Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Keys 100 is a comin'

Three days away, The Keys 100 ultra marthon awaits. In three days there won't be eggs for breakfast, there won't be the casual relaxing cup of coffee. There will only be running and suffering. Yep, I said suffering. Since you don't get to Key West from Key Largo along US-1 seeing butterflies, unicorns and rainbows, what you will see though is pain, sweat and tears. ( I know, big cliche' but it is true) This is the fourth year of the race and the fourth time myself, Jen and Scott have had the pleasure of being a part of it. As always I give people warnings about the heat, however no one seems to take this race seriously. That is until you hear the sirens on the ambulance in the distance taking care of the runners who didn't give credit to the race. Ask anyone who has DNF'd this race,(myself included 08'..82 miles in) it sneaks up on you like an enraged elephant. What? How the hell can an elephant sneak up on you? It doesn't; but you tell yourself that it did, however every warning sign was there before the damn thing charged you. Seems that poking it with the stick was fun until you realized the danger...... That is the Keys 100. Everyone has their thoughts on the race, their idea of how hot it is, how hot it is not. "It can't be that hard, it's flat", or "what could be hard about running through paradise" Thirty Seven percent finish rate should speak loud and clear to those who are coming to town to battle the race and themselves. However that fact is normally overlooked when folks peer out a air conditioned car, or hotel window at the blissful paradise that is The OverSeas Highway. Let the games begin, bring it on, let's do this thing....etc... what ever ya call it, this elephant is ready to charge.

Friday, January 7, 2011

BADWATER 2010

Ok, Badwater was in July. Six months ago. Still there is no race report. After two draftes of a version that would never do it justice.....it was decided that today there will not be a race report for Badwater. What happened? This race was just to personal, to raw and to hard to describe to do it any justice. Many good writers are able to put thought to paper, explain their feelings and get it all out in a legible form. This runner,not so much. Finish, yes. 41hr 27min. Forty One Hours and Twenty Seven Minutes. Still today it is hard to comprehend. So that's about it. Except for the thanks that are deserved:

Thank you, Jennifer, Scott, Sarah and Mike for keeping me nourished, moving and happy for such an incredibly long time.

Thank you. Drymax socks for flawless feet! Always the best socks, and they see action EVERY DAY. These feet were about as good as they have been in a hundred mile race, given the extreme conditions, and probably better!

Thank you Getting To Tri Foundation!!! As always, wearing the G2T logo gives us the chance to tell people what a great charity this is! Thanks Mike for always having a kind word no matter how crazy you think we are.

Thank you, Polar Bottles for keeping all of us fueled with consistently cold water and supplements though the most extreme conditions on earth. (125 Degrees) These Bottles Rock!

And that is the Badwater report.