad will not be going to Burkina Faso. Our contact there was killed in a terror attack back in January. Please pray for Mike’s family! We will instead be adding a different country in Asia. Stay tuned for more details about the new order…
