Man vs. Wild

Oh hey so I leave for Denver tomorrow to do that big thing I just did in Vancouver all over again for the Paralympic team. I should be packing. Instead I am blogging. Obviously. Because if I had a tag for "doing other things when I should be packing", there would be approximately 1000 entries.

But whatever, I have things to say.

It's a pretty big part of my belief system that our bodies and our souls are intertwined. It's part of the reason that I'm so passionate about being active even though I do not have an ounce of athletic talent in my whole body. My life rolls along better when I make sure I am getting in a good sweat relatively often.

Too often I spend those sweaty hours at a gym, on a treadmill or a stairmaster. I am grateful for those things and on a cold week night when it's dark and snowy, they are life savers for sure. But yesterday I had too much on my mind to even fathom the slight pointlessness I feel logging another mile staring at the TV in the workout room. So I put on the little ice spikes I finally bought and am pretty sure mean I'm embracing my Coloradan status (still sounds so funny though-when did I move to Colorado??) and headed over to face the Incline by myself. I've been at sea level for a few weeks and I could feel every single inch.

It's been a funny 10 days since I got back from the Games and my head has been an absolute mess trying to come back to reality, but also gear up for the Paralympics, sort through what did and didn't work in Vancouver while trying to mesh with a brand new staff, and also making sense of some personal stuff. So sleeping has been tough and I've been a little edgy.

As I got about halfway up the incline, and I was already drenched in sweat and feeling like my lungs would probably never forgive me, all of the sudden I just started feeling so peaceful about pretty much everything I was worried about. I felt like my crazy heart was just forcing all the concerns to seep right out of me. The combination of the clean air and the mind-boggling views of Southern Colorado and forcing myself to do something really hard made me feel like there really isn't anything I can't tackle.

I have said this before-when I trained for my marathon it cleared away six months of fear and doubt about my ability to make my life in California work. My mind just seems to work better when my body is pushing itself. The sleep cycle app on my iPhone says I got more deep sleep last night then I have in a week.

I'm ready for another crazy week of athletes and chaos and not enough sleep and too many rice crispie treat breakfasts.

Neil Young performed at Closing Ceremonies tonight and sang one of his loveliest songs. It seemed so crazy appropriate for both the end of the Games and the direction I want my life to go. Enjoy.