More Thoughts on Tucson Smashfest

I am VERY MUCH missing camp and my new friends. I am back to my real life- going to work, messy house, figuring out how to pay the IRS, flat tire on the car, etc. :) The great thing about camp is I was able to leave all of that behind for a few days and just be with friends.

Fortunately, I do get to come home to a great husband, a farm full of animals, and I job I like. So, life is good, and I am happy to say I continue to make the most of it when I can with new adventures. I know I make the adventures happen, so my life is made up of my own choices. Yet, when I go do something like a training camp, I can't help but feel that I am also a lucky girl.

Some thoughts on camp and pictures (mostly stolen from Hillary :)

This is a picture of our full group from Memphis, Hawaii, Chicago, California, Texas, Canada, Michigan, and Arizona. Every single person here impressed me with their positivity. We decided the group got along so well because choosing to go to this type of camp is self- selective.

While there were several different levels of ability in this camp, every person seemed to have the same level of work ethic and a desire to achieve something more than they had achieved before. I don't think anyone left this camp without a new accomplishment, whether it was swimming 100 x 100 or 3 days climbing Madera, Gates Pass, and Mt. Lemmon. For me, everything seemed to be a new accomplishment. I LOVED it!!!

This is one of my very favorite pictures from camp. I spent most of my time with Dawn, as we were pretty similar in ability. Towards the end of camp, I would just kind of look for Dawn and expect that we were going to be hanging out for the day. I can't say enough good things about her and the positive spirit she brought to the training table. She is someone I could train with daily if she lived near me.

Another picture of my white legs. If that isn't motivation to get outside and train, I don't know what is! This is a picture of our group at Starr Pass getting ready to go for a great trail run. This was our final workout- 3 hours of running after some serious training days. Every single person got it done.

Running down the trail. Thank you to Hillary for taking pictures!

Look at all of the cacti!!!! Isn't that so cool? I have never seen anything like it in my life. I LOVE running trails, and this one was so awesome.

More running with my sweet and awesome group.

After camp, I took the time to write down some things that I had learned, not only from Hillary and Maik, but also my fellow campers. I think every camper would say this very thing: our limits are not what we think they are. Watching friends like Michelle crush it day after day really helped me to see not only what is missing from my training, but also what is possible. It was a very positive experience.

And, I can't say enough about Hillary. If you don't already read her blog, start reading it! I met her through my typical blog-stalking, which BTW, I think is totally fine to do :) Over the past few years, she has been so encouraging and helpful to me in my journey. And, just wait till you meet her in person. She is so dern fun and cute 24/7. (being with Hillary makes you promptly want to invest in some Lululemon clothing). I never saw her look un-cute or un-smiley... even when smashed from a lot of training...must be a California thing :) Yet- with the fun spirit she brings to the day, she is a monster in training. She CRUSHES it and asks for more. To swim (well, I didn't really swim with her...just in the same pool), bike, and run with her (not really with her, as she is so much faster!) was awesome and inspiring.

So, if I could leave you with one big thing I learned from Hillary, it would be this: be a small fish in a big pond. That is how you learn. For me, this was getting out of town and getting out of my comfort zone to go to a camp where I would just try and survive.

Thank you Hillary and Maik!!!!!