Into the Woods

It's been quite a stretch since I’ve written, but I have some good stuff to fill you in on! Justin did a 100-mile ultramarathon this weekend, so I served as his “crew” while we left the kids with a babysitter. Now, I’m not sure if you know anything about ultramarathons, but a lot of them take place way out in nature – mountain, forest trails, etc. This was no exception. It took place in the “Wilds of Pennsylvania” (who even knew that was a thing). That means way in the backwoods, no cell phone service, and lots of beautiful scenery. I could go on for many, many paragraphs about how anxiety-provoking a lot of this was, being a woman driving out in the woods alone, with no cell service, for over 24 hours. However, that’s not really relevant to this blog (but if you want to know more details, leave a comment and I’d be happy to share!)

Anyway, while Justin was running this race, I would drive from aid station to aid station in order to see him at various points and help him get ready for the next leg of the race. At each stop, I had several hours to kill (which is a really awful saying when you think about it…why are we trying to kill hours if life is so fleeting and precious? But I digress) and was trying to plan out what to do with that time. At first, I thought I’d pack the iPad and load it up with shows and movies, then I thought twice about that. In light of this challenge, maybe I should leave it at home and just be present in the natural beauty all around me. Then Justin made a good point – yes, that’s all well and good, but you have A LOT of downtime and maybe you don’t have to be all-or-nothing about it. So, I chose the middle path and brought it along just in case.

In the end, I’m glad I brought it. There were sometimes 5 hour stretches of waiting for Justin and it was nice to have a few different ways to occupy my time. I brought a book, downloaded podcasts, and had a few shows downloaded on the iPad. I did end up reading for several hours, and listened to a podcast or two, and also watched a few episodes of a show. But…drum roll please…I ended up spending most of my time doing absolutely nothing! I brought my camping chair out to where the rest of the crews were, people-watched, enjoyed just existing without anything else I had to be doing, and watching the runners come and go.

I started out feeling really antsy and restless, but by the time the late afternoon/evening rolled around, I was really enjoying the simplicity of it all. I felt connected to everything going on around me, even though I wasn’t actively participating in anything per se. I was just existing among these other people, out in the woods without much distraction, and really at peace. I know this race was ultimately about Justin doing his thing, but it ended up being a really positive experience for me too. It was a subtle, yet deeper, more fulfilling joy than the various forms of instant gratification in which usually I partake. I kind of knew that’s what’s supposed to happen, but it was awesome to really experience it. So, moral of the story, if you put a person in the woods with not many options for instant gratification, it starts out hard but then comes the good part. Now the big question – how do I maintain this when it’s back to reality?