Bataan Trip Day 2, March 26, 2011

I woke up reasonably early, got dressed and went down to breakfast at the hotel. They really don’t have a good selection of food for folks who don’t eat grains. There were more muffins, Danish, bread and waffles in one small place than I have seen in a while. My choice was hard boiled eggs. I happened to have some venison and buffalo jerky in my hotel room, so that went down well with the boiled eggs.

Then Emily and I headed to the El Paso Saddleblanket Co. I exited the freeway and moved to the right lane so that I could get into the parking lot. Traffic was stopped by a red light, and did not begin moving when the light turned green. The vehicle two cars in front of me was disabled and did not have on any emergency flashers. I decided to move into the next lane, and as I got beside the car that had been in front of me, she decided to go around also, and turned right into the passenger door of my rocket ship. The damage was not too serious and no one was injured, so I chose not to call the police, and only exchanged information with the other driver. I drove on to the store to do a little shopping.

I have wanted to purchase a special belt for my Across the Years 100 mile belt buckle, since that was my first 100 mile finish. Emily helped me find an awesome hand crafted python skin belt, and it was not too expensive! We loved the store; there were some very interesting items for sale, including coffins with a western flair. “Oh, bury me not… on the lone prairie.”


We didn’t have anything else interesting to do, so we stopped for an espresso at Starbucks. Oh, I would like to make an observation here: People in this part of the country are very friendly! Store clerks, baristas, hotel clerks and wait staff were all very nice and helpful.  But, at almost every place we stopped, someone approached us, asking for money.

Next thing was to drive back to Las Cruces to wait for Mellody and Deb to arrive at the hotel. They were on the same flight, so were sharing the ride from the airport to the hotel. When they arrived, we got all settled in the room, and then headed back out to White Sands to check out the souvenirs. I had my certificate framed with the dog tag they give you instead of a medal. We really don’t deserve a medal for completing this memorial march. The sole purpose is to honor and remember. I also purchased a t-shirt, mug, magnet, tote bag and patch with the battle cry on them. I broke the mug, so went back inside to buy another one. They wrapped it very well so I would not break the second one, laughing all the while.  I was laughing too.

I really wanted to get my picture taken in front of the highway sign and the warning sign along the entrance of the missile range, so Mellody obliged.  




We also stopped so I could pose in front of the Bataan Memorial Highway sign...

 

 When we returned to the hotel, we decided to find a close place to eat our pre race meal. I am not carb loading anymore (except with sweet potatoes) so ate surf (lobster tail) and turf (rare petit sirloin) with grilled zucchini and steamed broccoli for dinner.



When we got back to the hotel, I met one of the Wounded Warriors, he is a Viet Nam vet, and had brought 30 of his comrades who were injured in Iraq and Afghanistan along to complete the march.

The three of us who were doing the march calculated that we should be on site at White Sands before 3am so as not to get caught up in a long line trying to get in. That meant we had to get to bed right after we ate and organized our things for the march. I had already done most of my organizing the night before, but I still have to obsess over the details. As usual, I donned the first layer of my race clothes so I can get ready faster in the morning. We went to bed really early, but considering we were getting up at 2am, there is no such thing as too early!

ok, that's day two of my weekend trip... more to come.  Race Day is next!

February 16, 2009 - Random Things

So, I haven’t been blogging regularly lately. The main reason for my blog is to track workouts, so that other interested parties know what I am up to in the workout department.

There hasn’t been much to tell the past couple of weeks. I took a few days to recover from my marathon on January 31, and then I did the 50 mile trail race on February 7. After that, I needed a few more days to recover. My legs were hurting a little after the 50, and I was contemplating changing my mind about the 100 miler in June. I even went so far as to tell my mom I wasn’t going to do it.

A few days passed, and Wednesday I went for a 3.19 mile walk. All right, I was feeling a little better. I walked 5 miles on Sunday, after a few more days of rest. I tried a little racewalking each day.

Sunday afternoon after I was finished with my 5 mile walk, I realized that the cutoff for early registration for the Mohican 100 was here. Either I was registering on Sunday, or I was going to pay $35.00 more. The prospect of wasting $35.00, and the encouragement of a lot of my online supporters, made me do it. When I told my mom I registered for the 100 miler, she said, I already called the family and told them we weren't coming. I told her to remember not to listen to anything I say immediately after I complete any race of 50 miles or more. She will just have to give me a few days to get my thoughts together.

I am also registered for a 5k on March 1. I won’t try to racewalk the whole 5k, but I will do my level best to make a good showing. My 5k pr is 35:25, and it would tickle the heck out of me to best that. I am not sure I have it in me, 3 weeks after a 50 mile trail race, but we shall see.

Rambling on, I am walking a half marathon on March 29 and a full marathon on April 26. This is all in training for the Mohican 100 mile race on June 20.

Bad thing: I never got any relief from my three visits to the chiropractor before my trip to Phoenix. My retired doctor had asked me to report back after seeing the chiropractor, so I called him. Good thing: The retired doctor is going to see me one day this week. I thanked him very much, and reminded him that I still feel like I am imposing on him. He said, “You are.” I told him it wouldn’t feel so much like I am imposing if he would let me pay for the treatment. I guess I’ll see what happens.

I guess that’s all for now.

Another Race - John Evans 50k, 20k and 5k

I just can’t resist another race on the schedule. I was planning to go to Bear Creek Park in Houston on Sunday to help out at the race. I also need to get in a long distance walk of somewhere over 12 miles at target marathon pace this weekend. The race is a judged racewalk, from which I will probably be disqualified. I am not a really legal racewalker, having problems keeping the knee on my advancing leg straight until it passes under my body.

I talked to the race director last night, and he talked me into entering. He said if I get the dq, I can finish my walk away from the race area, this is a large park, and still do the volunteer stuff when I am finished. I plan to get there at 6am and help them get everything set up, then do the 20k (12.4 miles) when it starts, and finish up the day at the 50k awards ceremony.

I also have to do a long distance walk tomorrow. This is what I call a back to back weekend. So, I will do the 12 miles tomorrow at a slower pace and really push it on Sunday. My racewalking is getting better as I pick it up to a faster pace. But I will let the judges decide, then at the end of the month, Dave McGovern will show me what I really look like when racewalking with a video taping session. I am sure there is lots of room for improvement.

Rocky Raccoon 100/50 mile trail race

Well, I just bit another bullet. There is no way I was going to miss out on my first try at 50 miles, even if it is just 1 week after the Desert Classic marathon (January 31) and World Class Racewalking clinic (Jan 30 - Feb 1). So, I registered online just a little while ago. Here is the link if anyone wants to check it out: Rocky Raccoon (February 7) www.tejastrails.com/Rocky.html

The RD gives the 50 mile entrants 29 hours to finish and the course is 3 - 16.67 mile loops in Huntsville State Park. I am going to try and finish in less than 15 hours, then volunteer until all the 100 mile entrants finish. I really want to watch and learn from everyone... so, no going home until it's over. I am going to buy a headlamp this weekend.

I am really stoked! I can't believe this is all just over a month away!