Thanks so much to everyone (who have numbered in the dozens) of you who have sent congratulatory notes and kind emails. I'm proud of what I've achieved at Badwater, but feel grossly undeserving of the kudos. People like Lisa Bliss and Valmir Nunez, to say nothing of the other incredible athletes who finished the race, are the ones deserving of the plaudits.
And to those of you who have supported Soles4Souls, I sincerely appreciate your generosity.
Physically, my recovery has been...fair. Fine, actually. I've completed five runs and one bike ride. The joints are a bit creaky, and my left achilles tendon is tight. The feet are looking pretty good. Otherwise, I'm fine, and chomping at the bit of fitness. Know thyself, and I know that I take a bit of time to recover...perhaps more than the next person. But I'm fine with that.
So many questions of "What's next?" It's a question, at least for my athletic self, that remains to be answered. Life is full right now, and wrapping my head around my next race or athletic goal seems trivial at the present. Suffice to say that I'll choose a goal worthy of achieving!
A nod to a number of friends: Nick ("Chip") Collins finished the Leadville Trail 100 in an impressive manner on Sunday. Ronda "Rooster" Sundermeier also notched a finish (5th overall woman!!) at Leadville, filling in the third (of four) 100-mile footraces she needs in order to be recognized as a finisher of the "Grand Slam" of ultramarathoning. Wasatch is next for Ronda. And dear friend Lisa Smith-Batchen has announced her next (AMAZING) goal of running across the United States next summer! WOW!
I just watched the trailer for a movie about Badwater that is due to be released soon. This quote of the "Badwater runner," by an unknown person of UK origin stuck out for me. It says so much, and concludes this post (and my Badwater experience) in a wonderful way:
"Until you’ve actually thought, “Could I do it?” you’d never, ever entertain the possibility that you couldn’t.
And then you see people doing it, quite comfortably, and you say, “Well they’re super-people.” They’re not.
Maybe they are super-people, but only because they have explored for themselves how it can be done. Not “it can’t be done.”
Gratefully,
Gregwww.giveshoes.org
