Just So You Know...It Never Changes

Well, I'm a week out. It's Monday night, and I'm thinking of little else these days except for the race. I've come across two different television shows featuring pieces on Badwater, one on the Discovery channel, and the other, well I can't remember. But the same thing, always the same, the heat the distance. Seeing the pictures of someone going through the same things, however, jars your memory a little bit more than polished memories.

Like a lot of those reading this worried about their first marathon (lot of TNT folk out there), I'm nervous about the distance. Could I have trained more? Could I have done more heat training? Could I have lost a few more pounds? Fortunately, I don't go too far down that path anymore, because the answer to all those questions is always yes. Over the years, I've found that you have to strike a balance between doing what you love and doing what you have to do. I'm an amateur, not a pro, I do this for fun, so I train as much as I can and hope it gets me through. If not, well, there's always another day.

I've got some minor aches and pains, too. I've got a neuroma on my left foot, but I got a cortisone injection about a month ago and it's been behaving pretty well. I have a strained achilles. I have a little plantar fasciitis on both feet. I have fibromas on the arches of both feet. I basically have the feet of a 65 year old (something about overuse, my doctor says). But again, what's the alternative? I could sit on the side and say "Oh, that's too hard," but where's the fun in that? If you train up as well as you can and everything works out, you're rewarded well for the effort.

One other concern. SNOW. Sounds like there may be too much snow at the top to summit, but it's melting fast, so keep your fingers crossed! My good friends Mark and Patty Giebel (who you read about in the section below on Western States) stopped by the message board at the Ranger Station in Lone Pine on the way back to L.A. this morning and got reports that folks had made it with crampons and ice axe, but there was no official word from the rangers. Mark has told me that if the snow is too bad, where I'd need an ice axe and crampons, he'd strongly recommend putting off the final "add on" climb to another day. We'll go prepared with trail shoes and climbing poles, and if it's clear enough, we'll go for it.

This week is mostly packing an prepping. My checklist is four pages long, and the crew schedule is it's own sheet! But for me, if everything with the crew is worked out ahead of time, I don't have to think about it when I'm out there. That's where I'll be thinking about all my friends or nothing at all.