11 days and counting...

This morning I slept in. Last night I got home from the sauna absolutely exhausted. I realized that I have not slowed down yet, and it's time to do that...

Fortunately my pile of equipment that I still have to organize and pack comes down to this, which is really not that much. One more duffel bag and I should be done. I hope to do that today. I'm thankful for Southwest Airlines and their generous bag limits.

Yesterday I worked for four hours in the morning, then I gave a presentation to the awesome people at Patient Business Services, who raised $2,011 in their department for the Save Change initiative. They are an enthusiastic group and I enjoyed it. Shannon and Teresa have been incredible supporters and I appreciate them so much, I can't thank you two enough for all your hard work.

Afterwards I went over to the sauna, because it wasn't hot enough outside at 97 degrees. When I got home, I ate something, spent some time with the Buffaloes, and was in bed by 8 pm.

All I have left for training are short little runs. I am going up to do a small number of Rock Repeats, no more than 3, sometime in the next few days as a "memory run" for my quads, but that's it. An hour a day the rest of the week in the sauna, two and a half more 12 hour shifts at work, and making up my shopping list with quantities of items we'll need to buy in Las Vegas, and then I can take time to smell the flowers.

Only 11 days!

Too Hot for Snakes and Army Guys

It was too hot for army guys this past weekend in Arizona. My red, white, and blue gummy army guys that I found at Sunflower Market, they melted into a blob! I guess I'll add gummy worms to the things that need to be kept in the cooler during Badwater.

It was also too hot for snakes this weekend. I watched one big red racer crawl out onto the asphalt from underneath the shade of a mesquite tree, and it slithered out into the tree's shadow, but when it reached the sunny asphalt, I saw it jump up off the asphalt a couple of times then it quickly disappeared back under the tree. I've never seen a snake jump before.

But it wasn't too hot for me. It was a cool 102 or 103, depending on who you talk to, accu-weather or weather.com. It was perfect for an easy weekend of running. I went back to McDowell Mountain Park to do 16 miles Friday afternoon, then 34 miles on Saturday, when I was joined by Chris Harrison for several hours. Chris showed up around 12:30, when it was starting to warm up, and he went with me until my last out & back.



The ice didn't melt too fast, which was nice, I was able to do some 5 to 6 mile out & backs, avoiding having to go back to the car too many times to refill my bottles. Woofie stopped by to chat for a few minutes while I was out there, I saw his car in the parking lot and left a note on his windshield while he was out riding his bike.

I drove down again, planning to do a couple of good runs and spend Father's Day with my dad. Driving this time it was the trip from hell on the way down. Raton Pass was closed due to a fire on the New Mexico side, with flames all the way up to the interstate. So I took the detour on 285, which is the route we always used to take from Arizona to our cabin, but this time 285 was under construction, there was no shoulder and there were multiple traffic stops along the way where you had to wait for a long line of cars to go by in the other direction.

It took 8 1/2 hours to get to Albuquerque. When I finally got to a gas station in Espanola and tried to use the bathroom to pee, someone had puked all over the bathroom, plus I got a big star and crack in my windshield from the gravel on the road, and it was generally not a fun day. I did see the trains in Antonito as I drove by. It's been a while since I've been that way, and it's always a pretty drive.



In Arizona as I drove down the Beeline Highway from Payson there were a lot of century plants blooming. They are always so bright gold, I had to stop at Mt.Ord and take a picture.



I spent Father's Day with my dad and stepmom, we spent the morning looking at old family pictures. One of my dad's cousins found an envelope full of old, original photographs from the 1940s, of my great-grandparents, my grandparents and my dad's uncles, and my dad. They were in unbelievably good condition.

My great-grandparents emigrated from Russia and came through Ellis Island, around 1915. I never knew my great-grandfather, he died before I was born, but I knew my great-grandmother, Celia Nitzky, she lived to be about 96. She had a thick Russian accent and called me "Haaalene". I only have one memory of my grandfather, he died of leukemia when I was 2, but I remember him lying on the couch and my grandmother telling me not to disturb him. I remember my dad's uncles well, they are both gone now, but I remember knowing them as a kid in Pennsylvania.

There were also boxes of pictures from my childhood and old photo albums from family events all the way back into the 1950s and my dad remembered everyone, he was telling me all the stories. He is going to get those photographs framed with archival materials so they will stay in good condition and eventually I will have those photographs, that I hope I can pass on to my nieces and nephews.

I can hardly believe it's taper time. I'll have to watch out for the taper worms, and I still have so much packing and organizing to do. Every day will be full, between going to the sauna, getting my stuff together, and all the preparations for the trip. The sauna has been 175 degrees, and I'm spending an hour a day in it, and I know it's working.

I was talking with Steph, my crew chief, about everything tonight, we had one of our weekly Badwater planning phone calls, and I told her it feels strange, I have my mind wrapped around the race, and the fact that I'll be turning around and going back, but I feel like I should be a little freaked out about this, since I've never done this distance before. But I'm not.

I feel very calm and accepting of it, and I'm looking forward to the long days on the road, without the hype of the race, taking it slowly, enjoying the miles, scenery, my thoughts, and the company of Steph, Ed, and Felix who will be with me on the return trip.

I'm ready. Less than 3 weeks!

Two Vertical Miles, One Half Burqa

Today I woke up at 3:25 am. I don't know why.

The girls insisted on getting up with me, and they have to do their routine in the morning, which meant they got their treats, went out to get the paper, and ate their breakfast way too early. They were pissed when I started packing up the car and putting my running shoes on. They were not going. I had to leave a note for Dennis to feed them halfway through the day because I might not be home until almost dark, and he was going to Denver.



JP started with me at 6 am at the Horsetooth Mountain parking lot. The sun was already up but it was cool outside. I was wearing my half burqa outfit. The Saudi porn star, with my half burqa, bare legs, pink leopard print gaiters, and compression leg sleeves.



I felt sorry for JP. Not because he had to run with me in my crazy outfit, but because he was suffering from what he thought was food poisoning and was barfing on the side of the trail after our second repeat. I gave him some ORS (oral rehydration salts- bitchen swill!) and he drank it, then he did one more repeat and called it a day, a good idea.





I continued on at a slow pace, not sure how I'd feel, but as the day went on I felt good and decided to go as long as there was daylight. I didn't feel like being bear, mountain lion, or snake bait. I called it a day when I reached 40 miles, which was exactly 9 1/4 rock repeats. My quads and calves were starting to complain and my shin was screaming. Forty miles and 10,350 feet of vertical gain, and the same of descent. That's climbing two vertical miles in a 40 mile run. Not bad, almost all of what I'll be climbing and descending at Badwater in 135 miles. It took me 11 hours and 20 minutes, not including breaks. I was in super slow mode today.

On my 8th ascent I ran into Dennis Vanderheiden, running club president, who was planting flags on the trail for the next day's Horsetooth Mountain trail race. He looked surprised and amused to see me. By then I'd changed into my hazmat hat and took off the white jacket, so I looked a little less like a porn star and more like a fashionable EPA employee at a Superfund site.



It was a cool day, never got much above 75 degrees. Nice views of Longs, the snow is melting, but lots of haze from the Arizona fires. I heard from Chris in Arizona who wants to join me for part of my training run when I'm in Phoenix next week. I'm off to Arizona for my last week of hard training, to get some heat. It should be at least 100 degrees this time.

Got a big blister on the side of my big toe. That's a bad callus area, so I need to work on that.

It was our 21st anniversary this week. The wildflower garden is blooming. We had a huge hailstorm the other night that trashed a lot of the flowers, but there are still a ton left in there.



Other than that this week I bought a pile of running shoes, because I'm out and I need some for Badwater. I got some bigger ones too, because I always need that when my feet swell. Maybe if my feet keep growing I'll catch up to Dennis and wear his size 14s. Then we can share.


Felix thinks Dennis has a women's shoe fetish. What do you think?

The 39.9 Mile Snake

Today was another perfect day to run. Again, it's not very hot, it might have hit 80 degrees, but it was such a nice day! I went up to Horsetooth Reservoir and ran 40 hilly miles, evenly paced and comfortable. I felt great.

Around 36 miles I ran into my friend Cat who was running with three other runners, they had just done a Horsetooth circumnavigation. I also ran into Mike who is also training for Badwater. I haven't seen him at all this summer and we stopped and talked on the dam, and he asked me some Badwater questions. He was in his hazmat suit, that's the only way I recognized him.

I keep looking for snakes on the side of the road as the asphalt heats up. Toward the end of my run I was headed up the last big hill before the parking area at the top, and I finally saw it. Literally, a minute from my car, there was this beautiful creature out in the road, and people were driving around it to avoid it! Awesome!

This time I pulled out my cell phone and got a picture. This is either a king snake or a bull snake. I am no herpetologist...but I do know that it's not a rattlesnake.

Just thought I'd share my snake picture...

Nineties

A 90 degree day, finally!

I ran at the lakes today in Loveland. It started out a bit warmer but cloudy and the forecast was for windy and 86 degrees. It was humid and buggy. I had to spray myself with insect repellent and wear my hazmat suit just to keep the bugs off. By noon there wasn't much wind at all and it was still cool, but sometime shortly after noon the wind picked up and blew away the bugs and I got the day I've been wishing for!

The snow is melting off Longs Peak and the Mummy Range but there's a lot of snow up there. They are predicting flooding since the Poudre River watershed has about 170 percent of normal snowpack.

I did 34 miles. I planned on 45 but opted to cut it short and do more heat training. I wasn't moving very fast today for some reason. I worked yesterday and it was busy, maybe I was tired. I didn't feel tired running. It was one of those days with my head not being in the right place to focus on what I was doing.

After the run I sat in the car with the heater full blast for 20 minutes on my way to and from the sauna. I did 30 minutes in the sauna.

While I was running I was thinking about how good it feels to be out there moving forward, with nothing else to do. It's so relaxing. That's what's so nice at Badwater, I can focus on moving forward and the incredible scenery, and nothing else, for a whole week, because I have such a great crew. How awesome that will be!

Three Days, 120 Miles

Just got back from three days of running in Arizona, but the weather gods didn't want to make heat this past weekend. One day did get up to 91 degrees but the other days were in the 80s. The weather was perfect by normal running standards.

I got three good long comfortable days in, and tested a few new items on my feet and in my stomach for Badwater. Looks like I will have to do a repeat in June to get the heat training I wanted.

The saguaro cacti were blooming and there is no better park anywhere than McDowell Mountain Park. Several running events, including the Pemberton Trail 50K and the Javelina Jundred have donated thousands of dollars over the years to support this park. I hope these events continue to give to this unique and beautiful place.








For three days I stuck to the asphalt roads because of the necessity of asphalt training for Badwater, so I didn't get back on the trails. Still, I was not disappointed by the scenery.

I could have been arrested for RWT: running while texting. I entertained myself on some of the long climbs on the out & backs on the park road by sending messages to my crew and a few friends. Here are my comments during the three days of the run:

Day 1I'm finishing up my last 7.5 mi out and back, I'll have a hair over 48 miles after this. It was in the 80s, which feels cool. I never put ice on me, but I still managed to go through 64 pounds of ice for drinks and the coolers.

Only glitch today was having to give up an hour of my precious running time to make an ice run. Silly me I forgot it was hot here, and ice melts!
Good thing I'm the runner, not the crew at BW!

Bonus was ice for only $2 at the liquor store in our old neighborhood so didn't have to drive all the way into Fountain Hills.

Got about 3700 ft of vertical too, and some decent uphill running (ah, low altitude)

This park is awesome. I miss having it in my backyard. But I'd rather not pay the price of having to live here.










Tried a new drink to use as an alternative to gatorade, Crystal Light pure fitness. It worked well, no stomach issues.

Better focus on the road, so I don't step on any critters slithering out to soak up the heat.

Tomorrow is another adventure...

Day 2
Started same time this morning. It was 10 degrees warmer. Stopped for 20 lbs of ice. Nice park ranger who saw me yesterday offered me ice from the compound this morning.



Should heat up nicely today. I feel fresh this am, legs are good. Only 6 1/2 hrs sleep, but I'm awake.

After 15 miles I made a sandwich and put ice around my neck. It's considerably hotter today. 7.5 mile out and backs might have to be shortened to 5 for carrying fluids and keeping them cold.

A few gambel quail, a scraggly coyote and a 2 foot racer on the road are the only company I have this morning. Cyclists and runners are all on the trails.











Ran into an AZ running buddy, Debbie Leftwich, in the Pemberton trailhead parking lot. She was running the trail with a guy who is training for Kettle Moraine.

Update: 86 degrees at noon, will get hotter. Now have white jacket on. Jello, V8 and yogurt tasted great at 22 miles.











End of day 2
Stats: 91 degree high temp, 43 miles. only went through 40 lbs of ice today. Used shadescreen and parked car opposite sun.
No rattlers yet just one racer. Still have 5 miles to go today.

Found out hot gummy worms don't taste too bad.

At the end of today I'll have 91 miles in 2 days. All that's left to reach my goal is a 29 miler tomorrow, when I will be have the company of my AZ Badwater friends Woofie and Don Meyer.

So far no blisters, thanks to my improved taping job. Just a little heat rash on my legs.

More tomorrow...

Day 3
Now at 16.5 miles. Today I woke up at 3 am AZ time and tried to get an early start. I needed ice and food, but none of the stores are open, not even in Scottsdale. By the time I arrived in Fountain Hills, I only had to wait 5 minutes for the Safeway to open at 5.

It was 70 degrees at 6 am when I started.











Today should be nearly as warm as yesterday. More clouds though.

I felt good starting this morning. I have been happy with my ability to recover overnight, even with little sleep- less than 5 1/2 hrs last night.














My feet feel good. That tincture of benzoin spray is a miracle, Nathan, thanks! We will want plenty of that at BW.

On my second out and back this am, I briefly stepped off the road to pee and when I got back on the asphalt, there was Woofie riiding toward me on his bike.

He rode alongside me up the steep hill and I was not even paying attention to the fact that I was RUNNING, until suddenly we were almost to the parking lot in record time.

Woofie took off for home and I took a food break, and here I am on the road again, Don will be out here later.

I would like to stay another day and run, yes I do feel like another 30 or 40 mile day is not only possible but comfortable. I am bummed that I have to leave! It's very tempting to come out here on my way home!

I need to wrap up early today as my dad has invited dinner guests, a business acquaintance of his who is interested in ultras and wants to meet me!

I hope I'll have enough of a brain to make conversation!

End of Day 3
Just got back to my dad's house in Scottsdale. Mission accomplished. Today 29.1 miles, high 80s, felt strong mentally and physically. Only 25 pounds of ice today. Total time running over 3 days was 28 1/2 hours. With breaks add another 4.

With sleep and travel time, plus errands, shopping for food and ice, 56 hours. Not bad! Who says you can't shop, blog, and run at the same time?

Only one tiny blister on the side of my big toe from day 2.

Don joined me at noon, which made the last 6 miles fly by with his stories of Badwater.

When we were done, Don took a picture of me at the STOP sign.




Time to rest even if I feel like I could go on forever.

Tonight I will miss the coyotes serenade that I heard the past 2 nights.

On the way out of the park I stopped by the visitor center to check on Houdini, the Gila Monster. He was curled up taking a nap in his cage.


My feet looked pretty good after the three days. Add another 40 degrees and that might change, but in general my tape job worked great, and all I had was some heat rash.



Now it's back to Colorado to finish out the next 4 weeks before I taper! Maybe a repeat trip in June to get some real heat, it could be 110 by then.

Getting excited...

Just got back from a strong 34 mile run around the lakes in Loveland. It was warmer today, close to 80 degrees. I wore a tank top and shorts for the first time all year, no gloves, no hat, no tights, no multiple layers of shirts and jackets. I felt so light!

Funny how 80 degrees doesn't feel even close to hot for me anymore. I could have easily dressed with a few layers, but I need to expose my skin a little before Death Valley so I don't fry out there. I ran well, I can feel myself getting stronger from the frequent long runs.

I had a post-run feeding frenzy afterwards. For some reason I was craving pizza, which is something I rarely like to eat anymore. But after today's run it sounded so good, I called Dennis and asked him if he wanted pizza tonight, and he thought that was a good idea. I ordered it, and couldn't decide what I wanted, so I ended up ordering two different large pizzas. I have no idea why. I think my brain was temporarily disconnected. Looks like we'll be eating pizza leftovers for a while, at least through the weekend.











This week is looking like it will end up somewhere around 120 miles. I have two shorter runs planned this weekend on hills, tomorrow I'll run 20 miles on hills at Horsetooth, part of it with Cat, Dave, and Pablo.

Yesterday I gave two short slide presentations, one at Poudre Valley Hospital and one at Medical Center of the Rockies, here is a link to the slide show, without the music. The presentation was about the Save Change program, raising funds for the Cancer Center, trying to increase employee involvement in Save Change.











There is no shortage of motivation in our household.

I started out my day excited because I heard from a running friend who is a fellow Badwater junkie, and she has her own special solo excursion planned across the valley a week after I do my double. I won't say much because she is keeping it sort of quiet but I am very excited for her and I hope she has a successful adventure, knowing her, it will not only be a success but an amazing athletic feat.

My enthusiasm for her adventure, and my own, got me going this morning. I kept thinking about how it feels to be out there, this little speck under the huge blue sky, and all the rocks and color everywhere. And the intense heat. And feeling so humbled by the landscape, and the history, and the elements.

SOMEONE TIE ME DOWN BEFORE I PUT A HOLE THROUGH THE ROOF!

My next order of business is getting the equipment lists organized and figuring out all the loose ends that need to be finished before we leave in July, and ordering whatever supplies and equipment (mostly foot-related) that I think I'll need.

I will be starting my serious heat training in the sauna after I get back from Arizona in a few weeks. I've been going twice a week just to get a little taste of the heat and I think I'll be fine with the 100 degree temperatures they are having in Arizona now. My Arizona friend Don Meyer is going to come out to the park while I'm running that weekend and keep me company for some of the miles, which will be a blast!

There are really only about 6 more weeks of intense training for Badwater before I start to taper. It happens so fast. So much to do, so little time. I haven't even started to taper and I'm already bouncing off the walls! That means I need to run more. See you later...

Heretic or Asterisk?

Just finished the "rest" week. Three consecutive longish runs, after being exhausted on Wednesday from two busy days of work. It was another week of training, nothing exciting, but a good solid week. I cut my mileage from last week, to end up with about 90 this week.

20+ on Thursday, 30 on Friday in the wind and flats with Connie along for the last 15, then 7 windy Rock Repeats today for 30+ and 7700 feet of vertical in each direction. Finishing up my last Rock Repeats, I felt good. I kept a steady pace and was consistent. Broke out a new pair of shoes for the Rock Repeats. My body thanked me.

I got more planning details out of the way this week for the Vegas portion of the trip to and from Death Valley. We also solved the problem of what to do with the coolers on Sunday on the way back to the Las Vegas airport when the post office in Furnace Creek is closed. UPS stores are open on Sundays!

I made an executive decision a couple of weeks ago. We are NOT climbing Whitney after the race. We were having a hard time getting permits for the days that would be convenient for us as far as timing the return trip. We only have until Sunday, so we really don't have time to be driving back across the valley once we leave Lone Pine to go back to Badwater.

To me, I've always felt like the Whitney portion was not that important. I also didn't want the crew stressing about it, and they were fine with it. Whitney is so different from the rest of the Badwater course. To me it didn't make sense, even if it was part of the original route, and the purpose of the original race was lowest to highest, which is how purists view it.

Ben Jones was giving me a hard time about not climbing Mt. Whitney, but we are doing Telescope Peak on the return trip instead, highest point in Death Valley National Park. It's only a hair over 11,000 feet at the top. It's a little shorter than Whitney in distance too, about 15 miles round trip for Telescope as opposed to 22 for Whitney. Both routes start at about 8000 feet.

So I told Ben I'd make my crew do cartwheels down the trail. And that the guys on the crew would be wearing running skirts. And that I'd crack open a hot bottle of champagne and pass it around, and pray for the patron saint of the desert to save our souls. We'll call it the Death Valley Desert Double (DVDD).

I already know I'm a heretic, this is just more evidence. Half the people I've talked to can't understand the not wanting to do Whitney part. But there are so many little issues with Whitney. I climbed it once nearly 30 years ago. Yes it's the highest point in the lower 48, another 14er, just a little higher than Mt. Elbert here. Lowest to highest, the traditional route. But I've never done Telescope Peak. And this race is about the desert for me. Why not climb to the highest point in Death Valley itself?

Plus with Telescope Peak there are many bonuses. Like no permits, no bears breaking into your vehicle for food, no limited parking, no timing the permits for the right day, no weather issues, no altitude issues, no worries about getting up to train on Pikes Peak or something high in June before the snow is melted.

I told Ben I am perfectly okay with being an asterisk, footnote, or oddball. There are a number of them on the "Badwater Master List", which is an archive maintained by Ben of every single and multiple Badwater crossing known.

The crew has been getting a bit rambunctious in their e-mails. Much talk about what to wear, especially reflective gear. I find it amusing that my mostly male crew has such fashion sense. Some pre-race e-mail bonding going on!

See You A.B.: A Week in my Badwater Training Life

I finally got through most of my pile of distractions and I'm able to focus on running. The amount of time I spend preparing for this race makes the time required for most of the normal things in life disruptive to my day of training.

I've had to put a lot of meetings and socializing on hold too, just not enough time. I find myself saying no to most things, it's all A.B. now. "After Badwater".

People often ask me what it's like to train for a race like this. It's different than other ultras, that's for sure. There's the added element of heat preparation, in addition to hills, lots of miles on asphalt, and general planning for the runner and crew that is much more intense than crewing for a typical 100 mile ultra.

A typical day for me now when I'm not working all day is wake up, have coffee and some breakfast, take the girls running, come home and get ready for my run, eat more, go out and run until 12 or 1 or 2 pm, go to the sauna if I'm done by early afternoon, do my weight training, eat, rehydrate, take a nap, drink more fluids, cook something, then sometimes go out for a late afternoon or evening run, come home, eat, hang out with Dennis and the girls for a while, then go to bed.

Other days I just run all day, and try to get home for a nap if I have anything I need to do in the evening. Those days the girls get mad at me, when their run is not the priority. They pout until I come home and take their leashes out of the closet, and sometimes they have to wait until after I take a nap.

After working last weekend when it was super busy, I felt surprisingly good on Monday. Usually I have no energy after two days in a row of 12 hour shifts. But Monday I managed 15 miles plus weights and a trip to the sauna to bake for 45 minutes.

Got smoked out of my run on Tuesday, I was up at Horsetooth planning to do 7 Rock Repeats but cut it off at 5 because the smoke from the Crystal Fire got so bad, the wind picked up in the afternoon and by 1 pm I couldn't see across to the Rock anymore through the thick smoke settling into the draws.

Wednesday I worked a 12, so no run that day. Thursday I had a good run again.

This week has been just a mileage week, 15-20 miles a day, getting my basic hill workout in, a little faster stuff on the roads, and by Friday my legs were still tired and sore from the hills, so I decided to make it a long walk and just work on my walking pace. I ended up running about one third of the distance and made great time between that and the fast walking. Ended up with a decent workout.

Saturday was rough, I felt fine physically but my head was not in the right place. Some days are like that. I went down to the lakes, but I never got focused. It felt like each loop was taking forever. I couldn't get going at a running pace and decided to keep walking until the sky figured out what it wanted to do. If it started dumping wet stuff I would go home and do more miles Sunday, but after about 11 am there were some clear blue spots visible betwen the clouds and the afternoon got sunny.

Still I couldn't ever get in the right place mentally. I toughed it out and got 5 hours on my feet anyway. I thought, maybe Sunday will be better. Looks like this week is 107 miles, with nothing exciting. I really need to start pushing myself harder to run more and at a faster pace because when I can do 100+ miles in a week and feel like I didn't do anything, I need more of a challenge.

I passed the time during Saturday's 21 mile walk by making Badwater plans in my head and texting my friend Paul Grimm, who was having a rough time mentally getting through his own long run down near Denver. If I'd known, I would have called him and arranged for us to run together.

It's REALLY a bad day if I'm texting during a run!

One of these days soon I need to get a longer run in, more like 50 miles. I can tell I'm no longer tired from Florida. Now that the days are longer it's easier to run without much darkness. I'm not much for staying up all night. I like to sleep. I save my all nighters for race day. Or race week, in this case.

Badwater training is not that exciting from the observer's point of view. To me, it's nirvana. Even on the bad days, like when you can't get your mind focused, it's better than most things.

Except for the friends and family who are willing to tolerate your temporarily obsessive state, more than usual, until A.B. It doesn't happen without them. I can never thank them enough.