Most of you know that I got home from World Race training camp the other day. Personally when I think of training, the image that comes to mind is so far from what actually happens. These past 10 days were hands down the most challenging, stretching, and fun days of my life. I have never seen more ambulances, or dance parties EVER. I was going to try to describe a typical day at camp, but come to think of it there really isn’t such thing as a typical day, so here are a few things that I learned instead.
Pack less: I packed an outfit for every other day and didn’t even use half of them. I ended up wearing the same pants 6 days straight, and I changed shirts about every 3 days. (stop judging).
Porta potties: They’re unavoidable. By day 2 gag reflexes started kicking in every time you opened the door. I’m not gonna sugar coat it they were plain awful, but through the trauma it became a bonding experience with lots of laughs, and everyone had their fair share of poop stories to go around.
Sharing is caring: This one it HUGE. when you’re sitting in a session with 300 starving people who haven’t showered in a week, and someone offers you some lotion or a granola bar, it will literally make your day. Apart from that; we had many nights where a lot of our packs were “stolen” and it was amazing to see how people would cover for each other. One particular night half of the bags got “taken” and I ended up in a 2 person tent with 3 girls, 1 sleeping bag, 1 pillow and 1 sleeping pad. We may or may not have shared toothbrushes as well 🙂
Look for the positives: It may be small but there is always a little bit of good that can come out of every situation. For example the last 4 days of camp I got a cold and it was no fun, BUT because of it I couldn’t smell anything so the porta potties were only half as dreadful.
One-on-one time is key: As soon as you get to training there are 40+ new faces to greet you. It would be easy to stay with the crowd all the time, but I found out that I made the best connections and really began to grow with people when I decided to step back and just take a walk or go exploring with a squad mate. Don’t worry about missing anything, it’s so worth it.
These people are family: When it’s 1 am and you see 2 squad mates praying and crying together, or when you’re in worship and someone you barely know begins speaking life into you, or even when someone passes out and you see everyone come together offering whatever they have to make the situation easier; that’s when you know that it was so worth it. The blood, sweat, and tears that got you through the week are nothing compared to the love that Jesus and your squad mates have for you.
Community like no other: I can’t even begin to put into words the value of community. After 10 days of doing life with these people; we have laughed, cried, and danced the night away too many times to count. We rejoice in each other’s victories and comfort each other in time of need. This is a place of freedom and worship even in the middle of adversity.
There’s no way I could end the blog without sharing my FAVORITE night of camp with y’all. Okay so today’s scenario was that our squad was dropped off at a nearby campsite with only one pack for every 3 people (sharing is caring). We didn’t have any tents, just a few Enos and one big tarp for everyone to sleep on. I decided to share my Eno with my friend Nicole (side note: I don’t think double nest Enos are actually meant for 2 people to sleep in) but we made it work. All was going well in the beginning; everyone was getting set up with sleeping arrangements and a few people had started cooking our food on the campfire. About an hour into the trip Katie accidentally hooked her Eno to a dead tree, so when Mikkayla came to sit with her the tree fell over, and let’s just say that if Jack hadn’t been there to catch it, Katie and Mikkayla would probably not be walking right now. After that, Sam was chopping firewood and a piece of wood rebounded and hit him in the face. An ambulance ride and 8 stitches later he was as good as new. After THAT, it starts raining. Not just a little sprinkle but a pretty heavy flow, so we all tried to squeeze under the only tarp we had. In the mean time, another squad that was camping close by all came to visit us and said they felt like we were under spiritual attack so they stood around us in the pouring rain, holding hands and praying for probably 30 min. I have never seen that kind of persistence and dedication in my life. We never let circumstance get in the way. After the rain cleared, Tim and Karen (our squad mentors, aka mom and dad) brought us Popsicles. I have seriously never appreciated a Popsicle so much in my life. The sun came back out and we heard there was a beach close by so the whole squad took a walk to the beach. It was BEAUTIFUL! Since we didn’t have many clothes to change into everyone was hesitant of whether we should get in or not, but the water was so warm and refreshing and I needed a shower anyway so me and a few others went for it and swam. We also took a few people down with us against their will but they thanked us later. After enjoying the beach we found the greatest treasure of all….. REAL BATHROOMS. This was the first time I had looked at myself in a mirror in about a week. It’s the little things that get to you. We headed back to camp all soggy and wet but like always there were people that were willing to sacrifice jackets and shorts so we wouldn’t have to sleep wet. At camp we went around in a circle telling the highs and lows of the week so far. It was the first time we actually gathered and listened to each person individually and it was beautiful.
If you are still reading; congratulations! I hope this gives you a little insight to the life of a future racer. There is soooo much that goes on it would take a million blogs to share all of it, so I guess you’ll have to apply to the WR to figure out the rest.
Sincerely the girl who is finally back in clean clothes, Leigh Anne
