The Lifeless Desert

“There is no life in the desert; it is a vast useless wasteland” so a colleague once commented to me. “We should just dump all our waste out there.” Today I’m going on a journey through the “lifeless” desert, camera in hand, to see if I can find any sign of life, but first I take Lucy, Sierra, and Taz on our 15 mile Rio Grande route.

We leave at 6:30 just before the sun rise, my favorite part of the day. I love the calm before people begin to stir. We head down the street and settle into a groove when all of a sudden frumph...frumph…frumph. What the…? Sounds like someone has a flat. No, two flats and the driver isn’t even going to stop to take care of it. He just keeps driving along on the rims. I’ve seen many strange sights while running; like the absent minded person who had a gas hose dangling from the side of his car.

What do poppies have to do with running 100 miles?

This morning I’m preparing for the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 mile endurance run. I’ve been planning for this race for around two years now. I ran the Bandera 100K trail race in January of 2009 in under 17 hours which qualified me for the TRT100. I could have run the 100 mile race last summer, but I first wanted to see how I would perform at higher altitudes as I had never run long distances over 4000 ft elevation. I finished the TRT50 mile event, which ascends to over 9000 ft, in around 14 hours so I feel that I’m ready to try the 100 mile event in July.

One of the requirements to run the race is to volunteer for 12 hours of trail maintenance or some other community service. Since most of the trail work projects are done during the warmer months I haven’t been able to find a work project. Instead I’m volunteering with the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition (FMWC) for the annual Poppy Preservation Celebration in El Paso, TX.

George Washington Ran Here

(The Ides of March, 2010)

My adventure this morning takes me far from the American Southwest all the way to the East Coast of Virginia. I’m running the Yorktown National Battlefield where, in 1781, American Independence was won. I lived close to these hallowed grounds once upon a time and trained for 5 marathons and my first 50K trail run here on these historical roads. I’m glad to be visiting my family in this area and find a little time to reminisce with a nice run through the park.

El Paso Marathon

Today my adventure takes me to downtown El Paso for the marathon. My timing chip is affixed to my shoe, my bib #168 is attached to my shorts and I’m ready to get this run on. My wife, Cara, wakes up early and drives me to the start of my 26.2 mile journey through this West Texas town which borders Mexico and New Mexico. The weather calls for blustery wind and a chance of showers and thunderstorms so I really have no idea what to expect. I’m not dressed for wind and rain so hope the forecasters are wrong.