A learning experience

People are catching on to the fact that I'm hiking a lot.
Conversations are adapting as family, friends and colleagues get acquainted with Team in Training and the big Grand Canyon hike. Slowly but surely, "How was your weekend?" is becoming, "Did you hike this weekend?"
The training is a great conversation starter, and I'm finding that I'm learning a lot about others through this process.
I learned that the sister of a woman I work with does the 3-day breast cancer walk each year (and that she forgot her chapstick once and will never make that mistake again). I learned that another colleague tries to gather a group together to hike the canyon whenever he thinks his age is catching up with him and he needs to feel young again.
And I've learned that my husband looks shockingly identical to his grandfather, who died of leukemia at an early age and never got the chance to meet his grandkids.
I'm also learning about the generosity others, and how that generosity and support can keep a person motivated to get out there and train, even when that person would rather lay on the couch all day.
I guess it really is more about the journey than the destination.