Tranquility- Accepting your fate.

July 9-16

Monday- Rest
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - 5 miles on the treadmill in St. Paul, MN
Thursday – 10 miles – general aerobic
Friday – Rest
Saturday – 15 miles in the heat
Sunday – 5 miles

Total: 35 miles

I skipped a run on Tuesday b/c I thought I was coming down with a cold. My son and wife have been sick and it will be a miracle if I stay healthy. I thought with what I needed to be healthy for next week, the better decision was to rest and see if it was really a cold. It turned out not to be and I was ok the rest of the week. It has gotten really hot here and the humidity has made it very uncomfortable. I did well on my weekend runs, but the humidity is what bothers me the most. After running 15, I spent the rest of the day in the hot sun at an n Indiana Hog Roast. I’m a vegetarian, which should provide some frame of reference as to the irony of me attending a hog roast. My wife’s close friend has a biannual hog roast that all their old college friends attend. It’s a carnival. Popcorn and cotton candy machines, Water slides, Air filled rooms for the kids to bounce around in, a DJ, drinks. It was good heat training. I realized that even when I think I am hydrating well, that I really am not. I can get away with it for a 15 miler, since I spend the rest of the day recovering and drinking water. Next week, if I don’t stay up on the fluids, I won’t have time to just lounge around and recover. I need to be in control from the start.

Badwater

The preparations reached a fever pitch last week and this week things have calmed down. I have a staging area in a room in my house where I have all my gear. I have purchased everything I need and most of it has arrived. Some are en route. If we weren’t climbing Mt. Whitney, this would be a lot easier to pack for. I have clothing to span 30 degrees to 130 degrees. Our crew teams have been picked. We have lists for food. One computer geek on our team has made a remarkably detailed spreadsheet of the mile markers, pace and location points. I have that calm Zen feeling that I used to get in Medical school. I was never one of those people who crammed the night before a test. I studied like crazy until the last night and the last night I would spend a little time going over things I thought would be useful. But then I would get this incredible calm feeling. I had prepared. My fate was sealed. Let the chips fall where they may. Nothing I do in the last few minutes before the test will make a big difference. That is how I feel now. I feel that we have prepared well, physically. Running an extra mile or two isn’t going to be the difference. Our Runner is prepared. We hope that we are prepared well enough mentally and logistically that we can execute our plans. Wherever possible, we have tried to take human calculations and judgment out of the equation. When you are sleep deprived, you can’t make complex calculation on pace and finish times. It’s like in Apollo 13 when Kevin Bacon’s character put a piece of duct tape over the button that would jettison the Lunar module so he wouldn’t push it while his fellow astronauts were in it. And if all that fails, I keep reminding myself, don't act like you are doing something major here. I'm not the one runnning this. I get to rest. I get to sleep.

I’m just happy to be part of this. I hope that we can get Nattu his belt buckle.

I leave for Vegas on Saturday morning. We drive out to Death Valley that morning and the race starts Monday morning at 6 am (Wave 1). When he finishes in less than 48 hours it will be early Wed. morning. Thursday morning, we climb Mt. Whitney. Friday we return to Vegas and party (or sleep). Most of us depart on Saturday.

Garden:
The plants got a lot of water this week with the rains. The peppers are yielding abundantly. The tomatoes are still a few weeks away from fruit.

Culinary
I have not had much time to make anything interesting. Last night we had some friends over for dinner. I made some drinks that A and I had when were in Vegas last year. We ate at Olives, in the Bellagio, and they made a dring called the “Ginger Mint” It’s lie a Mojito with ginger.

I made asimple syrup and mixed it 2:1 with lemon juice. I muddled 15 mint leaves and 5-10 ginger slices with 2 oz of Belvedere Cytrous. I them added 3-4 oz of the syrup/lemon juice mixture and stirred.

In two weeks, We'll have started Badwater

Runs
Mon – Rest
Tues- 8 miles, 4 at 7:20 pace
Wed- 4 miles- Recovery
Thurs- 10 miles
Fri – Rest
Sat – 4 miles
Sun – 14 miles

Total: 40 miles


Badwater
The preparations are really heating up. It’s palpable and real now. The travel arrangements have been made. We’re compiling crew strategy now. Decisions, on who the crew teams will be, the amount of time each will crew and run before resting, shopping lists for food and supplies, hotel reservations, spreadsheets keeping track of food, hydration and weight. Where are we filling up gas and getting ice? How are we getting to the start line? Short or long sleeved shirts? Short or long pants? Ice hats, Ice Bandanas. Sunglasses SPF 5000 sunscreen? Insect repellent. Snake repellant? Log books. Computers. Satellite phones. Rental car contracts. Needles, scalpels, gauze, betadine, alcohol swabs, benzoin, tape and other blister care products. Articles on heat illness, dehydration and hyponatremia. Books on footcare.

This is a stream of consciousness partial list of things running through my brain. I’m making lists, checking them 100 times. I’ve been on the REI, Moosejaw and zombierunner websites 50 times the past week, making sure there wasn’t anything else I could buy.

Garden
The plants are starting to take hold. I suspect in a few weeks, the tomatoes will be really growing. The okra have a while to go. The peppers are coming along nicely.

T-3 weeks until Badwater

Mon- Rest
Tues- 8 miles with 10x100m strides
Wed- Rest
Thurs- 10 miles general aerobic
Fri- Rest
Sat- 13 miles outside. Humid.
Sun - 5 miles- Recovery.

Totals - 36 miles

It doesn't seem like I'm running much. Maybe it's the early morning runs or the 3 rest days. I'm sure it will pick up soon. Next week is a 5 day running week. So far my body is adjusting to this fairly well. Knock on wood, I am not having any aches or pains that are concerning.

N has an ear infection again. He probably needs tubes in his ears, but our ENT has been very conservative. We see him again in a few weeks and I think that it's time to do it. He has had way more ear infections than average. My parents were in town for my cousin's son's birthday party. My son did all those things that melt a grandparent's heart. Telling them he loves them, without being prompted. Wanting them to put him to bed rather than his parents, etc.

Badwater:
The obsessing is beginning. I have started making lists and have a room set up at home as a staging area. My biggest worry, personally, is forgetting something important. I will be reading and rereading books and websites to make my lists.

N (our runner) is totally dialed in. Our job is to make sure we support him but not screw him up. Hydration, Nutrition, Companionship, health and blister control are our primary goals. If we can anticipate his needs and address them with little effort on his part, I think we will have a successful run. My goal is to not cause him any undo frustration or cause him to waste any physical or mental energy. If he drops anything, I'm picking it up for him. If he needs something, I'll get it for him. The only time I'll exert my will, is if I really think he's in bad shape physically and needs a break. Otherwise, he's the boss.