Strong Bad, who lives in Strong Badia, is my hero. I sort of like his Teen Girl Squad too, I used to use them to tease my brother about my niece Jenny when she was in high school. If you're unfamiliar with these characters, you MUST check out THIS.
It's been a while since I blogged here. This year I wrote a book.
There's something about writing a book that sucks the desire to write much else out of you. At least it was that way for me. I couldn't think about writing much of anything, I was so focused on the content of the book. There simply was nothing left. Between that and having two puppies, going through training, spaying, daily walks, cleaning up after them, replacing everything they destroyed, and we're not done yet...with the madness of having two high energy baby Aussies at the same time, I sometimes wonder how I did it.
But the pups kept me in line and I got through the book, and the editor has it now. We are doing revisions. I expect it will be out late this fall. Here's the cover design, ignore the Latin from the template, this was just a rough draft.
It's about healthcare, the stuff I have ranted about on this blog and in other places, except less of a rant than about solutions and how those solutions are needed to improve the cancer patient experience, making it less traumatic and disjointed. In other words, people in healthcare need to clean up after themselves, the mess they make when treating people for cancer doesn't clean up itself. I'll have plenty more to say about the book later, and if you want to know more, feel free to go to my website and sign up for the updates where you can subscribe to get more information, bottom of the home page.
This summer I was supposed to help out at Badwater again but I ran out of time at the last minute finishing the manuscript and I promised the editor I would have it done by a certain date and she had arranged child care so she could work on it, and it took me longer than expected, so I ended up not going to Badwater. Slightly disappointing, yes, but then, it took a pretty good arm twisting to make me go back there, after claiming my retirement status.
I went to Scottsdale to hang out with my Dad while my stepmom went away for a much needed spa weekend, and he's been taking boxing classes. He has Parkinson's. If you've been to this blog before, you know he was being treated for a type of chronic leukemia a few years back. He's been in remission with that but almost as soon as he finished chemo, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's.
But my dad doesn't get stopped by much, and he has been doing everything he can to keep himself functioning well despite the symptoms he experiences, naturally from the disease and from the medication, which is not the easiest stuff to tolerate. He started taking boxing classes, specifically for people with Parkinson's, and he is also taking singing lessons, because the voice is affected by Parkinson's, and tap dancing lessons! He is fortunate to live in proximity to the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix, and there are all sorts of great activity and support networks there.
He continues to work out with his personal trainer and goes to physical therapy too. He is busy and active, and that is the best thing anyone can do. I'm really proud of him. It's been difficult to watch this unfold but not as hard as it is to live with it yourself or for a spouse to live with it. Hence the spa weekend.
When I was visiting, I went to his boxing class and watched him. Seeing those men in his class work out was very inspiring, but I also was inspired by the workout itself. The strength, core, cardio, it all looked like a great workout, and I took karate lessons for a short time as a kid and loved it. When I got home, I looked up boxing and thought I'd try it myself. I took a class at Title boxing and I felt like I found the holy grail.
I have been having so much trouble motivating myself to work out on my own. I've never had this problem of self-motivation or discipline until now. I've struggled all summer, wanting to get back into running, and lose the 20 pounds I gained, and start doing some cross training, but I couldn't get myself to do it. The weekly donut runs were about all I was doing regularly. So now I'm taking several boxing classes each week, and so far all I can tell is that my abs are extremely sore. It is a good cardio workout though. I'm starting to feel a little smoother in the technique, but I'm naturally pretty uncoordinated, so every time we have to do a series of more than 5 punches, I struggle remembering the sequence, but I just keep throwing punches and that seems to work, for now.
I'm not running a lot, but I did do a 27 miler last week and it was the first ultradistance run I've done in a long time. I still plan on doing the There Goes the Sun 12 hour run next month in Arvada. And I did sign up for the 24 hour at Across the Years, just for fun, to run with my ultra buddy Sasquatch, a.k.a. Dale Perry, who has quite the interesting comeback story going on. There should be a good-sized Colorado contingent there to make it a fun party.
I've been staying busy with the community cancer programs I've been working on, things start to get busier for me in the fall. And there's a lot of marketing work to do on the book. So between that and puppies, who are going to be a year old soon, and need to start running, I have my hands full. And writing, of course. Now that I have the bandwidth to write my own blogposts for fun again, it's nice to be back.
I'll be filling you in over the next few months with details on life, the book, returning to running, and boxing with puppies. I didn't even rant about politics yet, either, but who needs any more of that when you've got an overload of outrageousness in the news everyday!
Enjoy what's left of summer, if you're on the top part of the planet, and I'll be back before long. Until then, I'll be in Strong Badia. Thanks for reading!
After sitting on my butt more than I ever should, with at least another 4-6 weeks before I'll be less tethered to the desk, I happened to be in the doctor's office recently and got weighed.
I am 5'1". With each passing decade, it seems like my body has settled into a slightly higher weight. That's been okay when it happens gradually. My body is the type that clings to fat, it doesn't like to let go easily, and I have to work very hard to lose weight when I want to. Having a bad thyroid might have something to do with it, even though I take thyroid replacement hormones, they are never what your body makes on its own.
It might also have something to do with the fact that I am right at menopause, basically I am there, standing on top of it, at the peak, barring any surprises in the next few months to knock me off my self-assurances that I'm done with that pain in the ass body function that serves no purpose whatsoever except to make my race mornings more annoying. And I am 52 years old. My metabolic function is slowing, it's reality.
Most of my female relatives are short, like me, but most of them weigh barely 100 pounds and have little, tiny bird bone wrists. They don't have big powerful quadriceps or calves like I do. They're not athletes, either. I don't know where I got my bigger bone structure, or my muscular build, or my athleticism, but it's what I have, and it's served me well. I don't envy their bodies, I just envy their ability to keep their weight down at age 60 when I have to struggle so hard. And they have thyroid problems too.
But back to the wake-up call. I stood on the scale, having kicked off my shoes, and the medical assistant kept pushing the metal weight further and further to the right, until I felt like I was going to tip over with it. I've never seen it go that far to the right!
I've always had a tendency to lean to the left. Whether it's seeing runners finishing a long ultra, in politics, and social issues. And on the scale too. I really haven't spent much too time east of 120 pounds, just during short, occasionally stressful or inactive periods of my adult life.
I was flabbergasted when I saw how much I weighed. I have gained a full 20 pounds since I ran my last race in September of 2014.
Holy crap. No wonder I can only run 11 minute miles these days.
No wonder my new, one larger size, just bought last year because I caved, pants are too tight now. No wonder the other day when I was running in my capri tights for the first time this season, that I had the new, weird sensation of flesh between each iliac crest bouncing up and down.
And when I lean to the side in my office chair, I can feel flesh in a crease that never was there before. And my butt is spreading over the chair, covering more territory, encroaching slowly, as it dominates the seat surface.
That's it. Done. I need to get off my ass, start running and putting some effort into it, and quit eating and drinking without thought. I guess I'm too old to do that anymore and ever get away with it. My BMI is solidly in the overweight range. Over 25, by a good tick. I'm FAT. I'm obesifying!!!
What did I expect? Consuming things with abandon...thoughtless, repetitive, hand-to-mouth action...
Don't tell me I'm being too critical of myself, or that I look good, because I don't care how I look. Maybe I happen to hold 140 pounds well for a 5'1" person. I don't care.
It's how I feel. I feel FAT. And no matter what people say you look like, it is not healthy to be fat. Even if nearly everyone else is. My body is made to run. Long distances. At a reasonable pace, not plodding along.
So now I'm 5 days into being very careful of what I eat to get a jump start on changing my habits, I haven't had a beer since last Saturday, and I'm VERY CRABBY!
"She hasn't been the same since the house fell on her sister"
Tread lightly around me for the next few weeks. Your life depends on it.
This picture from 1992 is of me and two of my three running buddies who joined me on the original leap year run, The Quadrennial Quagmire. The original run, which happened twice, in 1992 and 1996, consisted of a circuitous out and back loop from town, around Horsetooth Reservoir, through Lory State Park and Horsetooth Mountain Park, up Redstone Canyon, and back. It was about 50 miles.
I am in need of a birthday challenge this year, but a "lite" version. I decided that given my minimal training and my need to keep doing the vertical, I'd do an easier challenge. Hence, the Quad Quag revival. Except this time, I'm calling it the Quadrennial Quadriceps Quagmire. It will be simple, consisting of just four Rock Repeats. Seventeen miles, 4400 feet of climb and the same of descent. Easy, right?
It's easy logistically, too, because the up and back course allows returns to the vehicle every 4 miles and change. No need to carry a bunch of gear. I plan to do it regardless of the weather. Quagmire or blizzard, sunny 70 degrees or downpour, I'll be there. I'm inviting any local runners to join me. Should be a fun time, regardless.
Life has been batshit crazy since we got back from Arizona.
No other way to describe it. I desperately need to clear some time in my schedule to do some heavy editing of the modules for the service I'm launching, but I've been succumbing to many other distractions, most of which are important and unavoidable. What I need to do is put a message on my phone, email and door, barricade myself in the woman cave, set up an IV pump and infuse myself with coffee and cram like college student to get this editing done.
I want to hide and get my work done, but on the other hand, I can't ignore all these other things, like website edits and meeting with people and getting the word out. All important stuff. I need a clone.
The other thing that bugs me is that I want to be able to blog because I get ideas, but then I'm so busy, I forget about them and I don't have time to sit down and write. This afternoon, even though I am far behind on editing, I needed to indulge in some creative time.
One good thing is that I've been able to maintain the consistency in working out, both my runs and weight training, and doing my core and hip work. I'm still only up to running a total of 5 hours in the week, but I'm getting more miles on my feet by walking and I'm not finding excuses to get out of it like I was a few months ago.
Today I ran double Maniac Hill and double A hill, doing my hills. I am running much more of the uphills than I was when I started and feeling stronger. There was some guy up there riding a bike in a Broncos jersey. Broncomania has hit Colorado in full force. Two more days of this insanity...
Yesterday I needed to ask my friend and fellow runner Andy Lovy a question. I haven't seen him since the last time I ran North Coast, in my disastrous run at Nationals in 2014. The last time I talked to him, we were sloshing around at 2 am on the 24 hour course in a wicked downpour, laughing about how we were focused on the portapotties ahead so we could take shelter.
Andy is quite the ultrarunner. At 80 years old (give or take a year) he's still pounding out the miles in multiday ultras and 24 hours runs. He's also the US National Ultra team physician. I first met him years ago at Across the Years, where he was one of the race physicians.
Anyhow, I wrote Andy and he replied right away. He said he's doing well. He's planning on a few races this year, one of which is in Oklahoma at 24 the Hard Way. I ran the 12 hour there a few years back and loved it. Chisholm Dupree is the RD there, and he's such a great guy. I've known him and his dad, Harry, also an ultrarunner, for many years.
Anyway, Andy told me I ought to jump into some of those races he's doing, including a 55 hour in Houston over New Years. I am not going to be anywhere near ready to do a multiday by the end of this year, and I won't have time to train for it. But a 12 hour in Oklahoma in October, I can do that. Just to go hang out and do a few laps with Andy would be worth the trip.
It seemed like the perfect comeback ultra, as I thought about it. So I'm going to pencil it in and as the spring goes on, I will start arranging my life in a way that I can prepare to at least stay on my feet moving forward for 12 hours by the end of October. I think that's a reasonable goal.
It's dumping snow, and we just got back from a week in Arizona where the temperatures were in the 70s under sunny skies all week. Back to reality...
I was featured on Episode 5 of Amy Stone's Mile After Mile Podcast. Amy, a follower of Journey to Badwater, says she was inspired by this blog to get her podcast project going. She does a great job, and I encourage you to listen to all her episodes, not just the one I was in.
I'm a bit overloaded today after being gone a week, so I'll be back with more posts soon.
I'm always talking about my Rock Repeats. Today I took you with me while I did one in the snow and ice on a beautiful winter day in Fort Collins. I wrapped up the week with a quick trip up and down, plus a few little extra spurs on some side trails to get a few extra miles.
It looked dismal this morning when I left the house, all overcast and foggy. But once I got up to about 6000 feet, it was clear blue sky.
Watch the video to enjoy this awesome winter day and get a few ultra training tips and insights!
Yes, it's Halloween and I won't be out running all day in this beautiful weather we've been having, instead I'm indoors with the cookies. Not yo mama's cookies and milk,though...whatever this bug is that I caught in Arizona, it's got a grip on me. I'm coughing up lung cookies* and still feeling half wiped out.
Since getting back from Tucson I've been in a different type of work mode, though my energy has been only half of what it is normally. I've been working on marketing plans, social media stuff, some continuing education classes that I've put off for months, and thinking about the growing pile of edits I need to get started on, with a new website and associated busywork. The Bella has been at my feet, enjoying the sunshine in the woman cave.
We had our first frost this past week and the flowers haven't figured it out yet. Neither have the raspberries, the left side of the raspberry patch decided to bloom late this year and we've had some delicious berries as a second crop. That will come to a halt any minute, but it's been a nice surprise.
I walked a few times this week and the longest I went was about 3 miles pushing The Bella in the cart, and I didn't have much left afterwards.
I was planning to run with one of my new running partners, Colleen, this weekend, but I think it's going to be another week before that happens. If my energy comes back I might be able to run 20 or 30 minutes by tomorrow or Monday.
Color everywhere, even in the parking lots.
We're coming up on November and as of tomorrow not only will we have changed the clocks, but it's the start of NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo. Wondering if I should at least try to maintain some consistency since that is what I'll be doing in my work life.
If you're not familiar with those, they are National Novel Writing Month and National Blog Posting Month. I don't have anything that could be a novel, unless you count my past experience in nursing, but BloPoMo is right up my alley. Since I've been so lax in posting here this might help me get back to it!
the only way it will all be here, on this blog, is if I can make it #NaRunMoMo too...natonal running motivation month. Which is exactly what I need. As you can tell, I'm making this up as I write this post...
In my case, I'll be lucky to start with ten minutes a day tomorrow. But what the hell. Sounds like a good idea. I've never been much of a running streak type of person, it goes against better judgment in my opinion, but at this point in my life, I need to move regularly, and at a faster pace than a waddle, so it might be just what the doctor ordered. This doctor, anyway. *forgive me I'm a former ICU nurse and I just can't help myself.
I'm home, looking at the cool fall colors, after a week in Arizona. I managed to catch a nasty cold, probably on the flight down there, so I'm sniffling, hacking and snorting my way through the day, surrounded by piles of tissue and tea cups.
This blogpost isn't much about running, although I'm proud to announce that I have now been consistent with running most days of the week for the past 6 weeks. This coming week I'm sure I will cut back in order to get over this crud, but I feel like I've finally reached a point where the running is habitual again. I was up to nearly an hour and a half of running 4 or 5 days a week with some 2 hour runs thrown in there. Still no interest in ending my current hiatus from doing any running events, but we'll see how that goes...
I went down to Scottsdale to visit my dad and stepmom, and speak at an event in Tucson. Wednesday October 21 was BRA Day, Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day. It's intended to educate women about a full range of options for breast reconstruction following mastectomy.
Most women don't find out that they have a range of procedures to choose from that include using their own tissue to reconstruct breasts after a mastectomy, often they rush into immediate reconstruction with expanders and then implants, without being informed about all the possibilities because of microsurgical techniques that allow the patient's own fat and skin to be harvested and a blood supply established to create a more natural appearing breast.
More about that in a few... I flew down and the weather was un-Arizona-like. It rained like hell two nights in a row, a deluge of rain and hail in different parts of the valley. I ran early Monday morning with my running friend Chris and another friend of his on the canal, before the sun came up. It felt more Florida than Arizona with the humidity.
I hung out with my dad and stepmom, my dad is doing somewhat better and it appears that chemo is working. We won't go into the details of the possibility of relapse, which is fairly high, but he's feeling better and things are going well overall. Things are looking up now. It's great to see him getting his old energy back. Not quite himself, but he's improved dramatically.
I met with a social media expert while I was down there and will be using his services as I move forward with my business endeavors. I finished a big chunk of work before I left and now I'm switching gears from developing content to marketing.
Then it was time to go to Tucson for BRA Day. I met Terri online, now I can't even remember the exact circumstances of our connection but we started corresponding last summer and Terri wanted to make a BRA Day event happen in Tucson and she perservered along with the help of some nurses and social workers in Tucson who convinced the powers-that-be that it would be a worthwhile event to host.
Terri assembled a panel of speakers and the backing of local businesses to support the event and it came together despite many hiccups and speedbumps along the way. I agreed to help in any way I could despite being out of town.
We set it all up in the lobby of the U of A Cancer Center, which looks and feels remarkably similar to the Cancer Center we have here in Fort Collins. It was dumping rain as we carried all the supplies and donated gifts from Terri's car to the lobby of the Cancer Center.
We didn't have a room, podium, or formal presentation set-up, just some lobby furniture and a screen, and a microphone. But we did it, and it worked. One of the nursing staff members bought the refreshments herself. Local businesses donated prizes. Terri's son recorded all he could on the Periscope app on my phone. Of course my phone battery died even with the extra battery pack, so we didn't get to record most of the speakers. We have a learning curve with Periscope, which has some glitches itself.
I spoke on "Reconstructing Well-Being", about some of the overall wellness, prehabilitation and lifelong habits to adopt regardless of where a person might be with regards to cancer treatment and reconstruction decisions. Terri talked about her experience as a patient, there were nurses, social workers, tattoo artists, a plastic surgeon's PA and a breast surgeon there. Topics ranged from sexuality to surgical options to cosmetic appearance to more personal experiences from a patient who is also a nurse.
We had no idea how many people might show up for the event but we hoped it would be at least a couple of dozen. As it turned out we had a good 40-50 people in attendance. Afterwards we cleaned up and moved the furniture back to where it was, and it was time to party!
Afterwards four of us, the three nurses and Terri, went out to a Mexican restaurant for food and margaritas and got serenaded by a mariachi band, and decompressed. It is so amazing how every health system, nurses, cancer centers, and administration work the same everywhere.
This event only happened because of the work of Terri, a patient advocate, and her backing by a nurse and social worker who wanted to do something needed, useful, important, and meaningful for patients. It wouldn't have happened otherwise.
This is what it takes, people need to speak up and be vocal. Advocating for yourself as a patient, and for others who face similar experiences, as Terri does, and health care workers advocating for patients' needs and filling the gaps in information and care, all of that only happens at the grassroots level. With the corporatization of health care, the people up high are running a business. To use an overused term, there is a disconnect yes- I hate cliches too - between the business of health care and the service of health care. Service is what it needs to be about, otherwise we won't be serving anyone's best interest except the people who stand to profit.
The only way to make things work for the people who need the services is to do the footwork, be vocal, don't back down, and persist. It takes effort to make worthwhile things happen, and if at first it doesn't fit, make it fit.
Just like you have to move and make some effort to improve your health, changing the way the system works will take real effort toward movement. Sedentary habits won't create change.
There really wasn't much to talk about running wise until now. I am 4 weeks into a consistent 4-5 day a week running routine and making progress. This weekend I did two back to back two hour runs. And felt pretty good.
The Great Squirrel Caper happened on Saturday night to keep us on our toes. Isabelle missed the entire thing, she was sitting in the backyard grass, oblivious to the chaos in the basement.
First, we heard something in the chimney. We tried to ignore it, thinking it was a bird. Then it got louder and more frantic. We decided it was better to check it out now than wait until we smelled it. Dennis got a big garbage bag and opened the cover and flue from the fireplace downstairs. He waited for the bird to come down.
And a squirrel flew out of the fireplace.
It ran all over the room, Dennis chased it with a broom, trying to figure out how to catch it. It ran into the bathroom, jumped in the toilet, ran behind the door where Dennis thought he had it trapped, but it climbed up the back side of the door and flew over the top back into the basement.
It had soot all over its paws and then they were wet, so it tracked black squirrel prints all over the carpet and the walls and everywhere it went.
Finally Dennis got the window open and managed to get the squirrel to go out the window.
A little Saturday night excitement at our house!
I've been busy trying to get the last bit of content written before I go to Arizona next week. Will be speaking at BRA Day in Tucson. And visiting my dad and stepmom, running with an new/old running buddy and so on. My dad is starting to feel a little better and we're hopeful that the chemo will be behind him before too long. It's too soon to tell but it looks good.
That's really all the news I have now. I'm back to running but I have to say that's tentative because it's only been 4 weeks and believe me it's been a struggle some days. I wan to to run 5 days a week but sometimes it only happens on 4 days. That's okay. I am still doing a lot of walking and pushing Bella in the cart. I use that as my brain breaks from working.
I am running again, though, and I'm at the point where I can start to think about running adventure. Who knows what my crazy brain will think up next? Once I finish purging my brain onto the keyboard, if I have any brain cells left at all, I'm sure it will be creative. Halloween is coming, look out...
I have not lost my mind. Even though it would appear that a woman walking the streets pushing a hybrid bike trailer/baby stroller with a bag of brown mulch, and talking into her phone might seem like she crawled out of a cave (which she did!) and is off her meds (which she isn't!)...
I am just multitasking the best I can, dictating my various business and content ideas into my email while I get some exercise.
Last week was an incredibly busy week from a networking standpoint. I had some enlightening and highly motivating conversations with several different people. And I also participated in a Google Hangout with a number of international bloggers with similar interests trying to improve the patient experience interacting with the entire healthcare system and all its players. That was so cool.
I got my tire cover for my car, so now I'm officially promoting my soon-to-be-completed but not-soon-enough project.
If you want to see what it's all about, I now have a landing page, which you are welcome to visit.
So, among all these things, I'm still struggling with finding the motivation to get some sort of consistency in running and working out. Pushing the Rocket, whether it contains Isabelle or the bag of mulch, aka "Brownie", is a good workout, and I can get a lot of my thoughts down in voice memos and email messages. Occasionally I can tweet or post to Facebook, but I haven't tried doing a moving tweetchat yet. Eventually I might have a full moving desk, Bluetooth and all, though I'm not that technologically advanced yet, by intention.
I ran twice this past week and there were three days when I got some decent miles on my feet.
I did get an awakening yesterday when one of the runners I know from NorthCoast in Cleveland contacted me, asking if I was going to be there at the race this fall. Uh, no....but I realized it's been a year. A full year of not training like an athlete. September 20th was nationals last year. So I am telling myself that September 20th is when I need to start working on consistency again, even if I am not training for anything.
It's weird how for 30 years the priority of my day was getting my run in. And after just one year of a break, it's so hard to get started again.
But I have additional motivation now that the mornings have turned noticeably cooler. I need to make sure I can fit into my pants when I need to start wearing warmer clothes. I've been wearing skirts and dresses all summer. Now, for the reality check...
I am so looking forward to the cool weather. I have been in super hot flash mode lately, with the sleep disturbances and all. Hopefully this is it, finally, the real thing, now that I've slowed down and gained enough weight, menopause can finally catch up to me and stay. Bring it on!
I first met Bob Becker when I ran my first Badwater. We were in line together to pick up our race packets at the pre-race briefing in 2008, and he had several of my Colorado running buddies on his crew.
Bob is director of the Keys 100 ultramarathon, among several other events in South Florida. He's also a great friend, a real down-to-earth and good soul. I ran the Keys 100 in 2010 and then stayed with Bob and his wife, Suzanne, in 2011 when I ran the Lost 118 and Bob and our friend Phil Rosenstein crewed me, in support of my training for my Badwater road double in 2011.
A year ago, after Bob ran Badwater again, he asked me if I would consider crewing him if he did a double the next year. There was no way I would turn that down, the opportunity to give something back to a runner who helped me so much, and Bob especially, being Bob. I was still committed to doing medical at that point and I told him I'd be willing to crew him on the return part of the trip.
As it turned out things got busy and when I was asked to do medical this year I said no, it would be too much and I would be too tired to really help Bob, and my work was keeping me busy and in need of a working brain. A few days of sleep deprivation was one thing, but a week, no way.
This blogpost is about my experience of Bob's run. It fills in the gaps as I was there and what I witnessed. There are four more stories from the return as well as the race and Whitney portions. In all, there were 8 people involved between Bob and the crew. Eight different stories. This is my perspective, one of eight.
This year was Bob's 70th birthday and that was his motivation for getting out there to do this. No one that age has ever attempted this before and he asked if I'd lend my experience from medical, nursing, and running a double Badwater. If I didn't think too hard about it, and thought about Bob the athlete, not Bob the 70 year old, running nearly 300 miles across Death Valley in the middle of summer, I was fine.
I know what a good runner Bob is, and his ability. He's mentally tough and has plenty of ultra experience, and he's always finished Badwater a few hours faster than I have. He's certainly trained and capable. He's run Marathon des Sables, Grand to Grand, and Spartathlon. He's had plenty of heat running experience in Florida, finished Badwater twice. And he's healthier than most 70 year olds, certainly healthier and a gazillion times more fit than most people half his age. Age really wasn't a factor, except for a few minor things that nagged at the back of my mind.
Kidneys, lungs, heart, brain.
I can't help it, but I used to be an ICU nurse. No matter how fit someone is on the outside, if their organs are 70 years old, that's a consideration. Because old organs and old bodies need to be treated carefully, and they might not work or recover quite as efficiently as 35 year old organs or even 50 year old ones. And a trek across Death Valley in the middle of summer, followed by a climb up Mt. Whitney, followed by another Death valley crossing, taxes a body of any age to the limits.
Kidneys need to be working well not only before and during, but after an excursion like this one. I wanted to make sure he still had all those organs intact when he finished. I felt like that was my mission on this trip, not so much as a crew member, which I was, but as guardian of Bob's future health and well-being. And, since I know Bob's wife and kids personally, I was thinking of them, knowing they were trusting the crew with their most precious husband and dad.
Lungs and kidneys work together in regulating the body's acid and base balance. Whitney would challenge those organs, along with his GI tract, brain, and heart not getting a lot of oxygen. And I knew he'd be taking Diamox to help prevent altitude sickness, which would also dry him out even more, before he set out for the last 135 miles across the desert again.
The goal is to be safe and have fun. The runner and crew members need to finish intact, in good health. Then you worry about finishing time. Bob, being the competitor he is, was always thinking about how long it was taking, feeling like rest times were hurting him, even though he was also very aware of his need for rest and cooldown breaks. It's like having a shoulder angel and devil talking into each ear, trying to figure out which one he should listen to.
Getting There
After a year of minimal training but focusing solely on being on my feet for long periods of time in the heat, namely two long runs of 12 and 15 hours each, and a few vertical jaunts up and down Horsetooth Rock, and not much else other than walking, I was as prepared as I'd be. I drove to St. George, Utah which took 10 hours the first day. I entered the no AC zone around Parachute, Colorado, where the landscape begins to look desolate. That means you drive across the hot desert with the windows open and the hot dry air blowing in your face, until the hotel.
I spent the night chilling out, literally, in a comfortable room with killer AC overlooking the Virgin River bike path, where I went for a quick jog the next morning before the two hour drive to Las Vegas.
In Las Vegas I had reservations at the Neon Museum for a tour of the Neon Boneyard. Definitely worth checking out if you get a chance. All the old classic neon signs from the strip are there and it's a great historical summary of Las Vegas.
Then it was time for my favorite sushi place, Sushi Koma. I drove there and sat down for a relaxing leisurely outrageously awesome meal. I took a long time and the place was quiet despite being busy. People were busy eating. It's so good.
Then it was time to hit Wal-Mart. I got some PBJ supplies, a case of water bottles, and found this cool Wonder Woman skirt on the rack for $4.88. It looked like it would fit me, so I decided to get it and then surprise Bob in the middle of the night with it.
After getting a small stash from Walmart, and Felix would be proud that I only spent $20.00 there, I drove to the hotel in Spring Valley, close to shopping, the freeway, the airport, and the highway to Pahrump. I had to pick up Don Nelson, the final crew member from the Keys, near the airport in the morning, at whatever hotel he was in.
Enjoying the view of all the Vegas resorts from my window at sunset, I savored my last full night of sleep. I discovered that the Walmart skirt I bought was actually a tube top for a really big person. I figured it out when I found the shelf bra in it after I got back to my hotel room. What the hell, make it work. If nothing else I could stitch up the shelf bra and put ice in it and wear it on my head.
Thursday morning Don told me he was at Motel Six near the airport, I'm sure that was a colorful introduction to Las Vegas. I drove down there, it was easy to find, and after a quick stop to get some food for Don, we made the 4 hour drive to Lone Pine. Don got to see most of the Badwater course that way. I found Don to be easygoing and pleasant. Good vibe for crewing. He lives on one of the lower Keys. He's heavily involved in running, race directing, and the RRCA in Florida and the Keys.
Lone Pine
Along the way, we got a text from Kevin Grabowski, who was Bob's crew chief for the race portion, that Bob was getting very close to the finish. It looked like we would arrive in Lone Pine about the same time Bob might make it to the finish line. We wouldn't be able to see him finish, but that would be a cluster anyway because of driving up the Portal Road. As it turned out, Bob had just gotten back to town when we arrived in Lone Pine. We checked into the hostel where all the crew members were staying.
Kevin, Marc Drautz and Beth Stone crewed for Bob during the race, along with Roger Burruss. Roger was the only one to crew Bob both ways. Ashley Heclo had crewed another runner during the race but then joined us for the return. Marc had to head back first, then Beth the following morning.
The first thing Kevin did when I got there was forbid me to look at the van until he cleaned it out. When I finally did go to the van, it was incredible: not too dirty, organized, with a minimum of crap. You would never know that they just hauled a crew and all the runner's stuff across Death Valley in the race. No trace of the chaos remained.
Bob looked pretty rough but was in good spirits. Mostly he looked dehydrated and sleepy. After he showered and I looked at his feet, we went over to the restaurant next to the Dow Villa and ate something, and decided he would get some sleep and I'd look at his feet. They looked great and he had just a few minor blisters. The tape John Vonhof put on his feet was in great shape and I didn't want to mess with it until after he did Whitney.
We did get him on the scale and he was down to 115 pounds. He started at 122. That was really too much weight to lose, and I knew he'd be taking Diamox to prevent altitude sickness on the mountain, and that would dry him out more. He was peeing a decent amount and color, and other than being tired, he was thinking clearly, so I pushed the fluids and food and he didn't have any stomach issues. I tried not to worry too much, but I was watching him closely and making him drink even if it was annoying.
The post-race pizza party took bloody freaking forever. It was supposed to be from 7 to 9 pm, Chris didn't even start it until almost 8, and Bob and Kevin, along with several other people who wanted to summit Whitney early in the morning, were chomping at the bit to get some sleep. Since they were headed up Whitney at 4 am, and already exhausted, it was hard for them to sit through. At least it was at night and it wasn't as sweltering as it usually is in there. Still, it was pretty torturous and drawn out for people who had been up for days, as these things tend to be.
I was fresh, and I was glad for the opportunity to see so many of the people I've worked with on the Badwater staff in the past, who are always so warm, friendly, welcoming, and appreciative. "You're late!" they'd say. They all wanted to know where I'd been.
Mt. Whitney and Chillin' in the Valley
The plan was for Bob to get up and do Whitney in the morning, and Kevin and Don would accompany him, along with Marshall and a few of his crew. Kevin was very fit and strong, but had very little sleep and Don was fresh but from sea level at the Keys and I had no idea what might happen up there. I felt good knowing Marshall was there on the mountain and would at least see Bob coming up on his way down, and would let us know if there were any problems. We didn't hear anything so we assumed all was good.
While we waited for Bob, Kevin, and Don, I hung out with Beth. Bonnie Busch from Iowa, with whom I've run a couple of Cornbelt 24 hour races, wanted to take Beth and I out to dinner at the Mexican restaurant. Bonnie was on Bob's crew along with Kevin, Beth, and Bill Wenner last year, though Bill couldn't make it this year. Bonnie is an accomplished and talented ultrarunner and she was doing her 4th Badwater, and we got to meet her crew. It was great to see Bonnie again, I'm hoping I will go back to Cornbelt in the future and see her there again.
We had a fun evening hanging out with Bonnie and her crew, signing the wall at Jake's Saloon, which I had never done yet, and raising hell at the barbershop and various places along the main drag in Lone Pine. Apparently the sleep deprivation gets to some people in more creative ways than others.
This is what Bonnie's crew was up to, multitasking in addition to crewing:
Rest Day
It did take a good 22 hours for Bob to do Whitney, and afterwards he looked completely trashed. He wisely decided to take another day of rest. We fed him McDonalds cheeseburgers and fries in an attempt to plump him up. He really did look scrawny, his face was drawn. He was peeing okay, but I knew it was a deep dehydration and burning up muscle too, as he has no fat on his body whatsoever. I made him drink a liter of oral rehydration salts, and he had a great appetite.
We hung out in Lone Pine for a day before starting back on Sunday morning the 2nd. Marshall gave us some food and drinks he didn't use in his run, so we got quite a bit of extra stuff. We did a minimum of shopping, Kevin, Marc and Beth had cleaned out the van so well and there were still enough supplies that we didn't have to get much other than ice and crew member food. Ashley massaged Bob while I taped his feet. We called it Bob's spa day.
The Return
Ben Jones, Bradford Lombardi, and Scott Wall (CHP Scotty) drove up early that morning to see Bob off from the Portal. Bob was really touched by that. Having Ben's there is sort of like having the Pope's blessing.
Ashley drove Bob and Roger up the Portal road in the morning and the plan was for me to crew them out of my vehicle down the portal road so Don and Ashley could get all our stuff out of the rooms, fill the coolers with ice and get whatever remaining supplies we needed. Then we would meet at McDonalds when Bob made it to Lone Pine a few hours later.
I crewed Bob and Roger down the Portal road in my car. Actually just Bob. Unfortunately it was a mistake to not use the van, even for this short period of time, because we didn't have the right kind of Ensure. I had plenty of ice food and drinks, but I had the stuff Marshall gave us, which contained Ensure Plus. It was chocolate, but it wasn't regular Ensure and Bob wasn't happy with that. So we deal with it until we get to Lone Pine, then we'd be crewing exclusively out of the van.
I soon found Roger the best calming influence on the entire crew. Roger was self-sufficient and he knew Bob's quirks, but his feathers didn't get ruffled at all. Roger took everything Bob said in stride, and figured out the smoothest method of getting Bob's needs met.
Early that first day I had tried to figure out what Roger would need, not knowing if he wanted to be crewed on the Portal Road. I sent Ashley this message, which got butchered by spell check, two different interpretations of crewing...
After only 2 hours of crewing I remembered the learning curve. That's why I prefer to volunteer at races. I'm not big on crewing. It's like herding cats. The last time I crewed Badwater was 2003, plus the learning curve is steep, and runner and crew member personalities also dictate how things flow. I've never crewed Bob before.
I learned very quickly how to properly set Bob's water bottles up in his hand carriers. And to keep them dry. And he chose these crazy bottles with little narrow mouths that you have to really crush the ice into small pieces and shove them in the hole, hard to do when you're used to wide mouth bottles. But we got used to it.
The other thing about Bob was the paper towels. He liked to have paper towels in the little pouch of his water bottle carrier on his hand. But the towels had to be folded just so, as Roger demonstrates here.
I didn't have the special paper towels with me on the Portal Road. That was the other mistake. Then as it got hot, we started to prepare ice bandana for Bob's neck, and I asked Don to fill one. Then I watched him fill a bandana with a pile of ice as big as Bob's head, and I realized some instruction was in order. I explained how much to put in the bandana, explained about why we have to avoid getting Bob's feet wet, and assured Don that he'd be an expert by the end of the day.
Actually it wasn't too hard to crew Bob because other than being particular about a few things, it was very easy to predict and anticipate his needs. Ensures and gels, occasional chips or Cheetos, occasional 5 hour energy, which really wasn't working but if he thought it was, then we're doing it.
I tried to make Floridian jokes, like how the crew vehicle had its blinker on. I was the lone foreigner, the only non-Floridian. We had the walkie talkies, which were helpful. "Meow" was the communication we used with each other over the radios. Apparently that came from Kevin, something about Hello Kitty walkie talkies from last year, or some such thing...
When we got into Lone Pine we got McDonalds and then got out on the road for the long journey up the hill toward Darwin.
Don and Ashley with Bob.
Bob made remarkable progress that first day. Scotty came out and visited us before he took off for home, and gave us a crash history lesson on the Dolomite area.
We soon got into a rhythm of pacing and crewing. Roger took tons of photographs, and posted them on Facebook. He's a great photographer and artist with the camera. Some of the black and whites he posted were phenomenal. There were fires somewhere in California and they made the Sierras hazy but we got a colorful sunset.
The Red Baron and Wonder Woman
We got through Keeler before sunset and I picked Bob up at about the 102 mile mark on the course. We hit the 100 mile to go mark and took a picture. This is one of my favorite parts of the course at night. There was almost no traffic, and there were times when it was completely still, silent, just the silhouettes of yucca and hills under the stars. I told Bob that I might change my mind and have my ashes scattered up here instead of in the Devil's Cornfield.
Climbing up to Darwin during the night it got very cool. I remembered this from my own return trip, it got down to 70 that year but this time it felt cooler. The temperatures had to be in the 60s, and I was fine, but I was with a bunch of Floridians who were all bundled up and freezing.
I gave Bob my Solumbra jacket to wear over his shoulders until the crew dug his warm clothes out at the next exchange. Even I started to feel cool near the top. I put my Wonder Woman skirt on and that kept my legs warm. Bob and I were giggling about how he looked like Snoopy as the Red Baron on top of his dog house, with my jacket wrapped around his neck and flapping in the wind.
Swollen Hands and Snakes
I dropped Bob at the DVNP sign at 84 miles to go and Ashley took over. I drove down into Panamint to get us another room for that night and hopefully catch a shower and a few Zs before we had to check out. We hadn't used the room at all during the night, and we had canceled the second night thinking we might not need it, but as it turns out, the opposite was true.
I snagged the last room, but there was a glitch: check out and check in were 11 am and 4 pm. The check in and out times were a cluster because during the hours of 11-4 the heat of the day, there was no place to go inside other than the restaurant. And busloads of tourists arrived.
I drove back up the hill to let the crew know the plan, and I saw a huge rattlesnake on the side of the road, must have just eaten a jackrabbit. Fortunately it was on the other shoulder from where Bob and Ashley were.
I saw Roger and Don parked by side of road in the van just a mile outside Panamint. They flagged me down and said, "Bob wants to see you, one of his hands is really swollen."
I drove up less than 1/2 mile, Bob's hands were swollen, he couldn't even close them into a fist. He had only taken 2 electrolyte capsules per hour and it was blazing hot. The temperature had gone from the 60s to well over 100 within just a few hours. He was peeing okay and I assured him we were less than two miles from Panamint. I said, "We'll take you into the shade, cool you down, and get you eating some salt."
He protested, was very grumpy at first. But once he got there, he sat down in the shade, we ordered fries and a round of veggie burgers for everyone and he scarfed. We kept ice on him- his head, neck, legs, groin, and his hands got less swollen. Then we made him sleep in the van AC most of the afternoon in the campground while we waited for our room. We talked him into getting some rest because in the heat of the day he could recharge and then be ready to go when it cooled down. He didn't argue much.
Waiting in Panamint
Don was resourceful and came up with some great ideas. He set up a simple sunshield with a sheet over the van held down by water jugs to keep it from blowing away in the wind as Bob slept. Whenever Bob was being a grumpy ass and not wanting to stop or sleep, at first, trying to convince him to rest during the heat of the day was like pulling teeth until he actually sat down. Then in 5 seconds he'd be gone, nodding off in the chair or in whatever position he stopped in.
Panamint in mid-afternoon was close to 120 degrees and breezy. The gusts got stronger throughout the afternoon. I crashed on the picnic table bench while Don slept on the table on a mat. Ashley slept on another table. I don't think any of us got more than a few minutes of real sleep. Roger hung out on the porch at the resort. We were all running on fumes. Then the wind started to pick up and blow dust.
Don tried to bribe the housekeepers into finishing our room so we could check in early, but it didn't work. They got pissed and didn't let us in until 4. It was still hot and windy and pointless to get started yet. At 4:00 we woke Bob up and drove him to the room, people showered, Bob slept another hour, then at 6 he took off with Roger or Don. I can't remember.
We knew it would be pushing it for Bob and Don to make their flight on the 5th, so we decided that as soon as we were close enough to phone service, Don would call the airline to try to change the reservations for their flight back to Fort Lauderdale. Fortunately he was able to get reservations for the same flight 24 hours later. Having the pressure on Bob to finish in time to get a little rest, a shower, and drive to Vegas was a huge psychological burden.
Towne Pass
I went back into the room to get a few more hours of sleep before pacing Bob all night again, and the air conditioning in the room was like 90 degrees. Cool compared to outside, but stifling to sleep in. But I slept, waking up at 11 to tank myself up with caffeine and drive up to Townes Pass where I found the crew just before midnight. Don took off in my car to go to Stovepipe Wells, check into the room, and get some sleep.
I was worried about Ashley and Roger not getting enough rest, but they kept assuring me that they were switching off with naps in the van. I offered my car so they could drive to the hotels and shower and sleep, but they didn't want to. Ashley was the most energetic of anyone and she did a huge share of the pacing out there in the heat. She was a great asset for several reasons, including her ability to do bodywork for Bob whenever he needed it. She also taped his back to help with his posture which was a huge and noticeable improvement.
Bob was in a much better mood going down Townes Pass. I paced Bob from the top of the pass until about 9 am, a mile from Scotty's junction. We exchanged life stories, talked about all kinds of crazy stuff, and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the desert sky. Coming down Bob was using 5 hour energy to stay away. My favorite Bob quote of the whole run was "Pomegranate my ass!" after chugging a so-called little bottle of that swill.
Seinfeld Comes To Death Valley
Don had slept well in the room in Stovepipe Wells. When I was done pacing, Don took over and we kept moving. I drove into Furnace Creek to check into the room there, we hadn't checked in the day before but had our room for several nights. That was when I had my Seinfeld moment.
To check in, I had Bob's credit card but not his ID, I was brain dead, and they were giving me a hard time. The clerk at the desk got the manager, who told me that since we didn't check in or call the day before, the room came up as available. She told me, "I don't have those rooms anymore."
I told her we couldn't call since we were out in the middle of the desert. She got pissy with me so I snapped back, "Did you tell him that would happen if he didn't call?". She said, "I don't know what it says on the website. I can't refund your deposit." I told her we weren't asking for a refund, we just wanted our room. So then suddenly she was able to find us two rooms. A true Seinfeld moment.
Then I called Suzanne the minute I got into the room. I knew she was waiting anxiously to hear from us since we'd been unable to communicate for over 24 hours, once we got past Father Crowley there'd been almost no wifi or phone connections.
I assured Suzanne he was doing great and would finish sometime very late in the night, let her know about Don's change in the return flights, She knew we wouldn't be able to communicate during certain sections so she wasn't overly concerned but she was thrilled about the update. Suzanne asked me to call him Bobby. That all of his friends back home called him that. Even though I've known him for 7 years, I only know him as Bob.
They were out of frozen fruit bars at the store, dammit, but I drove back out on the course with ice, popsicles and iced coffee for the crew. They all told me to go get some sleep and that they were doing well, that we would cool Bob down when they got to Furnace Creek. It was getting quite hot and the predicted temperature was 117, but it seemed like it would be a lot hotter.
Bob was on a mission, he could smell the barn, and probably the funked-up upholstery with the sweat of more than half a dozen unshowered runners over a week's time. The plan was to get him across the bottom of the valley before it got super hot. It was super hot. The temperature had reached 122 in the valley, and there was a killer gusty crosswind of probably 30 miles an hour.
The entire crew stayed together after Furnace Creek on Bob's final 17 mile stretch. Mother Nature wanted Bob to know damn well who was boss that last night. The wind did not let up, it was so crazy windy you couldn't even open the door of the vehicle. I think the gusts were closer to 50 mph. Bob is a tough ass. He persisted down the road and as we approached sunrise we were almost there.
This is the point where it's really a matter of just toughing it out. The runner wants it to be done, the crew wants it to be done, and it doesn't get any closer. But eventually, you reach Badwater. And fortunately the road signs that say 17 miles are wrong because it's only about 16. So you think you're getting a bonus.
Bob ran into the finish just before sunrise, at 4:48 am. He thanked us, tearfully.
Then we headed back to FC, all crashed in the room and I set my alarm for 10 so we'd have an hour to get out of the room to head to Vegas. Don and I got Bob settled in his room and then we all got a few hours of sleep.
We said our goodbyes, Bob did his little dance in the parking lot. We weighed him, and he was at 120.
The crew did a great job of keeping him hydrated, plumping him back up after his shriveled up state after Mt. Whitney, and keeping him intact. Gaining 5 pounds on the return and no major cramping problems as he's had in the past indicated that he was in great shape at the end. Even his feet didn't look bad. Successful runner, successful crew. Both ways.
Then we all were off. I went to Vegas, got one last sushi fix again at Sushi Koma, drove to St. George and crashed for the night, then drove all the way home on Thursday, and here I am.
I'm done.
It doesn't take long for life to slap you in the face, no sooner did I get home than I had multiple things come up related to work, and a gazillion emails to answer, a gazillion Facebook and Twitter notifications, and so on.
But it's okay. As Bob said, maybe that's the whole point of going to Death Valley, to get away from all of it for a while, to leave everything behind. And it's true. Few places give you the opportunity to really get away. Those deserted roads, the bare stars, the Joshua trees and sand dune shadows at night, all remind you of how important it is to step out of your routine and strip everything away for a while, just a while, to remember the human being you are.
Capable of breathing the air, seeing the stars, listening to silence, without a care in the world, just moving forward, rhythmically, footfall after footfall, powered only by your own will and your own strength, because that's really all that matters.
Congratulations, Bob! Well-done!
#BeLikeBob.
photo and video credits: Roger Burruss, Don Nelson, Ashley Heclo, Beth Stone, Susan Canevello
