Happy Mother's Day!

Devon, Paul, & Paula - 2002 (before Paul was the tallest in the family)

It has been a bit of an odd mother's day here in the VaughanMiller household. The oddest bit: neither of my sons are here to help me celebrate. Now that is taking some getting used to. But the day has been rolling merrily along nonetheless.

We started the day by calling my mom - the epitome of why mothers should be celebrated: gentle as a butterfly's wing yet rock strong. She kept our home humming and still carries on in fine fashion even though living on her own for the first time in 86 years. I sent her cloth placemats, napkins, and napkin rings in all the colors of the rainbow for use on the new deck she is having built and she has promised me a tea party upon my arrival in Petoskey. Yay!

After talking to ma, Kendall and Jester started their walk and I started my run with the plan to meet up in the CU cross-country property. We rendezvoused right on schedule - just as we were all getting ready to exit the property. But Kendall had a surprise for me. As I approached, he yelled out "He's all yours! He's your dog." I took a look at Jester and he was the grossest looking beast I'd seen in ...well... forever. Apparently he had found a large mound of cow poo and had a jolly roll in it. Yuck! We took him over to the pond that's on the property - but, unfortunately, today was not the day he was going to decide to like swimming. He'll run around at the water's edge, but there's no getting the pooch in there for a full body swim. Rats. Off to home we went where I put on my grungiest clothes then hosed down and shampooed mister Jester over and over again. He's almost presentable.

After dog (and human) showering, it was off to brunch with Kendall's brother, his wife, one of their daughters and her two kids. Very fun being around kiddos on Mother's Day. A most enjoyable outing.

Back to the house and Kendall went off shopping while I hung out hoping for a call from my sons. And yes! They both called. Ahhhh.....

Then I went for run #2 for the day. Sort of a hither thither run just fitting in the miles to get my 100 for the week. Back through the Bureau of Standards trails, over to the grocery store to see if I'd hook up with Kendall (nope), through a couple of neighborhoods, back into my neighborhood, decided to do minute strides which livened me right up, dashed back home, where Kendall had returned, and told him we were going to go deliver the neighborhood newsletter which had just arrived - so it was me running up and down the block and to all the doorways while Kendall rolled the newsletters - a fun sort of relay thingy.

And now it's time for homemade fish & chips. That Kendall is quite the cook. Yum! Like I said:

Happy Mother's Day!

Sightseeing

One of the aspects of this run that I am most looking forward to is sightseeing my way across the country on foot. Whenever we do a road trip, I play 'scout' and go tootling around the town on my run, looking for the craziest lawn ornament, the most magnificent houses, the best coffee shop, whatever interesting tidbit the locale may offer...
Today being a 30-mile day, I needed to keep the sightseeing aspect of the run in mind (rather than diving inward and focusing only on getting the miles done). Highlights:

• Four deer crossing the street just a block ahead of me
• A coyote hunting for then eating its breakfast
• Fresh snow on the continental divide
• And a plethora of blooms along the trail
  

Four weeks to go

Yup. Four weeks. I stare at my legs and ask them if they're ready - but they don't talk much.

As I wrote to the Dead Runners Society today:
"The big question is: Am I really ready? I expect I'll just have to get out there and find out! I do know I've learned a heckuva lot this past year about stretching, eating, icing, sleeping, staying cool, hydrating, and...running. But oh my goodness the butterflies are swirling! "

...Which leads me to a favorite quote by Walter Cronkite: "It's natural to have butterflies. The secret is to get them to fly in formation."

...Now I'm seeing me running through the plains, a phalanx of butterflies leading the way. I like it!

Quick update on the day

2 runs
3 foxes
4 turkey vultures
26 pages of day-by-day route instructions for Nebraska (that is one wide state)

The clock is ticking

"So much time, so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it."
(a free mile running with pjv to whomever knows where that quote came from ;-))

I've got this list - actually several lists, and the speed of checking items off these lists is quickening. So far between Saturday and today:

• we bought a rice cooker for the motorhome (for some reason this was a high priority on my list - I just can't run without my rice!)
• we've scheduled the de-winterization for the motorhome
• we bought a pair of "talkabouts" (sort of like walky talkies) with an 18-mile range (and were even able to take advantage of a 20% discount at REI)
  
• we've arranged for automatic bill pay
• we got a set of pots and pans for the motorhome - a camping set so they're compact for storage, but with much better surfaces (easier to clean) than our 35 year old set
• massages are scheduled through June 5th
• we got campground guides for all the states I'm running through
  
• I'm breaking in the remainder of my shoe inventory and have arranged for the rest of the shoe supply that I'll need for The Run

...and the list goes on....lots more checking off yet to do!

In the meantime, the taper has started; this week, just 100 miles and one 30-mile run!

Sleep! The wonder drug!

Nine hours. Count 'em! Ni-ne hours of sleep last night. Marvelous zzzzzs!






So the big question this morning was:
Do I run 30 miles to make up for bailing on the 30-mile run yesterday?
Or do I run enough to get my 120 miles for the week (about a 4-hour run)?
Or do I just take it easy in deference to feeling so off yesterday? I chose door number 2 and decided to go for the 4-hour run for a 120-mile week. Good choice!

The first plan for this run was for me to run to the Boulder Road Runners' fun run with Kendall on the bike for the first part of the run. As I headed out the door my stomach growled and I realized I had forgotten to eat anything this morning. Anymore, I just can't do a four-hour run without eating - so back into the house I went to make a small bowl of oatmeal. That put the kabosh on running with the Road Runners as there was no way I'd make it there in time.

Time for plan B - a most excellent plan it turns out! Kendall rode his bike along with as I ran south to a trailhead with a lot of choices. After we parted ways, I went southwest on the Coal Seam trail (a new trail for me) that led to the Community Ditch trail which offered a mile's worth of shoe sucking mud (very fun), then crossed over to the Mesa trail with glorious views of the flatirons, and on up to the top of the Bluestem trail which is my most favorite springtime trail. Many of the flowers aren't quite in bloom yet - but it still offered many a beautiful sight to behold....not to mention a very fun multi-mile downhill run. Once off this western set of trails, I ducked into the south end of the CU cross-country property, said Hi to the cows that are grazing there, and trotted on home. Four hours and three minutes, just a minute less than yesterday's run - but a whole lot more fun. What a great day! Here's to a good night's sleep!

Oh yeah. One month from today - The Run begins!

Surprise Santa at the south entrance to CU's xc property

Bailed on a run

Cutting a run short is not something I do very often - especially a key long run. But I did it today.
I had a 30 mile run planned (~6 hours) and 2.5 hours into it, my stomach started going south. I've gotten pretty used to having a squirrely stomach during my 30-milers, but it doesn't usually happen until more like 5 hours into the run. When the tummy started churning today, I just kept on going, walking the hills, trying to get some nutrition in every 40 minutes, drinking every 20 minutes, hoping things would settle down. But no, the stomach stayed queasy, my head started aching, my energy was quickly draining, and at 3 hours and 45 minutes, I called Kendall for an early pick up.
Rats.
After a day of mostly lazing around, dozing off and on, not eating much, and with a froggy voice, I'm wondering if I might actually have a bit of a bug. If so, it's the first time I've been sick since retiring (last July 28) - no colds or nuthin' since then. I was sort of hoping to keep the streak going. Ah well, I'm off to bed and, perhaps if I actually manage more than 6 hours of sleep tonight, I'll be a new person tomorrow!

Panic spitballs

I was going to title this "Panic Attacks" - but that's an exaggeration. There are a number of things that make my stomach flip flop, but "attack" is a bit much. So I settled on "spitballs." Quick, small, neither pleasant nor welcome, but easy to move on past. So here are a few of my recent spitballs (which are becoming more frequent as June 6 rapidly approaches):

• The big one: 30 miles per day, 6 days per week. Can I really do it? The mileage I'm able to handle today (compared to, say, a year ago) is mind boggling. But 30 miles every day?!?!?!?
• Tornadoes. All last night the scroll was going on the TV about the thunderstorms, hail, and tornadoes that were following my very route from here to the Colorado/Nebraska border. I've promised that I won't attempt to run through a tornado. But what what our beautiful new motor home? Tornadoes love beautiful new motor homes - such a tasty snack.
• Kendall saying "we'll just play it by ear" when I say that the map doesn't have cross-street road numbers on the route I'm running through the middle of nowhere Nebraska. His ear and my ear do not always hear the same tune.
• The calendar. In 27 days we will be heading to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois for my older son's graduation. In 31 days we will be arriving back in Boulder from Galesburg. In 33 days, I will be embarking on my 55 day, 1451 mile journey.
• Which leads to: 1,451 miles in 55 days. Can I do it?!?!?

Enough with the spit balls. AndyE and I had a great run this morning filled with frisky cows, prairie dogs and foxes. Tomorrow is another 30-mile run. Let's get this show on the road!

There's something to this training

So - yesterday saw this foolhardy middle-aged woman go out for a 25-mile run, come back home for a bite to eat and a quick ice-down of her legs followed by an even quicker shower, then head out for a five mile run with a couple of running buddies. Then, immediately after the latter run, it was time to go listen to Mark Plaatjes talk about injury prevention.

Today was reality check time. Just what would the aftereffects be of that 30-mile day? I'm still shaking my head in amazement. This morning's run - six miles with Jester to/from/and throughout CU's cross-country property - was smooth sailing. About half way through, I was leading Jester. And this afternoon's run - another six mile run, this time starting from home and ending at a pizza place where Kendall was guest chef'ing as part of a fundraiser for his school - was some more smooth sailing. Well...the joints and all were moving smoothly - but the wind was gusting so much, the body was getting buffeted all over the place. The one notable aftereffect from yesterday's 30: hungry! The pizza place was an all you can eat type of deal - and I really got my money's worth tonight!

Gumption Lost. Gumption Found.

Today was a planned 30-mile day: a long morning run and a shorter, faster evening run. Yet when I woke up this morning, I really just didn't much feel like running at all. I finally got myself out the door around 9:30 with a general plan to run towards the Boulder Reservoir via a circuitous route (so - from my house in south Boulder to the rez northeast of Boulder...something more than 7 miles which is the distance of a more direct route) - then I'd go somewhere and eventually get back home with 4 hours of running under my belt.

As I started running, my predominant thought was that it would've felt mighty fine to stay in bed all day. And as I continued running, I had an ongoing debate in my head about whether/where to turn back. But on I went. And ya' know, about two hours into the run, about the time I reached the rez, I started feeling pretty good. Notables of the run:

• About two miles into the run, I hear "Hello Paula!" - and there was running buddy AndyE riding his bike to class. He asked where I was running this morning and I told him out towards the rez and hoping for about 20 miles. Excellent incentive for not turning around at that point!
  
• Wildlife including (in addition to my 62 year old running buddy cyclist) a huge dead rat, a squashed snake, a not-shy muskrat, loads of geese and ducks, and an eagle.
• Running on the Eagle Trail - a trail I ran often with the satboys gang when the gang was bigger. We had many a boisterous Saturday run out in this neck of the woods/prairie. Today I headed straight west on the Eagle Trail - something I'd never done before - and found my way to a trail that took me around the northwest corner of Boulder.
  
• From the northwest corner of Boulder I followed a trail to Boulder's Wonderland Lake neighborhood where I logged hundreds of miles with running buddy Patti in the pre-Satboys days - back when our sons were young and Patti and I would treat ourselves to a Saturday morning run together...girl time away from our male households.
  
• From the northwesterly part of town, I headed down into the valley floor where I decided to explore a street I'd never been on (or even seen) before - and lo and behold, I came upon the apartment complex that Kendall and I had been living in at the time we got married (32 years ago)...there was the very balcony we stood on while shooting champagne corks into what was then an empty field next door.
• From the valley floor, I continued south (and uphill) to campus - and while I was running through the campus, I saw an old family friend. We walked together a bit while we got caught up on each other's doings. She's an M.D. and is compiling a list of medical kit supplies I should have with me on The Run. Very handy!
  
• From campus to home, a mere two miles, covered in a very good mood.
  

Final tally: exactly 5.5 hours, to be logged as 25 miles. What a morning! and afternoon!