Badwater 135 recap...

   Living and experiencing my dream race through Dale as his Crew Chief for Badwater 135, was the most Amazing Really Cool thing I've ever done, well right up there with marrying my husband and finding out they sell Nutella in the family size jar. What an extreme honor and pleasure to be chosen to head up the most awesome team of people Sami, Carl and Nick to help Dale reach his goal of running the Worlds Toughest Race, 135 miles of scorching dry desert heat carrying all our supplies of ice food and gear for 5 people in one mini van over a 40 hour time frame. WooHoo!! We did it and we all still like each other. 

     The fun stuff began on Sunday as we went shopping and loaded up a pallet of bulk food and water from Sam's Club then on to Walmart for the additional smaller sized food. Ok now... how to pack all this and our running gear for 5 people into the mini van for a 3 hour drive. Well that's where my longevity as a expert flight attendant packer came into play!!  Anything that wouldn't melt in the extreme heat we strapped to the roof of the van. And away we went... off to the desert. Road Trip!! 

     The not so fun stuff... When arriving in Furnace Creek, Death Valley National Park, California  midday, a scorching 116 degrees outside, we had to unpack the van sorting through what goes where and in who's room. Piles and piles of stuff, some things had to be iced down in the coolers other things stored for later use that week. A quick change into running clothes for a 3-4 mile group heat acclimation run. I was out the door with a bottle of viseine for the dry eyes, SPF lip baum and a full water bottle ... off we went down the road. 

   The exciting stuff... Monday morning after another run to stretch out the legs and a quick trip down to the famous Badwater Basin start line for photos. Runner check in was at 1pm. Dale got his swag bag, bib number and lots of pre race photos. We got to meet/talk with all the running 'Legends' such an Amazing experience. 

       Tuesday night 8pm was race start. A perfect evening for a run. Overhead was a big beautiful full moon, desert style hot dry air and the mountains off in the distance. My months of planning, scheduling, preparation, training  and nonstop worrying paid off. I couldn't believe everything came together without too many hitches. But of course I'd been working with an amazing crew and a very prepared runner. 

    Early Thursday morning Dale started his last big climb. We were all just so bone weary tired a few short hours before. Getting Dale to the finish line was our only goal so digging deep, reenergizing, and staying focused is what we did!! The finish line is at The Portal of Mt Whitney 8,360ft above sea level covering 135 miles in 39hr 23min. Not a dry eye to be had (or maybe it was just allergies) by this crew. 

    The crazy stuff...let me quote you some prices of essentials we paid for while we were there for the week. Gas $5.09 gallon. Bag of ice 10lbs $4. Gallon of water $4. Chef salad $15.  Pizza 10" $28. Canister of Pringles $4. My treat each day a 20oz bottle of Soda $3. I know why they call it the worlds toughest foot race but I think they should rename it 'the worlds most expensive race'. 

   The reality of stuff... I lived and experienced my Dream Race vicariously through Dale. I can now say 'I Went To Badwater' and be happy and content... For Now :) 

  Thank You Dale

  

The Series...

   Part of my busy schedule this summer was dedicated to helping a good friend, Dale reach his goal. My husband and I met him years ago while running the Destin Beach Ultra Run and found out that Dale and I ran some of the same races and had similar race goals. The biggest one being Badwater 135. Dale had already started an eight year running plan that would allow him to apply and get accepted this year. He didn't just want to run only Badwater he wanted to complete the Ultra Cup Series. The first event in the Ultra Cup Series..... Badwater Cape Fear, a solo 51 mile race with most of it run on the coastal beach of North Carolina. The second event in the Ultra Cup Series....Badwater Salton Sea, an 81 mile race which requires 3 runners, Dale, Carl and Nick to stay together the entire time and finish a grueling course of extreme heat in the California desert to a very cold high altitude climb up the Palomar Mountain range. Myself and two other crew members (Yvonne and Sami) helped out with that and drove a support crew vehicle along the race course suppling all their water, food and tons of encouragement throughout their under 24 hour finish. 

    We had so much fun that Dale gathered us back together again for his last race of the Ultra Cup Series...Badwater 135. He runs 135 miles in Death Valley National Park CA while Sami, Carl, Nick and myself were his badass support crew (along with Yvonne cheering loudly from Texas) giving him everything he needed to complete 135 miles.

     I'm was so honored to be apart of it. Heat Training, Crewing and Pacing. I really enjoyed spending time with my amazing Badwater Team... Sami, Carl, Nick and most of all Dale. What an amazing job he did of completing his race. 

   It was awesome to meet and hang with the other ultra runners and crews during Salton Sea and Badwater. The friendships and lifelong connections you make are forever. 

Busy Summer...

  The last few years we have worked on some short and long term goals for our future and retirement life. Since March things have been busy finalizing the sale of our house and getting things in order to downsize into apartment living. 

    Selling the house and was the first step. While downsizing we weeded out, threw away, sold at our garage sale and Craig's listed. You'd think we were hoarders or something. I always thought and took pride in myself thinking that I lived a pretty minimalist lifestyle and didn't collect things. Boy, was I ever wrong, after almost sixteen years of living in the same house it Always Adds Up. My closet alone made me want to laugh and cry at times when I couldn't fit all my clothes into the trunk of the car. I had to fold down the back seat and use that space to get it all in. Omg!!  Now that we're in the new apartment and still getting settled, I'm continuing the process of cleaning out closets... again. Promising myself to be extremely vigilant about staying very minimalist in our new apartment lifestyle. So far I'm right on track. 

   The second step was to spend April through July doing heat training and acclimation for a couple of events I had scheduled to run and crew in extreme conditions. I like being hot but this heat training was a whole new ball game for me. I signed up for Hot Yoga classes. Picture this... A small room heated to 105 degrees and 45% humidity for an hour at a time. Wow, some real sweating going on. I started out slowly and built my way up to at least 4 hours a day on my days off. During the entire class I would be covered head to toe in layers of clothing. Yep, while all my fellow yogi's were dressed minimalist I was fully clothed. My yoga instructors knew what I was doing and understood, and even embraced it. Everyone kept to themselves and didn't give me too many funny looks during class but lots of questions when they found out what I was doing.  I found hotels on my trips that offered dry saunas so I could actually simulate the dry desert heat. Moist heat, dry heat it's all the same its HOT. This was preparing me for Death Valley CA in July. Helping a friend reach his goal. I'd be in 116/120 degree heat for about a week total. Now I'd say that's my kinda fun. 

   Love this... I always try and challenge, push and better myself each and every day. I have struggled this year trying to keep up with everything. Thanks to all who have stayed with me through out my blogging dry spell.