And the Teton Camp isn't even over yet.
Today (Saturday) is the last full day of camp and it has just been great. The weather turned a little bit cooler today and in the morning it rained. No problem, as we retreated to the classroom for a neat clinic on Crewing and Pacing presented by Marshall. As the group includes some Badwater aspirants, this presentation was of particular interest.
Then Lisa led us in another core session. Another challenging core session. A session that included some creative uses of indoor space, including the walls and the wooden hand rails that served as ballet bars for the group. We also did stairs during this time and Lisa mercifully ended the session with some yoga type stretches.
After lunch, we hit the great outdoors - going to an area of the mountain known as Rick's Basin. Its part of the Grand Teton Races course (hope to see you there next weekend!) and it is just beautiful! Its my third visit to Rick's Basin and I swear its gets more beautiful every time. The hills of Rick's Basin are alive! Wildflowers of the most brilliant colors and mountain views that make you think how good it all is. After this 6 mile loop, we returned to the base of the mountain and the group began the ascent up Fred's Mountain again.
Now mountaineers may scoff at my use of the term 'ascent', but I think this is a good climb! Some of us went a ways up and turned around, while others followed Jay for some extra mileage and a further preview of the race course.
I have heard that these camps are transformational...this week, I got to see evidence of just that. For example, hats off here to one of the campers who was delayed in following Jay's group, but still took on the challenge to go the extra distance. He didn't catch Jay and the lead group, but I understand his route took him further than anyone travelled today. This camper has really gone the distance time and again at this camp!
Or take the camper who has thrown her hat in the ring and will be toeing the line at the Teton 50 Miler next weekend. Lisa and Jay are so happy to get her application - she is a very talented runner and a great person! - and she will ready herself for the race with confidence, knowing she will be quite ably paced by Marshall!
More about the other spectacular campers tomorrow...for now, I am going to catch some shut-eye and hope I can make it through tomorrow's final camp workout.
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