Back of the pack

Went to the doc yesterday about the big red sore toe.

Said I have “peranychia” (pair-a-nick-ee-a). Sounds like a far away magical land. It ain’t. It’s an infection from dirt and muck getting into the toe around the nail. “Foot Rot,” as my friend and ultra runner Greg Burger, a pharmacist, puts it. 52.5 miles running through the mud last Saturday at Free State might have had something to do with it.

I’m on an antibiotic called cephalexin 4 times a day, which will either fix (it hasn’t had any effect yet) it, or I get the thing lanced in a week. No running for at least a week, the doc says. By that time I will have decayed into tapioca. The Big K already got me to drink a big gin and tonic tonight, while watching a James Bond movie. I am worthless and weak, but that G & T was good!

So… big red sore toe. I will never again be scornful of NFL players sidelined with “Turf Toe,” even though this isn’t that.

In my brief remarks about Free State in Tuesday’s blog, I forgot to mention Laurie “Pixie Hawk” Euler moved up to 40 miles. Good job Pixie!

114 days to Leadville. Who knows how many days until I’m back on the trails with the Hawks, though.

More later,

gary

Kind of an important anniversary for me today.

21 years ago today, I started on a 1300-mile backpacking trip from Lawrence, Ind., to Boulder, Colo., with my dog Gummy Bear. I had an old atlas of U.S. railroad lines, and we followed the railroad tracks.

Gummy Bear’s mother was a black shepherd mix. She got out one night while in heat. There was a giant schnauzer running around loose in the neighborhood. I didn’t actually see the dirty deed, but as Gummy Bear grew up — he eventually got to 65 pounds — I saw a lot of schnauzer traits in him.

I’d just finished my first 6-year hitch in the Navy. I’d done sea-duty on USS Enterprise (aircraft carrier, not the starship, alas), and shore duty teaching journalism at the Defense Information School. I was ready for adventure — the personal kind, not Navy-sponsored.

So, 21 years ago this morning, Gummy Bear woke me up for his walk. “You want to walk?” I asked him. “I can oblige.” He was about 18 months old and ready for some adventure himself.

Well, it was great fun. We hiked and camped and fished. Gummy Bear killed a squirrel once, which I cooked for us. Gummy Bear wouldn’t eat any of the raw meat. That was in the days before I went (except for fish) veggie. I kept journals, which I plan to post one day. I did manage to write about the first 2 weeks of our adventures. You can read them here:

No simple highway

if interested. That was back in the days before digital cameras, so I didn’t get much done in the way of photos. But here’s a pic of me and Gummy Bear about two weeks into our trip, in Monticello, Ind., right on the Tippecanoe River:

Me and Gummy Bear, May 1988

Gummy Bear died just a few weeks short of his 15th birthday, Oct. 11, 2001. His ashes are in a protected rocky little nook high on a ridge in Boulder State Park where he and I used to walk after we arrived and settled in Boulder.

Gummy Bear would’ve loved trail and ultrarunning. Happy Anniversary, my friend!

115 days to Leadville.

More later,

gary

First blog entry since last Thursday.

Friday was the day before the Free State Ultras & Trail Marathon. I signed up for the 100k. There was also a 40-miler running concurrently, and a marathon starting an hour later. So, Friday, packet pick-up, and getting ready– mixing up the Perpetuem, getting the drop bag ready. You know the drill.

Big storms forecast for the afternoon and evening of the race, but I tried not to worry about that.

Race Saturday. Plan to do a detailed race report. Wish I could be like Sarah Ellen Stanley — she’s a personal trainer and ultrarunner out of DC who ran her first 50-miler — the Bull Run 50 — April 18. Sarah posted to Twitter all throughout her race! So in a way– she wrote her race report while she was running the race! Did good too — about 10:18, I think, in a very tough trail race in hilly Northern Virginia. I probably won’t have mine done for two or three more weeks.

A link to her blog, Sarah Stanley Inspired, is on my blog page.

Short version is, the race got canked about 11 hours in, because of storms. A group of us 100k kids — Mark Friesen, Deb Johnson, Coleen Voeks, Lee Crane and Willie Lambert got pulled at the 52.5-mile aid station. Just 9.5 to go!!

The way the weather turned out, it was good — very nasty little cell with high wind, slashing rain and pounding hail rolled in about 45 minutes after we came off the course.

Felt good all through the race. Was on track for a sub-14 hour finish without pushing. Even dawdled taking a lot of photos for ultrastory.com — in addition to a lot of runners, I also shot (with the camera) two snakes and two deer.

It was all good. Cloudy, humid, but nice warm day running around in the woods sometimes with friends, sometimes alone. I know it killed Ben Holmes, the RD, to cank that race, but it was the right thing to do.

And even though I didn’t get a belt buckle this year, when I finished at the aid station, I got something almost as good — a delicious grilled veggie cheese burger, made specially for me by Randy Albrecht. That thing was good, no lie.

Sunday, I found I had gotten some kind of version of turf toe. Big toes on both feet swelled up, turned red, and hurt. Could hardly walk. I had promised Ben I’d de-mark part of the course after the race, but had to wait until Monday. Then I read on Face Book it had already been done Sunday, so I was off the hook.

Spent much of Sunday and Monday night after work going through the photos I took and posting them on ultrastory — a process I only finished early this evening. Thought I was done last night, but discovered this morning I’d forgotten to upload the last few dozen. They are all up now, however.

I’m not sore or stiff at all after my 52.5 miles. But the toes are getting better very slowly, and I still can’t run. Am trying to put off going to the doc. May have to do it eventually. Will almost certainly miss the Wednesday night trail run tomorrow. I will probably go out there anyway just to get a photo of the group. How pathetic is that.

Anyway, even though I didn’t finish my race, got some nice Lawrence Trail Hawk things to report — Lisa “Rhino Hawk” Wright and Liz “Spider Hawk” Smith both got their first marathon finishes. Debbie “Wheat Hawk” Webster and Christy “Hawk Mama” Craig pushed their distance records from 50K to 40 miles, and Hawk Mama beat her projected time by almost an hour.

Mircea “Mir Hawk” Sauciuc got his first ultra-finish in the 40-mile. And Darin “Lincoln Hawk” Schneidewind got his first 100K finish, beating the storm and finishing with the tough “Kearney Boys” John King and Gabe Bevan. My friend Greg Burger also got in before the storm. All 11-hour finishes, I think. Results weren’t up yet when I checked yesterday.

Next big race will be the Lunar Trek in Scandia, Kan., in July. The race starts at 11 pm under a full moon, or as close to it as they can schedule. Very cool. Hopefully the toes will be better by then! More about Lunar Trek later.

Well, this is pretty long for a blog entry, so I will sign off.

116 days to Leadville.

Weekly work out totals = 0.0! Oy.

More later,

sore toe gary

Lovely rest day today, and Tuesday. All part of taper time.

Trail Hawks and some Trail Nerd/Trail Hawks gathered for the Wednesday night run, Corps of Engineers trail head last night. Did the 5.5 mile Lake Henry loop, at a relaxed pace, out of respect for the Free State Ultras & Trail Marathon, which is blasting toward us through time at a thousand mph — Earth’s rotational speed.

Runner role call:
(front, l to r) Laurie “Pixie Hawk” Euler, Nick “Colo Hawk” Lang
(2nd row, l to r) Lisa “Rhino Hawk” Wright, Mircea “Mir Hawk” Sauciuc, Christy “Hawk Mama” Craig, Mary Ann “Squeaky Hawk” McIntyre, Jim “Family Hawk” Beiter
(in the back l to r) Chris “I’m not a runner Hawk” Lang, Levi “Smilin’ Hawk” Bowles. And me, taking the pic, Gary “Story Hawk” Henry.

Dog role call:
Christy’s Leila and Mary Ann’s Goose

Temps were in the low 80s, and the sun was smilin’ like Levi. Many of us veterans of runs in this winter’s single-digit and below-zero temps, we luxuriated in the heat. I even wore my thinnest running tights!

We took off down white, Laurie leading. We meant for a relaxed pace, but Pixie Hawk flew right along. The Muddy Mile on white was still pretty muddy despite the warm weather. A lot of the trail after was in decent shape, though. Mary Ann and Goose actually did the relaxed pace the rest of us had been hoping for. She and Goose went out about 2 or 3, then headed back.

Christy took over the lead around mile three, and kept the pace. Laurie fell back and slowed down. The Lang boys gallantly stayed with her. Christy, me, Mircea, Levi and Lisa continued on.

The Lake Henry Mud Pits were in good shoe-sucking form, and there were some other splooshy-splat areas after. We got to the muddy mile on the blue trail, and it WAS — muddy, not blue.

Finished in the parking lot after a small barfing episode, though I’m not at liberty to identify the barfer. Wasn’t really that spectacular. Just a little spit up in the last quarter mile from not eating.

Of course, the remedy for that is food and drink, so after we all came in and got cleaned up, we went out to the 23rd Street Brewery, where my spouse Karen “Hawk who walks” Henry joined us.

Actually, I got there late, because right as I was leaving the parking lot, “Shirtless” Mark Inbody aka Mr. Blue Hat, came blasting of the white trail. He’d dropped his kids at Scouts and decided to use the time to grab a quick sixer.

So we blabbed for awhile. He’s pacing his friend Curt for the last 20 of the 40 mile at FS Saturday, then sweeping the course with Kevin Anderson (I think that’s the right last name, someone yell at me if it isn’t), so he’ll get a good 30 in.

Anyway, finally arrived at 23rd Street and got made fun of for drinking non-alcoholic beer, or “nice, cool why-bother” as Nick calls it, from the table of alkies I sat with. Even the Big K had two foaming beakers.

But it’s too close to the 100k for me to drink. After… that’ll be a different story!

Weekly total = 8.67 miles, 62 push ups, 45 crunches

121 days to Leadville!

More later,

gary

Nick got it right. Tapering is actually RECOVERY from all the training miles so you’re in good shape for the run. In this case, the Free State Ultras 100K April 25.

Today did 30 minutes on the elliptical, level 16, rolling hills. Hit three miles in 28:09, did the last minute and change in reverse, for a total 3.17. Got 62 push ups, 45 crunches. Felt a little sluggish. Worked out too soon after lunch.

124 days to Leadville.

More later!

gary

We have out-of-town company coming for the Free State Ultras & Trail Marathon next week, so Kansas City Trail Nerds and Lawrence Trail Hawks joined forces yesterday to clean up some of the most heavily littered parts of the course.

After taking out more than 16 full 30-gallon bags of trash, including 4 bags of recyclables, the group went for a run on the cleaned areas, led by Beth Hilt. We graded ourselves on the job done. Whenever an overlooked particle of paper or foil was located, we picked it up and carried it back, while seriously harassing whoever had responsibility for that section. Huge fun!

Runner role call:
Beth Hilt, Levi “Smilin’ Hawk” Bowles, James “Skull Hawk” Barker, Mircea “Mir Hawk” Sauciuc, Pat Robinson, Laurie “Pixie Hawk” Euler, Nick “Colo Hawk” Lang, Angie Shellito, Austin Shellito, Christy “Hawk Mama” Craig, Debbie “Wheat Hawk” Webster, and me, Gary “Story Hawk” Henry.

Front l to r: Austin Shellito, Angie Shellito. 2nd row: Debbie Webster, Beth HIlt, Laurie Euler, Christy Craig and Nick Lang, who is trying to hide his face behind a golf ball. Good luck, Nick! 3rd row l to r: James Barker, Levi Bowles, Mircea Sauciuc, and Pat Robinson.

We put the bags of trash into the park dumpsters, where all the trash should have gone to begin with! James volunteered to dispose of the recyclables.

Weather was wet, cloudy and humid at first, with temps in the mid-50s. Trail very muddy. We got started about 10:45 a.m. We split into 4 groups, and entered the trails from the eastern-most stairway, by shelter 4. Group 1 — Christy, Beth and Levi — went east on the white trail, and group 2 — Nick, Laurie and James — went west. They had the most heavily trashed section. They got 6 full bags of trash off the white trail area without ever getting past the middle stairway.

Group 3 — Debbie, Angie and Austin — headed east on the less-heavily trashed blue trail, while Group 4 — Pat and Mircea — went west on blue. I was the photographer, and raced around between the groups trying to get pics (they follow).

Each group went out for one hour, and marked how far they got with a ribbon. That way, we were able to run the cleaned areas and survey our handiwork — which — speaking as a totally objective, non-biased observer, was superb.

All told, we estimated about 5 miles of course cleaned up on white and blue. Ok, here come the pics.

125 days to Leadville!

More later,

gary

Nick reacts to the thought of drinking PBR.

Laurie's got her shades on because she just had eye surgery the day before to sharpen her trash-finding vision.

l to r: Christy, Beth and Levi show off some of the cool stuff they found on the white trail

Pat (l) and Mircea display trash trophiesfrom the blue trail. No one ever did identify the green ooze leaking from the old tire tube that Mircea found.

Laurie (l), Mircea (c) and Christy display a big rusty iron "thingie," and the skull of a small animal, both found on the white trail.

Austin Shellito, 11 and Mom Angie, voted “cutest couple” much to young Austin’s horror.

How James T. “Skull Hawk” Barker got his hawk name.

Lovely rest day today, but yesterday — the first Lawrence Trail Hawks run!

Runner role call:
Nick “Colo Hawk” Lang, Mircea “Mir Hawk” Sauciuc, Levi “Smilin’ Hawk” Bowles, Christy “Hawk Mama” Craig, Jim “Family Hawk” Beiter, Mary Ann “Squeaky Hawk” McIntire, Lisa “Genie Hawk” Gilliam (sp?), Coleen “Lil Big Hawk” Voeks, Laurie “Pixie Hawk” Euler, Liz “Spider Hawk” Smith. And I got my hawk name, which I love, courtesy of Coleen and Christy, “Story Hawk”!

Also present — Nick’s dad Chris and his uncle Steve.

Dog role call:
Mary Ann’s Goose

Temps were in the low 60s, it was sunny as we started off, only to stop after a few hundred yards for a copperhead sunning itself in the trail! Steve Lang got the shot.

We politely tip-toed around the handsome fellow and headed into some pretty juicy mud. Christy, who is doing the 40 mile at Free State on the 25th, experienced some tummy troubles, so fell back with Coleen, who is tapering for the 100k.

The rest of us continued on. Someone asked me how far we were going — a question I relayed to Nick, who was leading, expecting to hear “5.5 miles,” which is why I hadn’t brought a water bottle. “Lands End Loop,” Nick replied, which is nearly 10 miles. Moral: make sure you know how far you’re going BEFORE the run, not during.

We were having such a good time, I hated to leave the group. But I had planned on 5.5, was not equipped for longer, so I left the mob and dropped down to the blue trail at the first Lake Henry cutoff. Lisa and Liz went with me. Liz is doing her first marathon at Free State, and quizzed me for what info she could get. don’t know how helpful I was, since I haven’t ever run the marathon there, just the 100k.

Lisa hasn’t run Free State, but is a speedy runner who often wins her age group in the Rock Creek races. Probably wins other races, too, as far as I know.

Anyway, the Lake Henry mudpits and the muddy mile were both in fine fettle. We splooshed on through and got to the parking lot. Lisa had to go, but Liz and I waited for Christy, Coleen and Laurie, who soon came charging off the course. Then Liz had to take off — appointment with a bathtub, I think she said.

While we waited for the rest of the group to finish their Lands End Loop, I called the Big K who was planning to meet us at the 23rd Street Brewery after the run. She got there early and nailed down a table for us.

Once the guys got out, and cleaned up, we headed over. I’m supposed to be off brewskis till after Free State, but somehow got talked into drinking two. Needed them to toast the inaugural run of the Lawrence Trail Hawks, however, so I’m glad I drank them. Couldn’t have toasted the inaugural run with non-alcoholic beer!

So good run, good company and an auspicious start to the Lawrence Trail Hawks. I heard somewhere that the Hindus believe it’s good luck to see a snake.

Weekly total: 19.01 miles, 84 push ups, 90 crunches.

127 days to Leadville

More later!

Story Hawk

The Trail Hawk flock is growing. Very exciting! We’re not ready to start taking dues yet, though. First we need a treasurer! Laurie “Pixie Hawk” Euler has said she’d be willing, if needed, which she is. After Free State, we’ll have a members’ meeting to choose officers and board members, and approve a charter.

That’s when we’ll start taking dues, which will be $10 a year. The first thing the dues will go for is membership in the Road Runners Club of America, so we can be official, and qualify for insurance, so we can put on races.

Liz “Spider Hawk” Smith mentioned a Lawrence Trail Hawks Facebook page… what a great idea, Liz!

Coleen “Lil Big Hawk” Voeks is working on getting us a cool LTH logo. So, baby flapping for right now, but the flock is going to fly after a little while.

Several of the Hawks are taking part in the “Clean up on aisle one” trash and dash Saturday… first thought of by Coleen. They are Coleen, Christy, Mircea, Laurie and me. Yay for us!

Ok, so today’s workout — last hard one till after Free State. Did about 6.5 on the treadmill in an hour. Hit 6 miles at 52:35, increasing inclines between .5 and 3.5, then dropped to 4 mph for the last 7:25 minutes, gradually upping the incline to 10. Felt good.

Got 62 push ups and 45 crunches.

Weekly totals: 13.51 miles, 84 push ups, 90 crunches.

129 days to Leadville!

More later,

gary

Just got an e-mail from one of my Kansas City Trail Nerds friends, asking if our new-born Lawrence Trail Hawks was an attempt to break away from the Nerds. I think if one person writes, usually there are 10 more who feel the same way.

I wrote my friend back, hopefully clearing things up. I would never do anything to hurt the Trail Nerds, even if I could, which is doubtful. The Trail Nerds are a group I owe a lot to, and whose colors I proudly wear in every race.

My decision to form the Lawrence Trail Hawks, as I explained to my friend, dates back to November. That’s when Lawrence Magazine wanted to do a story on the Lawrence trail running community. I was slightly embarrassed because the best we had to offer was a branch of a Kansas City club.

I finally reached my decision on this while running Saturday with Trail Nerds co-founder “Bad” Ben Holmes. He told me how the Department of Parks & Wildlife officials here were frowning on the idea of trail events because it was their idea that we abused the trails. That’s when I realized our beautiful Lawrence trails need more help than they are getting. They need the horsepower of a big local group. Lawrence needs to step up, and I think it’ll be easier if there is an actual Lawrence trail running group to join and organize around.

Now, just as Ben and Nerds co-founder Kyle Amos don’t restrict KC Trail Nerds membership to KC, the Lawrence Trail Hawks are open to anyone who wants to help us meet our goals. Those goals are spelled out in the “Lawrence Trail Hawks” page of this blog. Please visit and take a look!

We are brand new, and only have eight members so far, including me. But I know a little about PR, and once we’re up and going, I’ll spread the word. I expect we’ll hit triple digits in short order. Lawrence is an athletic town, and we love ‘Hawks.

We’re going to be a dues organization, $10 a year. Our first purchase will be membership and insurance in the Road Runners Club of America, which I find slightly ironic. Coleen “Lil Big Hawk” Voeks, our first KC member, is working on getting us a cool logo for the promotional gear that we’ll wear and offer at our events to raise money.

After making expenses, all monies will be turned over to the Kansas Trails Council — of which I am a proud lifetime member. The accounting will be public and transparent, and will be part of the Trail Hawks story which I will constantly pitch to the media — proud that we have a local group to support the trails.

That may be our motto in fact (though I’ll have to check it with the other members) “Do good. Be proud.”

Before all that though, we need to meet and elect a board and officers, and approve a charter. Then our Treasurer will start a bank account, and we’ll save our money until we have enough to join RCRA. Once we’ve joined, I will consider us official and start the membership drive.

One step at a time, though — first we need to gather core members with the same vision. All suggestions, advice, and good wishes are welcome. We’ll be scheduling a members meeting soon to discuss the issues I’ve just mentioned. Probably after the Trail Nerds Free State Ultras & Trail Marathon, April 25th.

In the meantime, we’ll keep running Wednesdays at 6 pm, and Saturdays 7:15 am. As always, all are welcome, Nerds, Hawks, newbies, out-of-towners, dogs and anyone who wants to have fun running around in the woods.

By the way, Hawks, I’ll be cleaning the Lands End loop section of the course after the race, and would love some company. May do it over a couple days, Sunday the 26th to Tuesday the 28th.

Whew! Apologies for the long entry.

In training news, got 7.01 miles in one hour on the elliptical. Hit 6 miles in 51.05 minutes. Rolling Hills program, Level 16. Legs still a little tired from the 9.75 on Friday, followed by the 20 Saturday. Looking forward to starting my taper Wednesday for the Free State Ultras 100k!

62 push ups, 45 crunches.

So, weekly totals — 7.01 miles, 62 push ups, 45 crunches.

130 days to Leadville!

More later,

gary

Fabulous 20-miler yesterday. The kind of day when I wish I could go for another 10 at least. Alas, yardwork obligations called me back too soon, too soon.

Met the usual suspects and some new characters at 7:15 am, Corps of Engineers trail head for the Clinton North Shore trails. Freezing cold morning — Nearly 28 below zero (in Gary degrees — 60 degrees fahrenheit = 0 Gary degrees. Have I ever mentioned I hate cold?) but clear and lovely.

Runner role call:
Liz Smith, Coleen Voeks, David Salavitch, Nick Lang, Casey Younger, Brad Bishop, Pat Robinson, James Barker, Debbie Webster, Brian Akers, and visiting from Fort Worth, Texas, Ann and Brian Futch.

Also running, but arrived too late for the photo, Sam Kevern, Ben Holmes and Sophia Wharton.

Dog role call:
Nick’s Roxie

David Salavitch, Brian Akers, Pat Robinson, Liz Smith, James Barker, Brad Bishop, Casey Younger (Front L to R) Ann Futch, Curt Futch, Coleen Voeks, Nick Lang, Roxie, Debbie Webster

Though the start was chilly, we soon warmed up dashing along the rocky, rooty trail. It was muddy after some heavy rain Thursday night and Friday morning. The water crossings were higher than usual. There was no way for me to tippy-toe around them in my typical fastidious way, so I just plunged on through. The water wasn’t bad at all. And my new Saloman XA Comps (thanks, DW, you know your shoes!) drained well and dried fast in the rising temps.

Lawrence Trail Hawks
Ran for awhile with Ben, and listened to his concerns about falling volunteerism at some of the events, particularly the Trail Nerds aid station at Brew to Brew last weekend. He’s preparing to host the FreeState Ultras and Trail Marathon, April 25th, and is concerned the trend might continue.

Since trail maintenance is a big part of why Ben and others put on these events — and more importantly why we’re allowed to put on these events on public lands — Ben’s comments helped me reach a decision on something I’ve been thinking about for many months now.

I think it’s time for Lawrence to have its own trail group. It’s time for us to step up and stop depending one hundred percent on the Trail Nerds and the Kansas Trail Council to take care of our trails. Since we run on them, we should be in the forefront of those caring for the trails, and helping all others, like the Nerds and the KTC who are also willing.

So I am announcing here the formation of a new trail group: The Lawrence Trail Hawks. I’m putting the full story on this in the “Pages” section of this blog. You won’t have to live in Lawrence to be a member, just love the trails. Our first official event will be “Clean up on Aisle One.” That’s the trail-cleaning idea Coleen Voeks came up with a few weeks ago, and that some of us have talked about since. Trail sections a few miles on either side of Lands End are particularly trashy. That’s because they go right past, and have easy access from, the campgrounds.

Coleen said, and many of us agreed, it would be great to clean them up the week before Free State since we’ll be getting a lot of out-of-town visitors. And it will also show the Department of Parks and Wildlife that having us around is an asset to the trails, rather than a liability.

All in all — it’s a job for the Lawrence Trail Hawks!!

So much for the soapbox.

We kept a steady, moderate pace to the 10-mile marker on white. There, most of the group, dropped down to blue for the (about) 5.75-mile return. Sam, Ann and Curt and I wanted 20, so we kept on to the campground at about 12 miles. There we got more water and headed back on blue ourselves.

Detoured down to the shoreline red trail. Like the blue and white trails, it was pretty juicy in places still. The Salomans seemed to release the mud pretty easily, though. Sun was really going to work. I think it bugged Sam, but to me it felt great. The Texans didn’t seem to mind the heat. Must’ve been close to 60 degrees (F, not G). Lake was calm, and in the shallows, clear.

Lake Henry mud pits were in fine fettle, as was the Muddy Mile, as we closed in on the finish. Met Christy Craig outbound for a 15er with two friends, Ben and Erin (sp?), about a mile and a half from the finish, though Erin was doing four miles only. Sam got separated from us briefly in the last quarter mile, and almost took a wrong turn, but recovered and got in ok.

While we were de-mudding in the parking lot, I met a new young trail runner named Nick, who is signed up for the marathon at Free State. He was there with his dog, a huge friendly yellow Lab named Mr. Benson. Told him all about the Nerds and invited him for our Wednesday and Saturday runs. He was impressed when he learned that Sam had recently done a 50k and was signed up for the 40 mile at Free State without ever even having run a marathon.

Come to think of it, I was impressed too!

Anyway, great run, new friends, possible new runner and new dog in the group, and finally made a decision on something that’s been bugging me. Feelin’ groovy!!

131 days to Leadville.

More later!

gary