The Tale of Two Cities

The Tale of Two Cities

Indianapolis, IN and St. Paul, MN

9-20-12 to 9-23-12

107 to 104 days to Africa



The "challenge within the challenge" made its way to the front of our minds this weekend.  With Deb away at a conference in Indianapolis for a board that she is on and Greg back home in St. Paul, we faced the challenge of continuing our training absent each other's presence for support.  Although significant distance stood between us, we both shared the same goal - to continue to train for our climb up Kilimanjaro.

Deb faced the challenge of finding ways to workout while traveling.  She knew she could always go to the hotel's exercise room that was open 24 hours a day, but there was nothing very exciting about that.  Plus, it seemed so forced - a feeling that does not make exercise an enjoyable activity. 

Fortunately, Deb made a great connection with two women who attended the conference with her.  The ladies are avid runners.  Both are in their mid to late fifties. One of them has completed 15 marathons and the other nine.  When they heard about the Kilimanjaro Challenge early in the day, they eagerly invited Deb to join them for a run after the day's events were over.  The offer was a generous one, but those who know Deb may already know that she doesn't particularly enjoy running for the sake of running.  Hence, an internal dialogue began within - do I go? Do I not go?  Will I be able to keep up?  Wouldn't it be easier to workout on my own?  Many other excuses and justifications that often times act as senseless barriers to exercise, especially when one is traveling, ran through her head.  Ultimately, Deb decided to join them because when it came down to it there was no reason not too. 

Deb and and her running partners set off on their run through the streets of downtown Indianapolis.  They ran a route that the hotel kindly provides on a map contained on a laminated card for its running guests.  It was a very scenic route, and Deb enjoyed the opportunity to get to know her fellow conference attendees better.  They spent some of the time talking about different places that Deb and Greg could go to hike, cross country ski and snow shoe as part of their training for the climb.  Later that night, Deb also did some good old fashioned push-ups to make the workout complete.

Meanwhile, back in St. Paul, Greg's challenge was not "what to do" in regards to working out, but rather, "when to do it?"  Greg had plans on Friday night to go out to dinner for a friend's birthday, and the opportunity to follow that activity up with meeting another friend for a late night movie.  The plan for Saturday and Sunday was to shut down the garden plots for the season, complete yard cleanup work, organize the garage, and clean the house.  The "challenge within the challenge" for Greg became when can the workout take place in a way that minimized the interruption in the many other activities he had set out to accomplish throughout the weekend.

Greg decided to make a go of it on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.  He decided to put in a serious training session for the Tin Man event that he is coordinating to take place in October 2012 www.tinman2012.blogspot.com  Once the decision was made, Greg took off like a lightning bolt for a bike ride that took him around Como Lake twice and followed that up with a run along the very same path.  The grand total of distance that Greg traveled was 6.82 miles in 40 minutes and 56 seconds.  Needless to say the "bolt of lightning" was reduced to static electricity by the end of the workout, but the sense of accomplishment that followed made the effort feel worth it.