what went wrong?

''if you never did, you should.

these things are fun and fun is good.''

georgie has already mentioned a bunch of stuff, so i'll just add my two cents - for what it's worth. i got to the airport with no trouble and in tons of time - thanks wayne !!!! no lineup at the american counter - this will be easy - until - oh no - we need the address of the place you're staying in dallas . . . oh for god sakes! I DON'T HAVE AN ADDRESS !! i don't even have georgies' phone number !!! panic call to the wellness center and the lovely michelle managed to calm me down and get me the address of the super8 motel in huntsville. whew! crisis averted! thanks michelle!

georgie was waiting for me at the airport, and after a stop for pizza, some blue bell ice cream - a litre each - and a couple of wrong turns, we made it to his place. he was in the process of tidying up his house, and had arranged for a bunch of stuff to be stored in the garage. no problem except we had to get the garbage bins out to the curb (oh, sorry, they call them 'trash bins' in texas). and rather than try to move the foosball table, 249 pounds of weights, 3 bikes and an 8-sectional couch, we opted for dragging them all the way through the house and down the front steps. no problem! and oh ya, me and christine had wanted to get a traditional 'canadian' souvenir for georgie, so we opted for the ever popular beaver. it was to become our mascot for the rest of the week.

on thursday georgie had arranged for a few of his friends to meet me at his favorite friday night hangout - 'mexigo' - and a few - good grief - i counted at least 20 !! super nice people, and i especially liked crazy michelle and the lovely rachel. oh ya, and there was the 'handsome alfonso'. haha! check out the totally frightened look on my face!

we had planned on leaving around 8 friday morning for the 3 hour drive to huntsville. watching georgie trying to get ready was like watching myself! talk about A.D.D. and he never did find his headlamps!! we eventually got the truck packed, set the gps, patted our beaver for luck, and got on the road.

and of course, a road trip just wouldn't be complete without at least one trip to the dairy queen!

we made it to huntsville just after lunch and decided to check out the race start. it was located at the state park, just a short drive from the motel. upon entering, we noticed the aforementioned 'beware of alligator' sign and got yelled at by the park warden for driving too fast. oops! sorry officer.

race kit pickup was fairly uneventful, and we stayed for the pasta dinner. best part was the large serving of german chocolate cake! mmmm! after stopping at the napa auto parts store on the way back to get a flashlight for georgie, we hit the beds early in anticipation of a 4am wakeup.

race day


'what could go wrong?'
or should i say
'what went wrong?'

loop one

we started in the dark at 6am. temp was about 5* and most of us were in shorts. i was able to turn the headlamp off by 7. at one of the aid stations, this guy grabbed my arm and said, 'now i know where i've met you - transrockies 2008. i ran behind you for 6 days. you had that bloody doll on your back!' haha! texas - long time no see buddy! at one point, i started following this guy with strong looking calves who just plowed through the mud. found out his name was dan and he was from georgia. anyways, the first 20 miles went smooth and took about 4:15. only did one face-plant and i felt good.

loop two

stayed with my new friend dan for a lot of this loop. was eating pb and j sandwiches and roasted potatoes. i think about 2/3rds of the way around my feet started to ache. i got annoyed, and pushed ahead. when i finished the second 20 miles i was feeling like shit. i sat in a chair and pondered going back out. one of the many awesome volunteers came over and started chatting with me. he got me a grilled cheese sandwich and told me to really think about it before deciding to quit. my hips were burning and my feet were throbbing. i stayed there a bit longer and was almost ready to turn in my chip when dan came across the line. he yelled, 'hay sinister sister, get up and get going - you're tougher than that'. well, okay then. the clock read 9:15 - i had sat for almost 25 minutes - but i got up, stopped feeling sorry for myself, and tucked in behind him. thanks dan !

loop three

dan and i stayed together for almost all of this loop. it got dark with about 6 miles to go, so we threw on our headlamps. it was also getting chilly, so we added an extra layer. we were still running pretty good at this point. my feet actually hurt less when i was running. one of the aid stations started serving hot chicken vegetable soup - man that was good! i recall the section by the lake as being somewhat amusing! i was hearing not only peeper frogs, like we have up here, but these other frogs that truly sounded like they were laughing at us. and the other thing playing on my mind was not to step to far off the trail for a whiz, as there were alligators in the park, and i could hear rustling in the grass!!! we finished this loop (60 miles) in just under 15 hours, so that made it 9 at night. and, i actually felt better after this one. it was getting even colder, so we threw on some more clothes and headed back out.

loop four

after 20 minutes out on the trail we ran into georgie. he was about to finish his very first 50 miler! we both hollered and gave him big congrats! he was one happy guy! both dan and i felt okay up until the 3rd aid station. we then had a long stretch up a section of jeep road. he didn't feel like running, and i was getting really cold, so i just kept pushing. unfortunately we got separated and that was too bad. maybe it would have turned out different if we'd worked together. regardless, all i remember is getting colder and colder. my teeth were chattering and i was down to a walk. my feet were screaming at me and i was cringing with every step. so many thoughts were going through my head. do i quit, or do i try and keep going. lots of stuff played with my mind. i remember digger saying, 'pain is temporary, a dnf is forever'. stoopid digger! i thought of all my friends who just assume i can do these things. i thought at one point that i didn't fucking care what anybody thought. i was so cold. i wasn't having fun. i couldn't run anymore. it had been over 22 hours. i could maybe make the last loop by noon, but i'd probably have to walk most of it. i didn't want to walk the last 20 miles. i didn't come here to 'walk' a hundred miler. oh, thank god, finally, there's the line . . .

some will win, some will lose

some are born to sing the blues

but the movie never ends

it goes on and on and on and on.

'journey'