Windshield Time - A Crazy, Beautiful Thing
I have some crazy friends that do crazy things - things that ignite their souls as well as their bodies. The soul part feeds their lives. The body part, it breaks their body down, but only for a few days. Some of those friends say the very same things about me. It’s a healthy and sick interdependence of being braver and stronger together.
Last week, I was "sick and crazy" by competing in the 70.3 mile Ironman in Saint George, Utah. It was hard. I had a few physical and mechanical challenges along the way. The 1.1 mile cold water swim started rough for me because I panicked and started breathing erratically (which makes it really hard to swim) and I had to stop on a buoy for 60 seconds to calm my breathing down. I lost my gears before I was halfway through the 56.1 mile bike ride, just a few miles from all the climbs (I lost about 30 minutes from that mishap). The 13.1 mile run was the hardest run I had ever run in training or at competitions. It had way more hard climbs than I trained for and my time suffered there too. My times always suffer on the run, but that's another story for another time. Despite all of this, it was still such a fabulous day and I loved it!
One of the best parts of the day was seeing one of my best friends at different parts of the grueling race. He came with me to cheer me on.
The day after we got back, he started an epic adventure of his own. He ran a 250 mile foot race on the mountain trails of Arizona. He climbed over 40,000 feet in 5 days with about ten hours of sleep. It was amazing. I, along with another friend and his family, got to see him off at the start. And then I got to track him on an app, day and night, to see his progress. I was a little obsessed, if I'm honest. I got up several times in the middle of the night each night to see where he was. It was a grueling and amazing week for both of us. I got to do a FaceTime with him part way through and I got a little emotional when I saw his face. He looked so worn and determined at the same time. I met up with him in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday (day four of his adventure). I brought a friend who accompanied him on the last 100 miles (see, there is that sick and crazy friend thing again). My wife, some other friends, and I were able to be super fans at the finish line, screaming like rabid banshees as he crossed the 257 mile finish line! It was so spectacular! I was honored to get a big sweaty and stinky hug at the finish line as I told him how proud I was of him.
But there are a few other beautiful braver and stronger together moments that stood out for me in our two adventures. On the road trip up to Utah and back, we had some great "Windshield Time". Windshield Time is when friends take a road trip and stare out the windshield of the car and share some deep and meaningful things with each other. Men tend to find it easier to share deeper things when we don't have to have constant eye contact, and we got to do that. I learned some things about him that I was previously unaware of. I think he learned some things about me too. Inevitably, we got closer on that trip. I think the emotion I felt for him when I saw his weariness and determination was catapulted a bit by the closeness I experienced as we looked out the windshield and shared from our hearts a few days earlier.
So, here's my recommendation for you: do some crazy and beautiful things with your buddy. You don't have to be quite as sick and crazy as we are with Ironman competitions and 250 mile multi-day trail runs, but you could take a drive to a cool hiking trail or a mountain lake. As you stare out the windshield, see what comes up. Ask about career aspirations or how close they are to their wife or kids. Ask how their parents are doing. My friend and I did not have a checklist. We just took a road trip together and ended up having deep and meaningful conversation, ultimately strengthening our bond.
That is a crazy and beautiful thing!
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