It’s amazing how our bodies rallied for one final push today–the anticipation of celebrating after a week of hard work helped a lot! So began the last day of training, fittingly with our 3k swim to the King’s buoy (and back to the 1500m buoy x3) just a bit after 7am. The ocean was only slightly calmer than yesterday, so while the underwater visibility was better, it was still quite challenging to sight the buoys….and the large swells made it feel at times as if I was the only one swimming–didn’t help that I wasn’t breaking any personal speed records either! But ‘steady’ was my mantra for the day, and honestly for the entire camp this year….so ‘steady’ I swam!
Upon returning to the epic house, I began refueling for the last official workout of the camp, the 20k run. I didn’t want to do that one with a full belly for sure! As we lounged on the warm tiles in the sun (the ocean had some wicked cold spots today, which we learned are caused by underwater lava tubes), the full force of the 50 0r so hours of training suddenly hit me, an I had an overwhelming desire to crawl back into bed. But the knowledge that I was so close to camp completion (10 bonus points!) pushed me into action.
We all started out toward town together but quickly spread apart, settling into our own paces; T, stewie and David were out of sight in a flash! I had been looking forward to running alongside KatieM, but after about 3k, I started to feel queasy and suspected that i needed to slow down and take in some electrolytes and fluids. The combination of the searing sun (we set out at 11am), high humidity, and the cumulative fatigue was taking its toll on me. I seriously felt like my head was going to explode. By 8k, I’d stopped sweating, so I stopped in the nearest ABC store and bought a bottle of ice cold water to dump over my head, and a small box of coconut water which I chugged down. That–and run/walking back toward the house–helped me hold it together a bit longer. I’d placed a cooler filled with ice and water inside the gate for katieM and Carmen and I, who were using the house as the midway point (with 5k out then back in both directions), so I stuffed some ice down my tank, filled my bottle with ice as well, and set out again, south this time. I jog/walked to the 6-mile marker then over to the Aloha gas station (which was air conditioned to a heavenly temperature!), and refilled my ice stashes and fluids. Finally, the end of the 20k felt attainable, and I chugged back to the house, where tired but happy campers were gathering. Quick shower, then into the van for celebratory acai bowls—talk about heavenly!
Tara convened a final camp debrief at Huggos on the Rocks, with drawings for Zoot schwag were held. Yummy food and drinks along with much laughter and a few misty-eyed goose-bumpy stories were shared…and we were even convinced to all get up and take a hula lesson with the evening’s entertainment. Even Maya–future epicWoman for sure!—got into the act!
So ends another epic adventure…probably my most satisfactory—and enjoyable!–one of all four camps. We had a super group of campers who all worked and played well together, and I came into this camp with modest goals (no harm to body, psyche, or equipment!) and few expectations, and a whole lot of gratitude for my family and the forces of the universe who allowed me to be here; that made a huge difference,
Thanks again to Etienne, David, Bruce, Sarah, and of course, the amazing and inspiring T, for filling our days and our hearts with activities, and perspective this week….and kudos and hugs to Ann, Joey-Lynn, Robin, Carmen, KatieM and Stewie—you all are incredible women, and I feel honored to have had the opportunity to share this camp with you! Mahalo.