Visit to D.V.
Well, we went out to Death Valley over the Memorial Day clinic for a little training session. Myself and three crew members (Steve Matsuda, and Ken & Jeanne Berry) left L.A. at 6a.m., dropped our camping gear at a spot called Panamint Springs, and then headed out for a good heat session.
We drove over to Furnace Creek, the 18 mile point on the course, and were actually running by noon. It was somewhere around 108f at the start, but that did manage to creep up to 117f by around 3:00pm. It was Ken & Jeanne's first time running in the heat, so they were anxious to see what it was like to run at temps where you'd normally be looking for the swimming pool.
Part of being a good pacer is knowing what your runner likes. For example, I like to have my pacers in long races run behind me, rather than next to me, so I don't feel like I'm racing. It can be a bit of a tightrope walk for a pacer, because sometimes you need someone to cajole and cheer you up, and other times, you just want to be quiet and focus. The general rule is that whatever you say on the course "doesn't count" as far as friendships go. I'm pretty easy to crew for, as I don't get too irritable even when I don't feel good. I've seen runners in long races turn into super cranky complainers, revert to helpless babies, pout, bitch, moan, and worse. For me it's usually just a question of "Talk, or not?"
We did about 21 miles Friday, stopped just before we got back to Stovepipe Wells, and headed back to Panamint Springs. By the time we got back, we were taking turns laying down on the table, resting, and we set up camp. Still about 90f+, but it was good to stay warm the whole two days. Of course the wind kicked up right as we were putting up our tents. That night, Ken was too hot to sleep in his tent, and crawled out to sleep on a picnic table.
Saturday morning, I was still feeling a little tired, mostly from the previous week's 50-miler at Bishop, and just didn't feel like another day in the heat. So we decided to make it a climbing day instead. I started at 7:00am and climbed from Panamint Springs (m.72 on the course) up to Father Crowley's Point (m.80). Then we hopped in the car, drove to Lone Pine (m.122), got an Egg McMuffin at McDonald's, and walked up the last 13 miles of the course on the Whitney Portals road, for 21 miles for the day. I still made it up the 13 in about 4 hours, so a good pace considering the altitude gain (about 4,500 ft).
At the Portals store, we talked to Doug (the proprietor), who told us that a lot of the snow had melted away from the top of Whitney and that they expected it would be clear by race week.
Presentation
The presentation went very well! Thanks again to Kyle Donnelly and the 30 or 35 folks who showed up to see the documentary on the film. It seemed that everybody was really inspired by the film. The slideshow afterwards also went well, and thanks to all who attended.
This weekend I'll be down at the San Diego Rock'n'Roll marathon with our summer 2005 TNT team. That should be a lot of fun, and looking forward to it. I've been remiss in putting 'the numbers' down, but will try to remember to do so on Monday. I've probably plateau'd on weight for a while (those last 10 are hard to get), but mileage has been great, and I feel very strong!
We drove over to Furnace Creek, the 18 mile point on the course, and were actually running by noon. It was somewhere around 108f at the start, but that did manage to creep up to 117f by around 3:00pm. It was Ken & Jeanne's first time running in the heat, so they were anxious to see what it was like to run at temps where you'd normally be looking for the swimming pool.
Part of being a good pacer is knowing what your runner likes. For example, I like to have my pacers in long races run behind me, rather than next to me, so I don't feel like I'm racing. It can be a bit of a tightrope walk for a pacer, because sometimes you need someone to cajole and cheer you up, and other times, you just want to be quiet and focus. The general rule is that whatever you say on the course "doesn't count" as far as friendships go. I'm pretty easy to crew for, as I don't get too irritable even when I don't feel good. I've seen runners in long races turn into super cranky complainers, revert to helpless babies, pout, bitch, moan, and worse. For me it's usually just a question of "Talk, or not?"
We did about 21 miles Friday, stopped just before we got back to Stovepipe Wells, and headed back to Panamint Springs. By the time we got back, we were taking turns laying down on the table, resting, and we set up camp. Still about 90f+, but it was good to stay warm the whole two days. Of course the wind kicked up right as we were putting up our tents. That night, Ken was too hot to sleep in his tent, and crawled out to sleep on a picnic table.
Saturday morning, I was still feeling a little tired, mostly from the previous week's 50-miler at Bishop, and just didn't feel like another day in the heat. So we decided to make it a climbing day instead. I started at 7:00am and climbed from Panamint Springs (m.72 on the course) up to Father Crowley's Point (m.80). Then we hopped in the car, drove to Lone Pine (m.122), got an Egg McMuffin at McDonald's, and walked up the last 13 miles of the course on the Whitney Portals road, for 21 miles for the day. I still made it up the 13 in about 4 hours, so a good pace considering the altitude gain (about 4,500 ft).
At the Portals store, we talked to Doug (the proprietor), who told us that a lot of the snow had melted away from the top of Whitney and that they expected it would be clear by race week.
Presentation
The presentation went very well! Thanks again to Kyle Donnelly and the 30 or 35 folks who showed up to see the documentary on the film. It seemed that everybody was really inspired by the film. The slideshow afterwards also went well, and thanks to all who attended.
This weekend I'll be down at the San Diego Rock'n'Roll marathon with our summer 2005 TNT team. That should be a lot of fun, and looking forward to it. I've been remiss in putting 'the numbers' down, but will try to remember to do so on Monday. I've probably plateau'd on weight for a while (those last 10 are hard to get), but mileage has been great, and I feel very strong!
posted by Greg Minter at 10:01 AM
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