JULY!!!

I can hardly believe it. Less than 2 weeks to race day. All these months of preparation and dreaming, and now it's here!

I've been wanting to be like these siesta dogs in the picture, but I have too much to do. It is easier not working out all day, but I'm staying busy with baking in the sauna, shopping, packing and planning. I can be a siesta dog next week for a couple of days before I leave, and then A.B.

Yesterday I did two sauna sessions, and rode my bike. Today I ran/walked 7 miles and did one long sauna session, over an hour, and felt good afterwards. Tomorrow is my last day off and I want to get a decent workout in and start packing.

Today I wasn't planning on doing my shopping for food but I had my list with me after my sauna session, and I went to King Soopers to pick up a couple of things and they had some of the major items I needed for Badwater, on sale, so I went ahead and did the whole shopping list. $264.00 later I was done. I am sure it looked like I had some weird eating disorder. I had a shopping cart mostly full of Slim Fast, drinks in plastic bottles and cans, baby food, jello, crackers, and disposable cameras. I planned to tell anyone who asked, I was doing before and after shots. But nobody asked.

I sent Steph the BIG BAD list today to take some stuff off her mind. I wanted to get most of the food we need so that when she and Katy arrive in Las Vegas next Saturday, all they have to do is pick up the rental van and make a quick stop or two at the most, then they can drive to Furnace Creek with a minimum of stress. Their main job is to get Gatorade and water, enough for me and everybody on the crew, and to calculate that. They will also figure out the signs for both vehicles. We need to have signs on all four sides of the vehicles, with my name and bib number, and "Caution Runners on Road" signs.

I have a few small items left to buy but now the job is packing my clothes and stuff for Mt. Whitney, figuring out how to fit it all inside my car, and then I go back to work for 4 out of the next 5 days. And then I'm off. I plan to get as much rest as possible before leaving town.

Yesterday morning I was riding my bike around some lakes south of town and the wind was blowing, and I could feel and smell the breeze coming off the water, and I realized I need a trip to the beach, I need to be by the water. When we lived in Arizona we used to go out to La Jolla or Carlsbad often, it was a quick trip to San Diego from Phoenix. It's been way too long and I need my fix.

I'll already be in California, but Death Valley is far from the ocean. It would be nice to sleep it off on the beach for a day or two, feeling the waves crash...I need to get out my road map and see if I can make this happen...