GATOR 🐊
Not the greatest of overnight accommodations, but the Indian couple who ran the joint were friendly, happy for the business — and kept the room clean. Location? Across a two-laned road from our parking lot. Civitan Park, Winnsboro LA.
Went out a bit fast for Day One. Pitch black, except for my headlamp — stayed top 3 outta fear of what lurked in the dark. Swarmy humid swamp smell & the croaking/clicking sounds of nearby gators. By mile 7, had moved into first place.
Yeah… that scary. Y’all know I’m slow. LOL> Daylight exposed fire ant mounds, lush tropical vegetation & a row of turtles sun-bathing on a dead log.
What about… Oh yeah, there were gators. Spring season when juvenile males fight & wrestle to move-up the breeding pyramid hierarchy.
Have marathon’d Louisiana twice in 3 weeks. Check, done.
Tomorrow: the Land of Opportunity. Woo pig sooie, Arkansas! 🐽
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- Luzianna swamp
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- row of TURTLES 🐢
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- Civitan Park
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- #50k every day
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- Mom ❤️
Digging rewirement.
Bro called during last week’s Appalachia journey & asked if I could travel to Kansas City, attend a show with my Mom & Sis (& keep it quiet). Middle of week, Wednesday? Hmm… no work constraints, just a matter of reserving a kennel spot for Ro. Absolutely!
Weekend marathon in New England — could reschedule departing flight from St Louis (instead of Denver) & spend a day with Sis. Rewirement getting better & better 🙂
Show was a big hit –‘though I think we could have better tempered the surprise. Every 30 minutes another child randomly appeared. Seemed more like a family intervention as we all gathered around Mom in the hotel lobby. LOL> Honestly just amazed I could keep my mouth shut. I’m not great with secrets — & Bro did an incredible job with this one!
Morning miles with Sis, family breakfast goodbye, 4 hours highway to St Louis.
Meanwhile… Nor’easter caused my marathon to be cancelled & hurricane-winds forecasted for my Colorado home. Should’ve stayed in Kansas City! LOL> Lost minimal food during our 42-hour power outage — thanks Mom for prayers — used time to formalize upcoming week’s training block & catch-up on sleep.
Bear Peak hike (altitude training), NCAR hill repeats, a SOLAR eclipse — then 5 hours Friday to Fruita, on Colorado’s Western Slope.
Trail day tomorrow. 10-day break from marathoning, ready ready ready to run.
Desert RATS 50K (Racing Across The Sand), an UTMB qualifier.
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- FAMILY outing in KC
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- morning miles w Sis
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- 42 hours darkness
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- training block RESUMES
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- BALD eagle
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- Bear Peak climb
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- NCAR hill repeats
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- DOGS ONLY patio
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- ECLIPSE Day 2024
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- Desert RATS registration
KC to Fruita
If you stay in Beaumont, don’t choose Econolodge. Closed. First hand info.
If you run in Beaumont, signup with Mainly Marathons. The Minnesota brothers who run these events provide a sweet self-crew area & post a ‘no runner left behind’ motto.
Fast runners, slow runners, old, young. Closest thing you’ll find to a running cult.
Get to the Start, get to the Finish. Drive, hotel, shower, repeat — that’s a Mainly Series.
Run, walk, conserve, endure. 14 laps in Beaumont, a whopping 26 in Louisiana. Blowing out a fast 50K with the locals, won’t serve me 11 days later. Steady, consistent. TIME ON FEET. 100-mile goal race in September — Mainly is part of the solution. Breaking down the impossible 100 into smaller mental chunks. HUGE!
Day One. Ran 16 miles, walked 16 miles. Two-hour drive to Jennings, Louisiana. Crayfish enchiladas. Sleeps — and it happens again.
Day Two. Re-wake the legs, eat/drink, consistent steady intake of calories. Lap, lap, lap, lap. 32 miles more, a 2nd 50K finish — and the Gator Chateau. Sure, it was small — but holding a live gator isn’t something I’m gonna experience in the Rockies 🙂
One day at a time.
Break it down. One ‘run’ day is 7 hours. Those 7 hours are 14 laps. 2 walk, 6 run, 4 walk, 2 run. Each lap you gather a rubber band, electrolyte refuel & move forward. And that lap, an out-n-back. To the red cone & return.
Tick, tick, tick. Red cone, return. Red cone, return. Like a running metronome.
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- Quinn Soccer Complex
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- Loony LEGENDS
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- no Haga, no Bueno
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- crawfish enchiladas
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- Oil & Gas Park
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- Gator Chateau
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- GATOR 🐊
Beaumont TX & Jennings LA
