Jenista Trails

Wednesday, August 30 This is where the totals--walking, biking, ox cart--should be but I don't want to add them up.  They would belie what I'm about to write. After much processing, I've finally arrived at this conclusion: I was not on a pilgrimage.  Not by my definition anyway.  The Trail was an homage, a celebration, a memorial event. This is an important distinction for me.  When I was able to acknowledge that the Producers of the Trail had such a concept in mind, a unique and magnificent event, I was able to be grateful and feel privileged to have participated.  More significant for me was how it helped me define success in my performance. Jim and I discussed this at length.  He kept paralleling our journey to that of Father Sorin and the six brothers who set out with him for South Bend.  He impressed upon me that, in walking in their footsteps, we were not traveling as solitary pilgrims moving in the same direction.  We were recreat...

Saturday, August 26 Walk: 3 miles Ox Cart: 0 Temperature?  Who knows!  It was a fine day. What can I say?  It was a pilgrim party, a huge pilgrim party that started with photos and music and speeches at Howard Park.  It became a parade, spanning about a mile and including marching band, through town.  There was a somber period as we prayed at the graves of Father Sorin and the brothers who traveled with him from Vincennes to South Bend. It was pretty much contained chaos, especially so when we arrived on campus.  Mass was followed by a huge picnic on South Quad.  Although the school and community celebrated around us, it was a bittersweet day for the core pilgrims. I realize posts have been on the dry side  (just the facts, ma'am) and skeletal.  I had intended meatier recaps of each day but the Trail became bigger than I had ever imagined.  Even if I had retained more, had more time to pass it on to you, I don't believ...

Friday, August 25 Walk: 17.9 miles Ox Cart: 0 ? Degrees  (I am beyond behind and losing more of the info each day--it's become a tumble of memories.) It seemed strange to walk through neighborhoods and on city streets.  But it was cool to see the folks who came out to watch us go by.  Some watched from porches and waved.  Others waited at the curb to shake hands, take photos, cheer us on.  School children lined the sidewalk to high-five with us. I felt pretty much myself but my feet had reached that point--like on the Camino--where they felt like blocks of wood.  Lift, plod.  Lift, plod.  So I didn't really push myself. . .until I reached the rest stop that wasn't a stop.  We could grab a drink or use the toilets on the go.  People wanted to just finish. The remaing distance was 1.5 miles.  As I continued past, I was seized by the fact that, having traveled over 300 miles, 1.5 was close enough to taste the goal. ...

Tuesday, August 24 Walk: 15.3 miles Ox Cart: 2 miles 70 degrees It was a little alarming when I couldn't eat more than a few bites at breakfast.  Because they'd told me nausea was one of the symptoms to watch out for, I spoke with the Prompt women assigned to us that morning.  As a precaution, they gave me a shot of Zofran.  I was slightly discouraged since I'd woken up feeling better, hoping to be at peak performance.  Instead, I reminded myself that paying attention to my health was more important than how much of the Trail I covered.  After all, I wanted to be able to walk with incoming family on the last day. Walking wasn't quite the struggle as the two previous days.  The shot allowed me to keep fueling my body and the cool weather helped prevent overheating.  However, pit stops were becoming less useful.  Time was precious, the stops not really providing rest.  We rushed to use facilities, grab food and drink, reapply sunsc...

Wednesday, August 23 Walk: 13.8 miles Ox Cart: 0 miles Ambulance: 1.2 miles 72 degrees We started walking as a huge, combined group through the grounds of Culver Academies.  Since it was overcast and cool, it was an effort to remember to hydrate.  I thought my pace was slower because we were walking on uneven ground.  Yet, off campus, back on asphalt, I was only slightly faster.  Like the day before, my body seemed to have hit a wall.  It didn't bother me much because I felt now that I could let my body call the shots, rather than my will. At the rest stop just beyond Culver's campus, Jim and Jerri decided to go Blue for the short 2.5 leg.  Their plan was to start at the front and gradually fall back to Blue Ox.  I declined to join them--my body wasn't up for it and I didn't care to force it into that punishing pace. The Trail took us out of the shady environs in and around Culver, but it was still a bit overcast and sometimes breezy. At th...

Tuesday, August 22 Walk: 15 miles Ox Cart: 1.5 miles 77 degrees, rain We started off the first day with the 5-day pilgrims (almost 100) in the rain.  Producers and ISP were monitoring for lightning, which thankfully did not appear during our walk.  Eventually, it cleared up but remained overcast and cool.  Many of us kept on rain gear for a while because the forecast called for torrential rain ahead of us. The dynamic of this group, its larger number, was significantly different from the core group. The intimacy was gone but anonymity became possible.  I was just another body among many.  I ebbed and flowed from front to back as I engaged in conversation or needed to change pace.  There was less pressure to perform to an external standard.  New pilgrims, knowing no differently, were on and off the ox cart to rest or to seek foot care. Meanwhile, I was drenched with sweat because wonderfully water-resistant ponchos by definition don't breathe. ...

Monday, August 21 Walk: 13 miles Bike: 18 miles Ox Cart: 0 88 degrees; Real Feel ? Third time' s a charm?  Been having trouble with wifi and Blogger.  Hopefully, this time it'll post. This was probably the most unique birthday I've had--on the ND Trail, watching a solar eclipse. Our last as core group.  Last day of biking so Katherine let us choose to bike more of the walking miles.  Last opportunity for the reprieve for tired, aching feet?  Oh heck yes!  I'm gonna miss my bike and my bell. Photos of the dinner settings tell the story of how well they are feeding us than I could. Jim taking in the scene. The Wabash in the early morning.

Sunday, August 20 Walk: 14.5 miles Bike: 23.7 miles Ox Cart: 0 83 degrees; Real Feel 85 (The forecast; don't know what it actually was, but felt way hotter.) This morning, Blue and Gold walked together through Prophetstown since we would participate in a smudging ceremony.  I started the day tired and the heat with high humidity wasn't helping.  Although my stride was at or above my usual, I simply could not keep up with anyone.  I felt like I was battling upstream.  So I quit battling and settled into a pace that didn't feel too taxing.  It was a not agonizing to decide so because vehicles are not allowed on the pedestrian trail--no ox cart looming behind me.  Whew! By the time we arrived at the lunch rest stop, the heat had killed my appetite.  I forced myself to eat the salad out of a boxed lunch and part of a banana.  I tried a frozen fruit bar in an attempt to cool down. We still had half a mile (?) to walk.  Howev...

Saturday, August 19 Bike: 0 Walk: 15.6 miles (not exactly) Ox Cart: ? 81 degrees; Real Feel 85 Wow, you might be saying, where did Karen get the time and energy to catch up?!  In a weak moment--beyond fatigued, riddled with aches, and inner introvert screaming "Leave me alone!"--she heard there was a Starbucks in the lobby and, pretty please, asked Jim to bring back a latte when finished with his post-Trail massage.  Expecting a tall, she received a venti (Jim ordered grande but the barrista mistakenly made venti--there!  We've covered all the sizes.).  Between that and two very irritated Achilles tendons, she's having trouble falling asleep. However, tomorrow is another long day (39 miles, completed by 3 p.m.), so I will try shortly. No biking today because the Trail actually joins a trail: the Wabash Heritage Trail on the banks of the Wabash River.  It's a lovely shaded path, with some hazards.  Mud, stone "steps" across a creek, fallen and...

Friday, August 18 Walk: 13 miles Bike: 28 miles Ox Cart: 0 (woo hoo!) Didn't get any numbers but it was definitely cooler and less humid! Maybe it was the nicer weather, maybe it was having that 20-mile rest yesterday, but I felt strong walking.  I was mostly among the middlers, but a couple times found that I powered up to the front.  Until I got told that the lead car wanted me to slow down.  Foolish, yes, to admit that I felt confused and ashamed, as though I'd committed some flaming faux pas.  I didn't understand and didn't want to be a trouble-maker; I slipped to nearly the back of the pack, hugging the white line.  As with any group of people, there is some drama.  I don't want to be the cause of any; I try to stay invisible.  I'd unintentionally broken out of stealth mode and hoped this would put me back in it. Meanwhile, Jim was still struggling, on and off the ox cart.  His feet...there are healing blisters, developing one...

Thursday, August 17 Walk: 13 miles Bike: 0 (scheduled 20 miles) Ox Cart: 20 miles 76 degrees; didn't have Real Feel info When the Prompt Medical Team woman did Jim's footcare before we left for the Trail, she--and other members of her team--insisted his Smart Wool socks and hiking boots were causing all the blisters.  He was equally insistent that he trained for months in them without a single blister and that we know to change into fresh socks at each rest stop because we're sweating more in the humid climate here.  They insisted they would shop for some proper socks for him.  We'll see... One of the pilgrims, ND administrative staff, had pre-run today's route yesterday.  He warned us the bike ride was hilly and some were steep.  During the second stretch of walking, toward lunch and biking, I had a debate with myself and with God.  I am comfortable on a bike but not confident, and hills are a weakness for me.  Try or jump on the ox cart? ...

Wednesday, August 16 Bike: 23 miles Walk: 8 miles As usual, another early morning.  Jim had to show up in the hospitality room for massage and foot care, so I asked the other massage therapist to work on my stiff Achilles tendons. Boxed breakfast on the bus. We started out biking.  It was pretty warm already, but early morning and creating our own breeze kept us relatively cool.  And it was absolutely glorious to cover all those miles.  There were some gentle hills that challenged me, otherwise rode in mid to high second gear.  The first rest stop was at a small, old church, where members of the local community had a spread of snacks and people came to greet and meet us. It was fairly hot by the time we started walking, so we were glad it was short 8 miles.  Ending at the covered bridge felt like making a grand entrance:  people waited to greet us and direct us to the general store for dinner.  Although our meal was still catered ...