Mission Possible -- Badwater

Taking Grandpaw Out to Dinner

Hi Friends !

Last Saturday was a big day in the life of a 67 year old, cancer-surviving, diabetic. It had been 4 months since my last chemo treatment (mid-November 2008) and I was feeling stronger. I had a little over 2 months to train for Run to the Sun when I made the decision to give it a shot and see how my poor ol' body would react to some vigorous training. Everything went well, but the jury was deadlocked for a verdict. So...what the hay...let's give it a try.

Being a part of HURT (Hawaiian Ultra Running Team) really makes local racing events fun, because of the comraderie. At the check-in just before the race start, you see lots of your regular running buddies and you see others that you rarely see. It's a hoot ! Everybody is so upbeat and the air is full of excitement. Just experiencing this alone, is worth the price of admission. It gives even a "back-of-the-pack" runner like me a chance to visit with all my buddies, regardless of their speed. My cancer-surviving buddy Paul Sibley and I shared alohas at the start line, as well as speed-demon Paul Hopwood (who was not running this year) who shouted encouragement along the way, as a volunteer. It was also great to see Ed Bugarin and Keith Moon, both in great spirits, at the start line. My good running buddy and friend Judy Carluccio along with husband Rob brought a smile to my face as they had come down from Spokane to run the race. There were too, too many friends there to mention them all.

HURT Guru Big John Salmonson did a splended job of readying all the runners at the start and it wasn't more than two minutes down the road that we were all greeted with 2-3 minutes of a heavy downpour, which should have given us an indication of what was in store. As the group settled into their individual paces, I spied Dr. Bill Osheroff just ahead and decided to see how long I could maintain his pace, as I knew I'd do well for as long as I could stay with him. Putting some music on my MP3 player gave me some needed energy, however, wearing the headphones made it impossible to converse with other runners. My good friend Mike Muench seemed a little peeved with me when I said I couldn't talk, which is exactly how I would have felt, had the shoe been on the other foot. As he went ahead, I considered trying to catch him but new there was no way. I apologized later.

The first 13 miles or so went fine. Dr. Bill had disappeared out-of-sight somewhere around mile 8. The long, steep climb up Pulehu Iki started kicking my okole much too soon and I was beginning to swear that someone had made the road longer and steeper. It seemed to never end. In the past, this hill had always been my favorite, as I could actually pass a few runners here. As I was finally getting close to the top, there was my wonderful friend and regular running buddy Cheryl Loomis coming down the hill to meet me and to tell me to turn around and see a fantastic rainbow. Cheryl was doing a relay and hadn't started her leg of the relay yet. As I topped the hill, there was my wonderful wife Heather, camera-on-tripod, and with her beautiful smile, ready to crew me for the next 21 miles up the mountain.

It wasn't long before I saw Dan Eldridge in front of me, moving rather slow for him. As it turned out, Dan was having stomach problems, but like the trooper he is, continued putting one foot in front of the other. Dan eventially got feeling better and finished strong, about 17 minutes in front of me. Very impressive ! Several of my friends who finished well in front of me shouted encouragement as they rode back down the mountain in cars. One in particular, Julie Takishima, was exciting for me to see as this was her first Run to the Sun, and she had been such an important part of the training group, not to mention a good friend as well. She had a great race !

Being an aid station volunteer myself, from time-to-time, and also as a runner, I know when I see good aid station volunteers. Quite frankly, this years Run to the Sun aid station volunteers were the best I've ever seen. Sorry guys...it's true. In spite of the extreme weather, these folks were on top of their game and they really gave you needed energy as you passed through. They were great ! About 3 miles from the finish, there was my dear friend and pacer-supreme Vernon Char, dressed like a snow-bunny on the slopes at Whistler, ready to take me those last tough miles to the finish. As it turned out, the finish line had been brought down the mountain, due to ice and high winds on the summit. Those last 3 miles with Vernon, even in the high winds and cold, were the most fun and satisfying for me. Having PJ put the lei on me and getting a big, warm hug from Big John made the race complete. Seeing Heather shed a tear of pride was priceless. I really felt sorry for John and PJ having to endure hours of extreme weather at the finish line, just so we could enjoy our races. They are the best !

Later that day, back in Kahului, I was a mess. Every part of my body ached and a nice shower and a nap were in order. That evening, I was starved, but still not moving very well. Actually, I looked pitiful. Heather and I shared a good laugh as we discussed what people would be thinking as we walked into a restaurant, with me hobbling along, bent over, like a man of 90 years or more. "Hey, look at that nice young lady. She must have gone to the retirement home and picked-up Grandpaw and took him out to dinner".  Just goes to show you that you can't judge a book by it's cover. Aloha !  Don

Still Crazy After All These Years

Aloha Friends,

You've heard me mention Alec Brownlow "The Old Guy", who has followed closely in my footsteps, with his own brand of cancer...colon cancer. Alec and I met a year or two ago and I was especially interested in him at the time because he was one of the few runners out there that was older than me...not much, but still older. ie" "The Old Guy". Neither of us knew at the time that we both shared the fact that we had tumors. It was a few months later before we knew that. I got a jump on Alec by finding out a few months earlier than he, about having cancer.

Alec and I talked today, and he's getting very close to finishing his very tough and long chemo treatments. As I listened to him tell me the awful side-effects, it brought me back to only four months ago when I was on my last round of chemo. It seemed like ages ago...much longer than it's actually been. I was able to make a few suggestions to Alec, as to a few things that would make the ordeal more bearable and this made me feel good. I do not envy him the next four chemo treatments ! Compared to Alec, I was lucky on the chemo...as he's getting three different types of chemo, so anything to ease the discomfort will be a blessing. Good luck, my old friend.

When Alec asked how I was doing, a part of me was reluctant to tell him how good I'm feeling, for fear that it might make him feel worse about himself. But, I got past that and told him about my plans to do my first race since Mr. Cancer and I got acquainted. Alec seemed impressed, and I felt like it might have given him a ray of hope for the future. I sure hope so. So, this Saturday I'll tow the line at Run to the Sun, on Maui, the 36.2 mile Ultramarathon that starts at sea-level and goes up to the summit of Haleakala at 10,023 ft. Am I ready? Absolutely not ! Did I come up with some secret training formula that would bring me to my old pre-cancer fitness level, in the very short time since having Cancer? Absolutely not ! Can I do it? Who knows. The only thing that I'm sure of is that I must "Still Be Crazy After All These Years". I'll definitely give it my best shot and will certainly have fun along the way. I'll be thinking about many of you as I wind up the switchbacks to the summit. Everyone of you should be so lucky !  Don

Functional Training

The other night I was reading a book by the Ultra-Mountaineer Ed Viesturs, "No Shortcuts to the Top" and the chapter I was reading brought back memories of 2007 when my friend Bob McAllaster was helping me with my Badwater training. Bob was concentrating on "functional training"-in essence, simulating motions and movements that would help strengthen my "achilles-back", which was my weak point. Interesting enough, these motions and movements, at least on the surface, did not appear to be "running related". However, looking back, I wish I had started working with Bob at least a year or two earlier. Actually, I wish I had started that training with Bob at least 10 years before.

In Ed's case, he was planning on doing a "twofer", mountain climb, starting with a warm-up of climbing Mt. Everest, which he had climbed several times before and culminating by summiting his nemesis Annapurna, which would complete his quest to summit all 14  8,000 meter peaks without supplemental oxygen. While Ed was working on his fitness regimen at the gym, he was approached by Ubbe Liljeblad, a personal trainer, who transformed Ed's workout with functional training, combined with weight resistance, to simulate what Ed would be performing in the mountains. One example, is repeatedly stepping onto and then down from a bench carrying two forty-pound dumbells. Another, was to balance on one leg while squatting up and down, then doing curls with weights. Doing squats, bench presses, lunges, and holding fifty-pound iron plates by his fingertips until they burned were some other examples. Ubbe made Ed do an enormous amount of core work as well. During some of the sessions, Ubbe had him stand in balance on a large rubber ball and do squats.

At the end of an hour of one of Ubbe's merciless sessions, Ed said that he was reduced to a quivering lump of flesh and bone. To top everything off, Ubbe would have Ed work out on the stair-climbing machine for another hour, carrying an eighty-pound pack. The reasoning behind this was that Ed needed to be doing things in training that would be harder than he would ever encounter in the mountains. I'm a firm believer in that theory, although I do understand the difficulty in actually accomplishing it. Nice theory...tough to do ! Ed said later, "I was in the best shape of my life."

Have a great week !  Aloha !  Don