NOT the End of the World

Dawn to Dusk, 2012 edition, ended in failure, I don’t even have pictures.  There wasn’t even a lot of drama to it.  I ran the first three miles with about a 10 mph tail wind in a light mixture of rain and snow. My legs felt good but it was really cold right from the start.  I met Jane, Denice and Kristen at the Park and Ride lot at the intersection of Kings Valley Highway and Highway 22, only to find out that every car previously parked there had been broken into.  It was at least 6 cars with their windows broken.  Denice and Kristen did decide to leave their cars anyway and we headed off toward Perrydale, picking up Tracy along the way.  By the time we reached Perrydale, about mile 10, the temperature was dropping and the wind was increasing.  We now had Jeanne for crew support, but as a group we were moving much slower than I had anticipated the first part going.  I was starting to hear and observe some of my early companions making alternate plans to get in a warm damn car!  I had only planned to have company until mile 16 so, when at mile 12, turning straight into the 20 to 30 mph freezing wind I still had one, Denice, I considered myself fortunate.  The rain and snow mix was coming down very heavy now and being blown straight into us by the wind.  There was almost no talking those last 4 miles as neither of us could make discernible words come out of our frozen mouths, but the pace was pretty admirable considering the circumstances.  I remember thinking, “oh, sure, you’re running this fast, you just want to get in the car sooner”.  At mile 16, and now alone on the road, I asked Jeanne to go ahead to Rickreall and wait for me there.  I was completely drenched, and even in wool, very cold.  I was having trouble squeezing my water bottle because my hands were so frozen and was starting to “not feel the road” with my frozen feet.  Getting close to Rickreall my thoughts were, there’s a convenience store there.  If I could get some warm chicken noodle soup in me and sit in the car for a little while to warm back up I wouldn’t be too far behind schedule.  I was also thinking about the fact that I hadn’t made it to any of the hills yet, where I knew the snow would be worse.  As I approached the car in Rickreall, Jeanne jumped out to get supplies ready for me and I quit with the symbolic thumb slit to the throat.  Just like that.  No hemming or hawing about whether I should or shouldn’t.  In the next few minutes after the decision was made, it seemed my body temperature dropped another 10 degrees.  It took almost the rest of the afternoon before I felt warm again, and my fingertips were still sore the next morning.  So, no Dawn to Dusk for 2012.

I did still have the daunting task of getting to 2,000 miles for the year.  In July, it seemed my 4 year streak of consecutive 2,000 mile years was going to come to an end.  But an injury free 5 months put me within range, a very patient Jeanne gave me the time and a 107 mile last week got the job done.

Goals and plans for 2013.  Attempt 100 miles in one day at the Pac Rim 24 race in Longview WA in March.  Attempt to qualify for Boston at Newport OR Marathon in June.  Run Across Oregon in July/August while turning (gulp) 50 and pass the 20,000 miles run mark before the end of the year (I need 2,296).

5 years in a row over 2,000 miles

Happy New Year!!!