Days 6 & 7: 1.75 miles / Total miles: 4.16 / Days left: 172
Camping is all about becoming one with nature. Relaxing. And meditating.
And doing nothing. And blah blah blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Except breathing fresh, pure, air. And surviving without luxuries.
But on a scout campout? As a scout leader? There is no time for rest and relaxation.
Camping takes on a whole new meaning as a scout leader.
Even when we are not doing section activities, I am still “on the clock”.
The age of scouts I have, parents are allowed to drop off their scouts with me for the campout. And then leave.
Meaning I must have my eye on them from drop off to pickup.
I am not complaining.
But it can be mentally exhausting.
Thankfully, I do not realize just how mentally spent I am, until I get home and unpack whatever mode of transportation we took.
I basically need to go camping after camping.
I love scout campouts. I really do.
But I am constantly on my feet.
Constantly.
Let me give you an idea of what I mean by constantly:
My Fitbit goal is 8000 steps per day. I very rarely meet that goal.
This is an example of a normal week for me:
And here is what I did last week, since taking that first Little Step 2 the Summit:
Needless to say, my feet, my quads, my toes, my ankles, my lungs….all hurt come Sunday night.
I said I only walked 1.75 miles this weekend because that is the only amount I consciously tracked on my Fitbit via the exercise button.
But we did a lot of HARD walking. Our scout group participated in the beach cleanup. I walked on rocks. For nearly .5 miles.
I dont how many times I walked back and forth from the cantina and the adirondacks. At the end of Saturday, it felt like the walk kept getting longer by 100 feet with each trip.
Oh, and the adirondacks were located on the top of a bowl. Full of roots. So up and down, up and down. The below picture does not show the hill to get down to the fire pit area.
And then on Sunday, we finally hiked to the beach. Up and down. Over roots. Making sure feet were firmly planted to step up and down huge steps.
Oh my quads.
And the hike back up the cliffside back to camp….at one point I was sure we were climbing straight to the moon.
Ok. I am complaining. A little bit.
As a scout leader of impressionable youth, I need to show strength and persistence.
I am out of shape. My brain wants to quit. I can barely catch my breath.
But I have to keep going. I am showing my scouts how to keep going when you just want to quit.
And that is what is helping fuel every Little Step I take.
I am going to have days I want to quit. I know this about me. I quit most everything I start.
But something about this beginning, this goal, I can feel is already different.
