I Ate a Bagel for Breakfast...

In the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle, my blog has fallen through the cracks.  With departure to Ecuador less than a week away, it seemed high time to start writing once again.

This post’s title suggests a focus on delicious carbs, but is actually about the elements of preparation for this trip that have required me to step out of my comfort zone, or at the very least, try at a few things I might normally not.  So, I ate a bagel for breakfast...

In the last two years, I have moved significantly away from the grain-based food that previously dominated my intake in favor of foods high in protein and lots and lots of veggies.  I can say with almost absolute certaintity that the last bagel I had was on Sunday, January 8 of last year – Justin picked up bagel sandwiches from Bagels and Baguettes on Mass Ave before we headed to the climbing gym.  It was the day before my first official nutrition program at CFSA, and although I had previously been approximating a paleo diet for nearly a year, on that day I was working hard to eat all of the foods that were about to be forbidden for the subsequent 6 weeks.

As an aside, all DC-based friends should make an effort to make it to Bagels and Baguettes – absolutely worth the induced food-coma.

On December 1^st of this year, I awoke at 5:30 a.m. in a cabin near Shenandoah National Park where I had spent the previous night with several new friends who will also travel to Ecuador in January.  The cabin was owned by one of the team members, and with a 14-mile training hike planned, he had graciously offered a place for everyone to stay the night before.  As I sat enjoying my bacon for breakfast and watching everyone else munch on bagels, I started thinking more and more about eating in Ecuador.  It is feasible, and even likely, that at some point in Ecuador I will find myself facing a carb-loaded meal prior to a day on the mountain with few other options for caloric intake.  I do not want to find myself eating a bagel before a day of hiking and climbing in Ecuador, unsure of how my body might respond.  And so, I took what might seem to be a small step to many, but was most certainly a nutritional-outlier within my own life, and I had a bagel for breakfast.  I had feared a significant sugar crash midway through the hike, but was able to keep it at bay by snacking throughout the day.  I was less fortunate after eating a few gu-packets during interval training at CFSA several weeks later.  Within an hour, I was shaky and ill in the wake of the sugar crash.  More nutritional experimentation has followed as I strive to find a good balance of easy-intake, high calorie food, that doesn’t leave me feeling ill.

During this same hike, my speed-walking skills proved problematic.  I’ve always been a fast walker – don’t blame me, I get it from my dad – but this expedition requires moving as a unit and as a rope-team.  “No one gets to go the pace they want to,” was the perfect summation of this experience.  It’s a matter of everyone continually adjusting their pace to meet the needs of each rope team.  I’m a tremendous advocate of teamwork in almost all realms of life, but admittedly this poses a unique challenge, as it’s a shift from how I’ve previously perceived “doing my best” during athletic based events.  The goal is not to work harder, go faster, do more…it’s to slow down, be deliberate and conscientious in every step and movement, to be constantly evaluating what adjustments need to be made for the next step – of note, I’ve also been warned that moving at even 150 vertical ft./hour will at times become physically exhausting.

When I used to climb with Justin, he used to tease that I sometimes seemed to “scramble” up the wall, particularly at challenging points in a route, trying to push through it as quickly as possible, and ultimately making mistakes I otherwise wouldn’t – he wasn’t wrong and he wasn’t the only person to notice.  And while he was known to tease me (and everyone he climbed with) with comments like, “Well, just do better” and “Hold on tighter,” he also was constantly providing valuable insight and reminding me to stop, breathe, consider my next movement, trust my foot placement – “yoga on a wall” with purpose and intention given to every movement and every choice of hand and foot placement.

The value in carrying these lessons from the climbing gym and the trail into my everyday life has not been lost in the previous year…

And while making each movement a conscientious and well-thought out choice has its benefits, so too can the details be over-thought…a specialty of mine.  In discussing which layers to wear, the benefits of thumbholes, hood vs. hat, synthetic vs. down, smartwool vs. capilene and on and on, one of the guides (who have both been incredibly helpful) advised, with a grin on his face, “Just put on four layers and walk uphill.”  Oh…yes, that.  And so while I am incredibly aware that his comment is a bold understatement made in an effort to coax laughter from my otherwise overwhelmed state, it also acutely highlighted a reality – so much of this trip, and life, is based in personal preference.  Without prior experience or in the process of taking experiences to a new level, much is unknown and much can be overwhelming, so it’s wise prepare to the extent possible, and then jump into the experience with enthusiasm, an open mind, and a readiness to make the necessary changes the next time around…

My greatest source of stress is not related to fear or anxiety – it comes as the result of uncertaintity in my preparation, the number of unknowns, and the anticipation of trying something unfamiliar and with “uncontrollables” that can’t be overlooked; the chance of failure due to weather conditions or altitude-sickness or food poisoning, among other issues.  Regardless, I am striving, with varying degrees of success, to enjoy the preparation, the planning, the process.  What a shame it would be if after all the work put in, I walked away from this trip only being able to say that I climbed a mountain.  This trip – as seems to be the case with any challenge or adventure – is about so much more than that.  It would be a shame to overlook the opportunities I have had to try something different, to step out of the normalcy of my routine, and to learn.

Stop, Sit, Be...

This post was not my intended post – that post was nearing completion when life led my writing in a slightly different direction.  I scratched – or at the very least significantly irritated – my cornea this week.  It’s a repeat occurrence for me, as I also did this when I was eight – I remember being substantially more enthused about wearing an eye patch at that time than I am now.  Aside from serving as a trendy fashion statement that boldly declares “I’m a little bit clumsy and good at getting my hands too close to my eyes,” the patch also brings to light the significance and importance in depth perception (and my recent lack of it).  Driving was, by and large, out for several days.

Home sick from work on Tuesday, I found myself restless.  Aside from the diminishing eye pain and a poor sense of space secondary to the patch I’d find myself wearing for the subsequent days, I felt fine.  I sat on my bed with nothing to do – or rather nothing that I could do and feeling very much out of sorts because of it.  I can recall few other instances in the last several months when I’ve sat in this apartment without the sense of hurried anxiety that there was so much I should be doing.  But in that moment on Tuesday, there was nothing…and after a few minutes, it felt sort of nice.  Actually, really nice.  I looked around my room and enjoyed, after 3 months in this apartment, what very well might have been my first chance to simply be there, to appreciate and simply sit in that space.

My last post was all about living urgently.  And you should – or at least I think a person should.  But in the midst of all that urgency, it’s also important to take pause every once in a great while, to step back, look at your life and appreciate all the living you’ve been able to do and the people that have been helping you do it.  In the last months I’ve often wondered if everything really does happen for a reason.  I have yet to find an answer that I’m sure of, and for right now, maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be…but I do very much believe, and try so very hard to remember, that everything happens with an opportunity to take something from it, an opportunity to walk away with a quiet lesson learned by living.  As much as I very much hope to avoid anymore eye-trauma, perhaps it all came together at just the right time and was a little gift from the universe to me, reminding me to stop and sit and be.