What training camp blogs didn’t teach me.
Overwhelming. Incredible. Hard. Envigorating. Frustrating. Freeing.
11 Things About Training Camp
(A note to future racers: No, you won’t find a schedule, or even many clues as to what training camp will be like. I will write a blog specifically for you in the coming weeks!)
These are eleven things that I learned at training camp. I will hopefully have a blog with eleven more in the next week or so. There was SO MUCH to take away from training camp.
1) That was easily the hardest thing I have ever done. Emotionally, spiritually, physically. The drive home was one of the hardest drives I have ever done myself. I walked away with SO much, but it was really hard. No schedule, no idea where we were sleeping that night, no idea what we would eat that day. But that made changed me for the better in the end. Our constants were two: Jesus and our squad.
2) The people that I call my squad are way more incredible than I could have ever dream. I believe that this journey would be radically different without them. Meet P-Squad! It is a group of 57 including our squad leaders, and they are dreamers, prayer warriors, worship leaders, and sold out Jesus-lovers who I am thrilled to spend 2015 with. (And yes, there is a blog introducing my team coming SOON!)
3) I never dreamed that I would LIKE a bucket shower, in GA, in weather about 40 degrees. I didn’t take many of them, but they were nice when I did. I am imagining that my showering will become less frequent on the race. And you can feel much better if you just wash your hair. (More than once this week since I have been home I have thought, “Well, I showered yesterday. I don’t need to today.” Then, I have a minor epiphany that I am, in fact, in the US.)
4) It is amazing to me what a word from a friend can do when you are down, when spoken in love. My team and squad loved me in a way that I never knew I needed and have experienced little in my 25 years on planet earth. Life without them now is something I cannot imagine. A random text, a sweet facebook post, or a quick encouraging phone call can turn my day around oh so easily.
5) Red mud stains. It took me multiple times to get the mud off of my skin, and every other part of me. More than a week later and my toes are still stained red. I had to take some clothes to someone more talented than me to get the mud stains out.
6) My tent is dry. In the words of my squad mate, Melissa, “Discovering that my tent really is waterproof: It monsooned for half of training camp. I have never experienced so much rain outside of a hurricane. It was wonderful to be able to go to sleep with the peace mind that came from knowing I would not drown in the middle of the night.”
7) The dance parties make training camp what it is. Sort of. The bonding, the laughter, and the not so fantastic dance moves are incredible. I can’t dance but I can be a part of a dance party. And that makes me smile and laugh just thinking about it.
8) Sometimes, the hardest moments become the most life-altering. When you get constructive feedback for the first time, when you think that you just can’t keep going up the hill, or when you think that maybe, just maybe, this race isn’t for you. Those are hard moments. But life isn’t defined by the trials that comes our way, but the way we stand up after getting knocked out. It’s not the amount of times you fall but the amount of times you get up.
9) Forks aren’t necessary. Plates aren’t either. But Nutella, cookie butter, and coffee are semi-necessary. And Jesus is the only thing we can’t live without. Dinner community style is so much easier than dinner by yourself.
10) The adjustment back to the US after 11 months on the race will be harder than I first imagined. After 7 days in Georgia, returning home was incredibly hard, so I am now mentally in a different place as to how I want to return. Also, this season of post training camp and prelaunch is really hard. They warned us that this would be a hard season. The best news though? Launch is 72 days away. The struggle of this season is one I think that is unique to missionaries, especially racers.
11) You know when you are preparing to sleep in the cold in an unseasonably cold spell in GA in October? Find you some cuddle buddies. You won’t be cold anymore. The amount of beds we are going to need in 2015 is significantly less than I first thought. (Let me paint you a picture of 25 of your friends, under a tarp, laying on a tarp with about 18 camping sleeping pads. We were close [the words, “Kristy, I’m going to have to put my hand right here because I literally dont have anywhere else to put it…’ are only going to be used at training camp, simply because we are so comfortable with each other that its not a big deal to cuddle with your squad anymore.] My first night home and every night since had made me long for my squad to be there when I go to bed and when I get up.
And an extra for the road:
I am incredibly honored that Jesus has called me on this journey with him. A journey that is going to change me in ways I didn’t first realize, but ways that I am absolutely honored that he has asked me to do. The race is an incredible opportunity and privilege that I am incredibly blessed to be walking in during 2015. I never dreamed that an opportunity like this would come my way. To fall in love more and more with Jesus every day is an incredible privilege.
If you would like to join my support team, I would be honored to have you do that! There is more information on my support tab on the left about ways to support me in the coming days. I am praying for each of you.
Til it ends,
Kristy
