Picking up from last time –
So, I got my guides, got my blindfold, and we went to the start line.
It was odd to me that I really didn’t have a great sense while wearing the blindfold of which way the start line was. I wasn’t completely sure whether we were in the corral or not. The beginning was more confusing than I thought it was going to be.
Soon enough, we were off to the races!
I’ve talked before about running making me feel free – about how sometimes when I run it almost feels like I’m flying. I just love taking those strides…
But I did not really know what this free flying felt like, until I felt it blindfolded. I really felt the wind as I ran through the air. I’d thought I’d felt wind before, but I felt it so much more intensely while being blindfolded. I felt every step too.
I didn’t have a chance to overthink, to get distracted by things – to look in the mirror at my strides at the gym, or to be on the lookout for a mile marker or other things during a race – I was really focusing on one step at a time. And it felt so truly freeing.
Isn’t that weird? You have to concentrate more than usual, and I’d think that might be inhibiting. But to me, for some reason, it felt very freeing.
Getting back to my guides – Nick is a highway patrol officer, and he’s former military. So, he knew how to quickly and calmly describe every obstacle. He’d say things like “we’re gonna run about 350 yards. Then there’s a slatted wall about 10 feet high..” He’d explain, in as great detail as one could with words, what I’d have to do at each obstacle. It was very helpful.
I’ll admit I only had a very light grasp on what 350 yards meant, but thankfully from so much half marathon running, I did have some idea because I know about how far that last tenth is. (It’s 176 yards.)
Tackling the obstacles was funny. I was definitely more cautious than I needed to be…. Afterward, I got to see some photos after the race where I’m carefully putting my hands out, feeling what’s in front of me, “climbing” over short little wooden obstacles – that people who can see are just walking over.
And this is where I’ll pick up next time.