6/10/04 Hollie and I are not yet home. After we left Deadwood on Sunday we drove to Kearney, NE for one night. We lived in Kearney in the early 70's and wanted to see what the place looked like now. On Monday we drove to Lee's Summit, MO for the night and yesterday we drove to Springdale, AR where we will be until tomorrow.

I was very undertrained for this race; I think my longest run was something like
11-12 miles. My hamstrings/butt have been paining me, especially with all the
driving we've been doing. On Tuesday I stepped on a rock and tweeked the left
hamstring as I attempted to keep from falling. So much for all the excuses.

I knew I could make the distance. I just figured I'd have to do a bunch of walking. Since I had so many things working against me, I tried to do as much as I could be enhance my chance for the least painful experience.

On Friday and Saturday I drank as much water as I could tolerate. On Saturday
evening I ate so many carbs I was so miserable that I had to lie down immediately after eating. This was probably good in that I fell asleep early and
got a nice pre-race sleep.

Upon arising, I drank 20 ounces of water, drank hot tea and ate a couple of cliff bars. I then drank another 20 ounces of water. Hollie drove me to the start and about 20 minutes before the start I ate a gel and another 20 ounces of water. I was very well hydrated.


My plan was to get with the 10 minute pace group and try to start out slowly and
just try to be "comfortable". I wear headphones and I found a great country music station that kept me distracted. I really liked the course and found the surface to be very comfortable. Except for the one hill that lasted about a mile, we were basically downhill. I think we started at 5700 elevation and ended at 4500. The temp was in the 50s. The downhill is good for the hamstrings, but is a quad killer.

I pretty much ran under a 10 minute pace most of the way and felt good, especially since Hollie met me 7-8 times on the course. I was able to take gel and personal water at 4 and 8 miles and water at all the other aid stations.

At about mile 11 I started really hurting and then Martina McBride started
singing to me "in my daughter's eyes I am brave and I am strong...." That really
got me going and I ran 9:33 for that mile as I recalled all the miles I have run with my now 35 year old daughter, especially the time I ran the White Rock
Marathon. We were at mile 22 and I was just talking away trying to keep her
motivated. She stopped in the middle of the street, put her hands on her hips and told me, "Mom, will you just shut the F**K up. Then she busted out crying and said, "I'm sorry, Mom."

The last half mile of Deadwood is on bricks and that was a killer, but I'm pleased to report my time of 2:09:52. (See Results) I did not walk a step. I felt great afterward. Then about two hours later I could hardly walk. Monday, yesterday and today my quads are just killing me. I even have to hold on the toilet seat as I sit and rise. It's really very funny. I know I'll be better in a few days and I thoroughly enjoyed the race. I'll be back next year.

I just sent you a post about the Deadwood half. In it I mentioned that the temperature was in the 50s at the start, but I failed to mention that it was between 85-90 degrees when I finished. I think the high for the day was over 100 degrees. The marathoners really had a miserable time with the first 13 miles being uphill and the last 13 miles being downhill and having to deal with the extreme temperature swings.

6/4/04 Thursday and Friday, May 27 and 28 Hollie biked the 72 mile Coeur d'Alene trail in Idaho. On Friday I rode a 29 mile portion of the trail.

Our big adventure was on Saturday when we rode the Hiawatha Trail. You need to check it out at:

 www.skilookout.com/bike_home_page.html

We drove to the top of the trail where it was about 35 degrees and sleeting. We waited until the sleet turned to rain and then began the totally downhill ride. Keep in mind that this trail is gravel and we have hybrid bikes. We immediately went into the first tunnel which is about 1.8 miles long and no lights except what was on our bikes (Thanks Elmer). It was very, very scary. From that point on we went through many more tunnels and over many trestles. Our original plan was the ride back to the top, but it was still cold and raining when we got to the bottom so we took the shuttle back to the top. That was great, except the shuttle only took us the lower entrance to the first tunnel so we had the pleasure of riding back through.

The next day there was an article in the Coeur d'Alene paper about it being the opening day for the trail and that there were quite a few people who had braved the weather, including a group from Mississippi.

Sunday, May 30 I ran the 5K which is a part of the Coeur d'Alene Marathon. There were no official times or awards, but I can now say that I have run a race in Idaho. My time was 28:28.

Immediately after the race we drove to Helena, MT for the night  and on to Glendive, Mt the next night. The drive was not too good. It was so windy that our bikes were bouncing around on the rack.

Tuesday, June 1 we drove to Deadwood, SD and moved into our hotel, Deadwood Dick's, for the next 5 nights. Check it out (we're in room 413) at:

 www.deadwooddicks.com

Upon arriving on Tuesday Hollie began the ride of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail. He rode Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for a total of 108-114 miles (depending upon the source) Since this is the trail where I will be running the half on Sunday, I ran there on Tuesday. I was going to run 4-6 miles, but at about 2 miles I stepped on a large rock and quickly realized that in my attempt to keep from falling, I strained my left hamstring. I didn't run on Wednesday and did just 3 yesterday and 2 today. I've been loading up on ibuprophen and I'll just show up on Sunday and run/walk. I'm determined to do this race.

Check out the trail and the marathon/half marathon at:

www.mickelsontrailaffiliates.com
www.deadwoodmickelsontrailmarathon.com

5/26/04 Hollie and I are in the Spokane, WA and Coeur d'Alene, ID area for the next 2
days. We arrived in Spokane Tuesday, May 25.

We began our "Western" trip by spending 2 days in Granbury, TX and then 3 days
in the Chama, NM area. We then drove to Ogden, UT where I ran a 5K race in
27:22, placing 1st in the 55-59 age group.

Next we drove to Twin Falls, ID and on to Ketchum where we biked the 30 mile
Wood River/Ketchum/Sun Valley Trails. It was a great ride, especially since this
was the first time either of us had biked in snow and sleet. After that we drove
a very scenic highway to Stanley, ID where the overnight  temperature was in the
20-30 range. After Stanley, we drove another scenic route to Boise and
eventually to Lewiston, ID.

Over the past two days Hollie rode a 61 mile trail from Spokane, WA and on into
ID. Since I'm trying to concentrate on my running, I just rode 24 miles of the
trail. Tomorrow we will begin to ride the 70+ mile Coeur d'Alene trail. On
Saturday, May 29, I will run a 5K race in Coeur d'Alene. I'll send an update
after that race.