As I mentioned in my previous blog, one of the requirements we have for going on the World Race is to pass a fitness test by hiking 2.2 miles in under 38 minutes with our big packs on. I had practiced just a few times before Training Camp. I filled up a pack and went to the track and walked. I was able to walk 2.2 miles in 38 minutes, so I increased the weight in my pack each of the next times I walked.
One thing that was worrisome to me was that the terrain is pretty flat in Miami, but in Georgia there were going to be hills. I went once with my mentor to work out and we did a few sets going up and down the stairs. I had my pack on and I was so tired and out of breath. My legs were burning. I was glad I had practiced with an incline at least once but wondered how I was actually going to do the hike in Training Camp.
The morning of the fitness hike, I woke up at 6 am. I packed away my tent and then dropped off my pack at the pavilion where we were going to start. We had a light breakfast, although I barely managed to eat anything because I was so nervous about the hike. One of our squad mates was helping adjust our packs, and she helped adjust mine so the weight was well distributed.
She had said the previous night that when she had done hikes like these before, she had been told, think of who you are doing this for. To use that as a motivation to push through the difficulty of it. I had been thinking about it but hadn’t quite landed at an answer yet. Who was I going to do this fitness hike for?
We were given instructions and told 1) we were going to need to jog or run at some point. We would not be able to finish this by walking the entire time and 2) we had to do two laps around the campus to make 2.2 miles. We would need to finish the first lap in no more than 17 minutes to give ourselves a buffer since we would be more tired during the second lap and would naturally go slower.
At this point I’m getting even more nervous. We have to jog or run? I never did that when I was practicing. I feel like I have such little endurance and get out of breath easily. And to top it all off, it is freezing cold, so cold I could see my breath. Each breath hurts because of the cold. Someone told us to start practicing inhaling through our nose and exhaling through our mouth, which I did. I’m just like, “God help me please.”
My squad was divided up into smaller teams that would start at staggered times, so my team of six was given the start time of 7:59 am. We were the third or fourth of the teams on our squad to start. Once they told us to go, I started walking as fast as I could. One team member was going really fast, so I tried to keep up with her. I couldn’t keep up for long though. I then was with another team member for a while. When we got to a straight path we started jogging. I’m feeling the pack bounce against my back, and I’m thinking, I never jog or run, certainly not for this long. But I continued to jog along the entire road until we got to a grassy area.
After this point I’m on my own so I just continue on as fast as I can, looking at my watch occasionally. I think there were supposed to be mile markers or something but I guess I was just so focused on the ground in front of me that I didn’t really notice. There were people passing by who had started earlier, and they would shout out encouraging things. I was like, I can’t use any of my breath to speak right now, so I just gave them a thumbs up.
When I got to the straight road again I started to jog, and I would also jog down the hills. I soon saw the starting line, which would mark the end of the first lap. I made it there at 8:13 am.
At this point I knew I had a 24 minutes for the second lap. Seeing as how I had done it once in 14 minutes, it seemed achievable. But I thought to myself, do NOT start taking it easy, thinking that you got this, and then end up taking too much time.
When I got to the first hill, one of the trainers came up next to me and started encouraging me with scripture, and saying things like, “Only 30 more steps to the end of this hill.” When we got to the straight area again, she said “Let’s jog.” I was not really planning on jogging again at this point, but since she was doing it along with me, I pushed myself. Halfway through, I felt like I was going to throw up and so I stopped for a moment. She’s like, “It’s OK, let’s keep going.” I manage to not throw up and we made it to the grassy area, and she said she’ll see me on my way back.
So I’m by myself again. I have such a ridiculous distressed face on because I’m beat. My lungs are struggling, my body is tired. And then I think of what had been said earlier. Who are you doing this for? I had been thinking about it earlier but at that moment I came to the conclusion of who I was doing it for.
I thought of the women around the world being sex trafficked. I thought of the women caught in prostitution. I thought of them, working all night at something that they wouldn’t have chosen if circumstances had been different. If they had even thought that they had a choice. What was this hike compared to what they had been through? Could I give up, could I say, I’m not going to do this any longer, if they didn’t have the choice to just stop if they wanted to? I wanted to finish this hike in time so that I could go on this mission trip and show the love of Jesus to these women. So I could treat them as human beings that have value. So one day maybe they can escape the life that they are currently living. And I don’t know yet if my ministry in these countries will have a focus on this or not, but either way, I know that women are suffering all kinds of injustices throughout the world, not just sex trafficking. And if I could be a light and a help to any of these, I would be glad.
With this motivation in hand God gave me the strength to continue on. I still couldn’t talk, and I still was so tired, but I was so willing to push through it all and make it. I jogged and I walked and I ran down the declines. When I got to the last hill a trainer said, “Want to race to the top?” I was like, “Sure, why not?” And I ran up the last hill. It was 8:33 am. 34 minutes!
I threw down my pack on the ground and fell on it, trying to catch my breath. I was so glad that I had been able to finish in time. And that all my squad mates ended up passing too. I’m just so excited about what our next year is going to look like, who we’ll be able to be Jesus to, and who we’ll be when we come back.
Jessica
