My magic shoes are dead!!i

Oh no, there are holes in the uppers and the bottoms are becoming slick. My magic shoes only  lasted about 4 months.

The Altra Superior 2.0 is my new fave. This poor pair has seen a lot of trails since January 22.

Let's see, they have done three 50 k's, a 45 miler, a 50 miler, and heaven only knows how many training miles. They gone in the snow, the dust, the mud, the sand and especially the rocks. They have earned their retirement.

I have another pair!!! Just like these only gray. I took them out for a 30 miler on Sunday. They felt like magic but they betrayed me! I stubbed my toe and lurched forward, hurting my butt muscles. Then I did it again and this time it hurt worse. And again. And for-heaven's-sake-what-is-wrong-with-me AGAIN. The final time I really hurt my butt muscles. Really. Like ouch!!! Like, oh crap I have to walk home. Seven miles of pain every time I moved my leg forward. Crapola!!

OK, these magic shoes need to be broken in a bit, I guess. They feel great right out of the box, but they must be just a little different. 

I love my magic shoes! They will be ready for Bighorn!!!

Powder River.

Let 'er buck!!

Retired?

I'm  retired!! After way too many years, I can put my books and red pens away. I am done! Went to my last graduation. Twenty years of teaching undergrads and grads plus numerous years of being a researcher. Wow. Done.

So, what do I do now? I can run, but only so much. I can be with the grand kids, but they live so far away. I can write that book....uh, no I can't.

I figure it will take a while to settle in. I want to set up the garage so I can do some woodworking. I want to learn to weave. I want to explore New Mexico. I want to GET THIS HORRIBLE CARPETING OUT OF THE HOUSE and put in flooring.

But first, I want to get ready for Bighorn. Yep, it is only 31 days away. I can't imagine running 100 miles. I can't imagine covering the ups and downs of that course. And yet, I have paid my money, made my reservations, lined up my pacers and crew and announced to the world (only a few people were paying attention) that I am going to try it again.

Training is almost finished. I went out on Sunday to do my last long run. Tripped, lurched forward and pulled a muscle. I guess now I work on recovering.

And go see my grand kids!!! Woot!! Wanted to do a race with them bit it isn't going to work. Linus, Elise, Avery and Isaias.....I will see you this weekend!

Cactus to Cloud 50K

Woot!!! This one was something special. We started just outside of Alamogordo and finished in Cloudcroft. It was a hard 50K!!

I rode the bus to the start sitting next to someone from the Dallas area. His legs were super long. OK, just a little thing I remember.

Anyhow, the race started uphill almost immediately. We climbed up through this canyon. Dog Canyon. The Mescalero Apache used this canyon, or so I was told. They would ascend the canyon and fight off the cavalry. What a great area for defending yourself.

Will Ortiz and I at the start.

  So this trail went in and around the canyon. Then we would come out into an open meadow. It was incredibly cool. I felt as if I were part of the history. Silly, yes, because I have no roots here. None. No right to call this my land, but I felt very much at home.

After about 10 miles, we reached the highest point on the trail. I thought I could run a bit, but the trail was littered with baby heads. You know, those rocks about the size of a grapefruit or cantaloupe. The ones that roll when you step on them. The ones that will help you break your ankle. I kept my pace reasonable. When the trail was good, I opened it up. When the trail was super rocky (or steep), I just remained patient. I passed a bunch of folks during the last 12 miles.

I really liked this race. Guess I was in the right frame of mind.

So close to the finish line

To the end....of a race? No, to the end of my working life. I am retiring in one week. I have one more class to teach.Two sets of papers to grade, one exam to make up and grade, one more graduation to attend.

So close. Bittersweet? Yes, always. Who am I? I have spent every year since 1960 in an academic setting. Wow. Unbelievable. I wanted to teach one class a semester as an adjunct but that isn't going to happen, at least not as things stand now. Guess I am going cold turkey.

I have compared this past year to a long race. Very weird that it will end and no new one will begin.

I will have time to run. I will have time to race. I'll even have time to sleep. 

I complained a lot about the Behind the Rocks Race. I bitched about the missing aid station. Since then, I have run two more races. Local races. Just-for-fun races. I ran Valles Caldera half marathon only because my good friend Melinda wanted to do it. She has done half marathons before but always with a pacer/coach. She wanted to prove to herself that she could do it on her own. My deal was to go with her but not be with her during the race. We started out and I never looked back to see how she was doing. Somewhere along the way, most of us half marathoners took a wrong turn. We then ended up at a T....do we go right or left? Some went right and then turned back. Some went left. As it turns out, neither was correct because we shouldn't have come to this T. 

I went right and kept going even when it was obvious that I was going the wrong way. I eventually ended up at the finish line, running approximately 15 miles. Melinda, meanwhile, went left. This took her to the finish line by cutting off two miles. Her well planned, and well executed, race was screwed up due to a couple of misplaced flags. She did the training and ran a smart race. I was laughing most of the time. Yeah, the course was messed up. Yeah, I ran a couple of extra miles. Yeah, so what? Unlike Behind the Rocks, I was just having a good time. Who cares? I got to see an elk!! 

Sometimes you get pissed when the RD screws up; sometimes you just enjoy the ride.

I am a big pissed off that the academic "RD" has screwed up and I won't get to teach next semester. Think I will just put a big ole smile on my face and enjoy my freedom.