Until a couple of weekends ago, I hadn’t slept in a tent for years. During our early years of marriage, Bill and I enjoyed seeing our beautiful country on a couple of different cross-country camping trips and then another tour of the Pacific Northwest, south to San Francisco, and back to Utah.
Circa 1982
After our final trip, I told Bill I was done with camping unless our tent had air conditioning, a working shower, and a hair dryer. So imagine Bill’s surprise when I told him that I wanted to run a Ragnar Trail Relay and camp in the great outdoors again.
Running trumps camping, so I joined a team. Before I knew it, I was headed to the mountains of West Virginia to camp overnight with a great group of women. To get an idea of what camping and running over the course of two days is like, check out this amazing video my husband Bill made!
During my 24-hours of camping, running, and washing off mud; I learned the following:
1. Mosquitoes apparently don’t like mud either.
2. I really can go two days without a shower, blow dryer, and flat iron.
2. Mud washes out of clothes more easily than the crevices around toenails.
3. It really is possible for nine women to to spend twenty-four plus hours together and get along great.
4. Nothing tastes better than cold sweet potato fries at 12:30 AM after a night run.
5. Those rain boots I see every spring at Costco don’t seem so silly now.
6. Earplugs might help block out the sound of a squeaky ceiling fan, but not people talking all night long.
7. Critters running along the trail at midnight want to pass without being seen just as much as humans do.
8. As long as no one showers, no one appears to smell badly; until you walk in the door at home and your husband says, “You stink!”
9. Always take toilet paper with you whether going in the woods, or to a porta potty.
10. Running brings out the best in everyone.
- Questions:
- Do you enjoy camping?
- When and where did you camp last?
- Do you have vacation plans this summer?
Haha! I love camping, but my husband won’t go unless there’s a shower nearby. I think there’s something fun about being a mess for a few days while hiking around the woods, but if I was camping and running I’d definitely want a place to take showers!
Kristen recently posted…Her Tern Half Training: Week 10 And Hydration Questions
There were showers, but the lines were very long. My teammates and I chose to “wash” off with baby wipes before changing into our next set of running clothes. 😀
I ‘camp’ at Deep Creek MD. By camp I mean we rent a cabin in the woods surrounded by a lake and the house has all the amenities off home plus a pool!! Haha!
No camping in tents and stuff is NOT for me but I will have to suck it up since I signed up for Ragnar DC-haha!
That video is sooooo cool!! Getting me even more excited about Ragnar.
I only know 1 of my Ragnar SoleMates and an nervous and anxious about us all getting along.
I could get into your kind of camping!
Will you have a chance to meet and/or run with your teammates prior to Ragnar?
oh my gosh, this is so true. we just got back from a week long road trip around oregon and the dirt/toe nail situation is very real!
kristin | W [H] A T C H recently posted…BY FOOT: EXIT GLACIER, ALASKA
HaHaHa! 😀
Love these lessons. I don’t think I’ve ever slept in a tent, unless I’ve erased it from memory. Give me a rustic old cabin any day. But, I’d do it for a Ragnar Trail Relay!
HoHo Runs recently posted…I’m Humbled
Isn’t it amazing what we’ll do for running? 😀
We enjoy camping regularly, but it had been quite awhile since I tent camped. Although, due to lack of sleep I don’t exactly feel like I camped at Ragnar. 😉 It took me forever to get all of the dirt out from around my toenails! What the heck. I had a really great time with our group and I was really happy with the drama-free atmosphere we had, along with the W. Loudon crew.
Even though I’ve seen the video at least twice, I watched it again. Bill did such a fantastic job! I hope the knee surgery recovery is going smoothly.
Meagan recently posted…Work Hard, and Stay Humble
Thanks for asking about Bill’s knee. He has his surgery follow-up appointment tomorrow, and so far he says it’s feeling pretty good. I’ll let him know how much you enjoy the video. 😀
Haha great article
I love camping and my last trip was to Loch Voil in Scotland. Wild camping is my favourite as we can build a big fire for the chilly Scottish nights.
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This sounds like my kind of camping!