Back to Reality

I've been a tad brain compromised since my return from Egypt. Thinking through each movement as though it were my first, metaphorically drooling, riding the short bus. It feels oddly peaceful yet not particularly functional since the slide back into society from the fringes of the earth requires me to plug back in. I struggle with this requirement.

Grand adventures are always insta-cathartic experiences for me and I craving sitting down post event and processing through written word. When pondering that task these last several days I found myself shying away. I’ve avoided questions about the race and when I do entertain them I’m inarticulate and disjointed in my responses.

Yesterday after a solid bout of house-cleaning-procrastination I sorted through my race/trip pictures in hopes of igniting a coherent reaction. The result—disquieting.

I know individuals who retreat from society in various ways after surviving severe trauma or a war. To revisit feels too complicated so they absolve themselves of admission of the incident. Being someone who has always prided herself with healthy, open, and articulate communication skills I’ve strained to understand that shock response in others. After experiencing the Sahara Desert first hand, I now slightly empathize.

Running day after day for hours on end through 120 degree heat in a lonely and ruthless backdrop was a vast mental task that has left me reticent to revisit. This withdrawal intrigues me. I sense there is much to learn.

It is proven that human beings gravitate toward challenge in their lives. Challenge can come in various forms dependant on one’s frame of reference but always implies a test of some sort, which is either novel or duplicate. These examinations can retrospectively offer us a view through a slightly different lens color if we choose to peek.

Some of us transcend the concept of challenge and seek to really stretch ourselves. A “Stretch” event tends to lie on the extreme of what has come before in our athletic life—something we start without perhaps having the ability to fully visualize the outcome. A Stretch requires full concentration each moment of the journey—the immediate difficulty surpasses solid formulation of the ultimate goal.

If we choose, Stretch events launch us into the fringe of how we view ourselves as athletes, as humans. For some this can be a scary place. For others it represents a fresh starting point without the need for a conclusion. Stretching shows us that there is no such thing as potential because potential implies an ending place. We learn that our growth in this process is limitless.

I am privileged to have Stretched myself in a distinct, striking and indifferent, spot on the earth—the Sahara Desert. The indifference of such a place keeps the ego in check, thus offering a redefining of self within the journey and beyond. I suspect that as the brain slowly continues to fire up this redefinition will deepen, in the rich, awesome, sort of way it does after we’ve done something uncertain or fresh. I’m definitely one of the lucky ones for having been there.

I want to thank you all for your emails, words of wisdom and support. I’d like to invite you to continue your Stretch process and I look forward to sharing more of mine.

I’m off to climb some volcanoes in Mexico in a few weeks. I like the idea of hopping from hot sand to snow. Definitely keepin’ it real.

Here’s to novel Stretching.
Back at you.
Terri

Editor's Note: Check out Terri's race photos here.