The Down and Up of It

They say hiking the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim is an inversion of the normal path of hikers -- going first down then up.  For me this upended idea brims with the notion of building resilience.  It is recognizing the challenge, meeting the struggle head on, and slogging one's way to the other side that opens the gift of self-efficacy.  I did this!  Indeed, if I don't explore the depths of the canyon floor, I will be deprived of the buoyant heights of realizing the Southern Rim (my goal).  The down and up fortify my body and my spirit -- for the next challenge and the one after that.  Those challenges, for me, make up a life well lived and well loved.  It is with this self awareness that I meditate on the coming long day in September.  

Update: Training week eight: started the week on the versa climber at 4,000 vertical feet (yesterday).  This backs up to some amazing hikes in the last several weeks -- the best of which were experienced on the trails just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The week's training calendar calls for about four hours of cross training and 80+ minutes of running (add to that two days of Bikram . . .) all with intervals (except the yoga, of course).

Motivation: 

• The training: the more I train, the more I want to train.  
• New shoes: switching to La Sportiva Busheidos after the Salomon Speedcross tongue kept drifting and irritating my foot.  
• The team: best pal Chip (Deb) is joining us for the hike!!

In order to succeed, people need a sense of self-efficacy, to struggle together with resilience to meet the inevitable obstacles and inequities of life. ~Albert Bandura