Cleanse

Lately, I've been focusing my time and energy on taking care of myself and surrounding myself with good friends. I have been pursuing some job leads, including an interview....and then a second interview with a law firm in Bend. The reality of potentially returning to the nine-to-five world, and everything that working at a busy law firm entails, hit me like a swift kick in the gut. It's not a bad thing, but suddenly my freedom has significantly increased in value. So, I am savoring every second of it by spending my time outdoors, going to yoga, and checking things off my "I want to go explore this" list. Life is short.


Two weeks ago, at an inversion workshop at the local yoga studio, I tweaked a muscle in the middle of my back while doing a tripod headstand with splits. Ouch! Luckily, my friend Jenny, who is a massage therapist, saw the pain cross my face and did a little work on it in the parking lot. It felt much better at the time, but soon tightened up to the point that it hurt to do anything but lie flat on my back. Then Dee came to the rescue and spent 4 days with me out in the Steens Mountains and Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. Most of those 4 days were spent in various hot springs, though we took breaks to hike and look for wildflowers, sip wine, and cook delicious meals. It was a beautifully desolate land; it felt like we were on another planet, which was something we both needed at that moment. I found that when I was not sitting in a hot spring, I tended to be laying on my back staring at the sky, or laying on my stomach inspecting wildflowers. I returned to Bend feeling cleansed and refreshed, though my back was still sore.

Steens Mountains and Alvord Desert

The biggest, loveliest full moon I have ever seen.

wildflower near Hart Mtn.

 I continued on the cleansing theme with a 24-hour green juice cleanse. I made my own juice with Travis and Kellie's juicer, using romaine lettuce, chard, kale, fennel, ginger, lemon, pear, broccoli, cucumber, and celery. YUM! Although I had an active day of mountain biking and then climbing, I never felt hungry. I drank quite a bit of juice and felt that I could have kept going for a second day, but I was low on ingredients and my yogurt and cherries were speaking to me from the fridge the next morning. 

Ingredients.

My body was grateful, feeling light and energized. I continued spoiling myself with morning runs in Shevlin, midday swims in the sun at Juniper, and plenty of yoga and bike rides. I went to see Jenny at her office on Wednesday afternoon, where I dozed off and may had drooled a little as she worked out my back. I felt like I could do backflips after she was done! This feeling continued into Thursday, and I don't think I have ever felt so much like a fish in the pool. My back felt like liquid, and what was meant to be a short swim went for almost an hour nonstop.

I had been thinking that I would abstain from racing triathlons this year, mainly to save money, but also because I was getting such a late start on training. Recently, however, I have been having second thoughts ("one little triathlon wouldn't be so bad...."). I may end up signing up for the Deschutes Dash at the last minute, though my sights are truly set on ultra trail running and a full iron man in the next year or two.

Katy and me atop McKenzie Pass, one of my favorite rides in Oregon.

Things seem to be falling into place, for better or for worse. I have been valuing my "girls' nights," which usually involve Dee and Jenny, Dee's kitchen table, 2-5 dogs, and a bottle of wine or two. I have been spending most of my time in Bend at Travis and Kellie's, though I promise, Smith Rock, I haven't forgotten you....


Most of all, I have finally been learning to focus on the present moment and enjoy it to its fullest, by treating my body well, honoring myself, and showing gratitude. I will need this lesson when I re-enter the working world, whenever that may be.