Georgia or Vegas – either location keeps me on my 100 marathon path.
Two/three marathons a month (Jan-June, Sept-Oct), only one in July & August (attitude climbing both months). Running consistent, training hard, on track for Dublin/October 29th. Set a goal, visualize/see yourself there, make it happen.
Friday morning flight to Atlanta – chose Georgia, same day bib pick-up, AFB run location. LOVE our country & any experience which supports our Armed Forces. PLUS travelled to Hoover Dam just last month (Vegas run option).
Flight delay in Charlotte, didn’t ATL jet-bridge ‘til almost 7pm. 2 hour drive to Macon, quick shuteye, early a.m. start.
Much of the South was coated in ice just a week ago. Many marathon friends were disappointed when Mississippi Blues cancelled their annual event. 6 days later – what a difference! Gonna be a warm one today, high would top 80 degrees.
2 laps, 13.1 mile course = marathon medal #80. Unexpected marathon delay…didn’t actually start running ‘til almost 9. Sun already high. Yep, gonna cook today. Both of my 2017 winter runs have been crazy warm & balmy.
2 miles thru housing & base training facilities, short wooded trek, then 3 miles of open-space…ran parallel to the Base air strip. Hefty hill at mile 10, popped up into a manicured golf course, easy rolling hills – one lap complete.
Second lap: started slow, stayed slow. Walked in Florida 2 weeks ago, a steady jog would be momentum-building from last race. ALSO, no meds – neither pain nor nausea pills (purposely didn’t pack either). Ground heating up, air strip rotation ahead: no trees.
Watched participants shed their shirts. Always been too self conscious to race shirtless. NO more.
Pushed up the course’s one sizeable hill (now mile 23) & slogged to the Finish. Zapped, always struggle in heat, breathing’s all over the place. Not a great finish, but improved 20 minutes on 2017’s first marathon.
3 week break ‘til my next 26.2 mile trek…legs getting stronger, no more gutting thru 26.2.
Museum of Aviation Marathon
Warner Robins, GA
1/14/17
MOA Marathon Results
38 K R Haga 4:54:47
Hotel shower & a swanky nite in Hotlanta. Dinner at the Livingston, Marriott upper-floor stay (glass elevator ride UP). Lazy Sunday morning start, pricey a.m. breakfast, afternoon flight home.
Next weekend: snow hiking in Staunton State Park 🙂
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- pre-race, pre-dawn museum tour
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- barbershopp’d ‘Star Spangled Banner’
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- warm day in Dixie
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- Robins AFB
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- marathon #80, 2nd of 2017 — not your typical JANUARY finish pic
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- swanky digs in Hotlanta
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- ATL skyline: ’til next time, Georgia
The exhibit is an intriguing exploration of the life of Kahlo, her striking artwork and her fascinating psyche. Together with the exclusive photographs of family, friends and lovers, the exhibition gives a complete view of Kahlo’s world, along with the joys, passions and obsessions of this remarkable artist.
“With her dreamlike images, Kahlo has stirred huge public interest beyond the traditional art audience. In a way, Kahlo created a persona that serves as a contemporary feminine ideal – both tender and fierce,” says Dali Museum Executive Director, Dr. Hank Hine. “Much like Dali, she constructed an eccentric identity through the iconography in her paintings and then dressed and carried herself as the personality she created in her art. Painting by painting, she becomes a heroic figure of struggle and perseverance.”
In addition to some lazy beach lounging, drove to neighboring St. Pete & visited the Dalí Museum. Deciding factor? Frida Kahlo. Hard to explain my life-long attraction. Frida was a Communist, I an American imperialist – proud of our nation’s growth, our need to push forward, move boundaries, explore, expand, invent.
Kahlo was shocking but real, honest to her character, comfortable in her own skin.
Started with a 20-30 minute film, a brief explanation of her life & work. Wore headphones briefly; began a self-guided tour provided by the Museum. Two paintings in – unplugged, no longer interested in hearing what I was supposed to see & feel. Sat, stood, stared, reflected, soaked in…natural emotion.
Kahlo’s work is raw – it provokes emotion.
Common trait? We draw strength, passion from our topography. Casa Azul, her ‘Blue House’. The Rockies, my Colorado home.
Thankful Frida Kahlo’s work exists today. 60 years after her death, it still sparks discussion, it still evokes thought.
…AND I walked the halls & toured Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí’s art…for whom the museum is named. From the photos posted below, I did more than just ‘tour’ Dalí’s pieces. I truly appreciated the experience…but I came to see Frida.
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- houses the largest collection of Dalí’s works outside Europe
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- ‘A Few Small Nips’
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- ‘My Nurse and I’
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- “I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.”
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- Spanish surrealist painter, Salvador Dalí
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- ‘Apparatus and Hand’
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- ‘The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus’
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- ‘Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man’
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- fave Dalí of the day
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- today art, tomorrow FOOTBALL — a life well lived 🙂
Sand dunes, salt flats, mountain hike & my 77th marathon finish. Last desert day…all good things come to an end. Drove back by way of Dante’s View — one last hike in the Park, one last overlook of Death Valley. WOW, just WOW.
More than an afternoon in Vegas [’til my return flight]. Casino walk, afternoon show? Naw…been there, done there.
Hoover Dam.
Did a fly-over 2 years ago during my Grand Canyon Heli Tour, but never down, down, down to the Dam’s base nor studied its history.
At the time of its creation, Hoover Dam was the largest of its kind. Harnessing the power & volume of the mighty Colorado River, water is distributed amongst the West thru a system of pipes and irrigation canals. Hoover Dam’s reservoir, Lake Mead, is America’s largest man-made reservoir.
Dam construction created thousands of jobs during the country’s Great Depression & completed 2 years ahead of time. The Dam’s spillways were last tested in the 1980’s; since then water levels have diminished significantly, triggering renegotiation of the Colorado River Compact within the next 2 years. While Colorado snowpack has provided steady & consistent volume, population explosion in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix & Tucson have eroded Lake Mead’s levels.
Living in Colorado, many of us grow frustrated and anger at California’s seemingly wasteful use of water resources: creation of lush manicured lawns & agricultural water waste. Arid landscaping — popular in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada & Arizona — has not been widely adopted in America’s most populous state.
…but I digress. Breathe in, count to 10, exhale 🙂
$20 was the ticket price for the tour. Historical film, followed by a series of elevator rides to the Dam’s bypass pipes & massive hydropower generators. The science as to how this all works — super interesting!
Elevator UP. Walked the Dam perimeter, snapped sunset shots, self-toured its Monument. Thank goodness for standby — ’cause this flyer missed his departure home. Many thanks Southwest Airlines. Life lesson learned.
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- infamous California chain — check, done
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- greatest dam of its day
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- [Colorado] river was diverted through four 50-foot-diameter tunnels, two drilled through the canyon walls on each side of the river
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- 4 billion kilowatt-hours a year — enough to serve 1.3 million people
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- 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete
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- tonite’s WOW shot!
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- Lake Mead (Nevada left, Arizona right)
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- Hoover Dam Monument
Hoover Dam (in 47 seconds)
