Wholistic Fitness

Red (Mother)Earth, Blue (Father) Sky… ilg can be found here if not in the high alpine terrain… love EVERYTHING ABOUT the high desert… and to ilg? it gets more and more sacred as ilg grows older and shares my special sacred spaces with Dewa who REALLY vibes in Auspicious Ways among this pinon-studded, arid Heavenly Realm… pic by Dewa, yesterday near Chinle, AZ

Solid Day/Sacred Place… Dewa (11) put together Her finest race of the season in the toughest Mecca of Native American running at Saturday’s Old Oraibi 5k…

Dewa won her (listen to it…18&under) Age Group In 35:30 to finish 6th OA out of 42 racers…Her effort was strong enough to get Her ol’ Daddy/pacer to 2nd AG Podium! … cuz ilg was GoPro’ing the 5k for race director and BFAM (Brother From Another Mother) Juwan Nuvayokva – the famed coach of the 14x State Champion Hopi XC Running Team – ilg kinda missed how Dewa managed Her start.  “Every step in a 5k is critical,”    i re-Minded Her before Juwan sent the 40+ deep 5k field down the ancient mesa into the soft sands before the racers had to climb back UP to the sacred mesa to the finish line in the middle of Turtle Island’s oldest city; Oraibi.

your feeble teacher of no-thing had to film the start and then race back to Dewa wh(om) was hanging into the top five… didn’t catch Her fleet, flying little feet until nearly the first Aid Station at the Old Church, about 1/2 K into the race…

“Daddy, OMG, this native girl went out soooo fast,  i decided to pace myself,”   ilg’s wide-eyed lil’ Rinpoche gasped…“Is that okay, Daddy?”   

“Totally, okay Baby Girl,”  ilg gasped back…“let’s shake out, and run relaxed before the soft sand descent..”   

it was halfway down the soft sand descent that ilg noticed D’s breathing was way too high up in Her clavicle region.  Her precious shoulder’s were drawn toward Her ears (which, btw ilg loves to nibble on)…

She was tying up…“cramping again,” ilg thought to ilgself…

Cramping is not unc(om)mon among young runners…their precious organs and CT (Connective Tissue) grow at such an accelerated pace,  it’s hard for all the systems to sync at cardiorespiratory threshold zones…

“Are you cramping, Presh?” 

“Yes, Dad…it hurts…”

“Yup.  Sorry babe.   Ugh.   It’ll likely transition out on the uphill, you’ll just need to run through the pain till then,  you Go(o)d?” 

“Yup…”  She was gritting through the pain…

Her high ponytail flipping back and forth seemingly dancing in the shadow-filled early morning rays…. a playful juxtaposition to Her inner pain.

Dewa has had several races dismantled by cramping.   ilg prayed fervently to the Hopi Katsina’s that They award Her freed(om) fr(om) Her cramping…

had to continue filming by stopping, and re-catching Dewa.   on a personal level,  i ran with the only 55+ Male in front of my filming antics and knew in ilg’s spiritual heart,  could have beat him even on a bad day…ilg chose to continue filming and supporting Dewa instead of winning the top spot on the podium.   this decision felt perfect to ilg’s Anahata Chakra.

by the time we flipped it and began the long grinder climb to the finish atop the Sacred Mesa,  D’s cramp had disappeared;   She took a sip of water at Aid#3 and i poured a cup of water over Her treasured head..

“Okay Presh,  it’s Grind Time;  think about Deadwood Mountain, Hogsback…all your training;  it’s time NOW for Colorado Mountain Girl to GRIND!” 

and grind ilg’s Girl did…

there were ZERO weaknesses in D’s ascent…She totally managed Her heart rate and sand-running tactics PERFECTLY!  She passed many on that long grinder climb, saying,

“Great Job!” as She did…

Dewa began to accelerate the m(om)ent we off the soft sands to a rising, rim-rock traverse into Oraibi…aside fr(om) a few coaching sutra’s like,

“right toe in”
“hands higher”
“arms drive the legs”
“big toe push-off” 

Dewa raced Her own race…so much so?  that next year…the last before ilg lets Her race the 10k distance?   She’ll be racing on Her own as She gave “permission” to Her daddy to race at my own pace next year…

As She sprinted across the Finish Line,   Dewachen had chopped nearly 3-minutes off Her time fr(om) last year and went from 23rd overall a year ago to 6th overall and won Her 18-U AG…

so, this Blog?  is devoted

to Dewa who slayed in the Hopi soft sands and sacred mesa’s… so much Dharma during this Sacred Sweat Traditional Pilgrimage… Lewis Tewanami probably smiled fr(om) His heavenly realm when He looked down upon the race and saw a White Corn Girl racing alongside Her White Corn Dad, just slayin’ it with Sacred Sweat across those soft, seductive (and energy-sapping) red Hopi sands…

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