I ran on this arrow behind the police station on Whitemarsh island

I ran 5 miles today and felt good.  I know.  I know.  I said in a previous blog that my smallest run until the CrematorUltra 50 would be a 7 miler.  It’s true.  I admit it.  You caught me in a little ol lie.  I am sorry.

Actually, I didn’t really lie.  When I say that the smallest run I will do is 7 miles I really mean 5 miles.  This has everything to do with the new math of our times.  It’s kind of like saying that today’s 40 is the new 30 and 60 is the new 20.  You get what I mean?  No?  Neither do I.  I lied and I’m sorry.  It won’t happen again.  Promise.

This is at the climbing tower off of the Island's ymca trail. It's about 60 feet high. It's pretty cool.

I would have liked to run 7 miles but unplanned situations and responsibilities got in the way and changed my plans.  I left work at 5:15 this evening and had to swing by the South side to check out a trek road bike that I was considering buying.  I checked out the bike and loved it.  I told the dude, though, that I wanted to check out other bikes before buying his.  So, I got back in my car and drove toward the Islands but before reaching Thunderbolt bridge a Ford F150 rear-ended me.  I got out of my car and spoke with the driver of the truck momentarily and we agreed to pull over at Parkers or Chu’s (I can never keep these gas stations names straight in my head) to assess the damage.

Upon inspection of the rear of my car I told the driver that I could not find any physical damage.  Neither could she.  I told her that everything was cool but she said that I should take her number in case I find something wrong later.  She’s a very sweet lady, not to mention, very attractive.  She’s in very good shape with very lovely long legs.  I put her age at probably mid-thirties.  As I drove away I kept looking at the phone number she gave me and, I’m ashamed to admit that I had silly thoughts of calling her to ask her out.  That’s bad, I know!  For the record, I did not call her and will not.  There’s nothing wrong with my car.

By the time I made it to the Y and finished my stretching the time was 7:00pm.  I had to get in a quick run, stop by the grocery store quickly for some necessary food items and then high tail-it home and take Mr. Gypsy for a walk.  So, there’s my excuse for not running 7 miles today.  Time slipped away and Mr. Gypsy had to take a poop.  Is that a good excuse?  I don’t know but there it is.  You be the judge.

Wildlife inventory:

• 1 goose
• 2 squirrels
• 2 turkey ducks
• 2 crows
• 7 dogs
• 2 red cardinals

this is the path off of the Y trail that takes you to the climbing tower

I started the run at the Y, winding my way around the very scenic Y trail.  I exited the trail behind the Whitemarsh Island police station and ran the parking lot of Island’s High School and then hit Whitmarsh Island road to Johnny Mercer Blvd until I reached the police station again.  I caught the Y trail again behind the police station and followed it around until I came upon the new Island’s trail and ran that to the end and back.  I looped the Y parking lot and finished the run where I had started it.

I took one electrolyte cap before the run and suffered no ill effects.  My legs and stomach felt good.

Oh, this is interesting…Before I started the run I called the guy who’s selling the super sweet Trek and left him a voice message that I wanted to buy the bike.  Around mile 4 I get a call from him and as I’m running we agree to the price and when, where  and what time I am to pick up the bike.  I can honestly say that this was a first for me, – making a purchase during a run! Ha!

Right now as I’m typing my new cat is attacking my bare feet.  DANG IT!  I am going to kill this animal and then eat it!  Would you like a cat burger?  This kitten is cute as a button but a big pain in the butt!  She’s always messing with my feet!  She likes to sleep on top of my smelly vff’s.  What’s with that?  She has a foot fetish, I guess.

here's a full shot of the 60 foot climbing tower that belongs to the Island's y. They even have a zip line!

• running log
• mapped run
• total miles on red bikilas: 436.11
• number of days until the CrematorUltra 50: 45 days

So, tomorrow I pick up my trek at noon.  I’m very excited about starting to ride again.  I even bought a two bike gravity stand that is setup in my exercise room.  So again, I have a road bike and mountain bike.  Tomorrow, I’ll post pictures of my road bike.  It’s super sweet and light as a feather.

Hey, thank you all for stopping by and checking this blog.

I wish you and yours the very, very best.

peace,

dh

06/08/2011

Wednesday, 10:41pm

Here's a pic of the trek I bought today

In thunderbolt. the road that leads to Wilmington river

I ran 8.85 miles through the Thunderbolt area this morning.  It was turning into a glorious run until about mile 6 when I began to feel a hot spot on the bottom of my foot, right smack in the middle of the ball of the foot.  Then, another hot spot developed in the very same spot but on the opposite foot!  What the…

Let’s just say that I was not a happy camper…or runner.

Any way, aside from the forming blisters, cardiovascular-wise, I felt I could easily run a dozen plus miles today.  Also, my calves felt great & the day was beautiful.  The birds were chirping and, I was listening to Saturday night fever on my iphone.

It was almost a zen run and then these blisters develop…Ugh.  I guess this is what keeps running interesting…you never know what’s just around the corner…

Oh well, I’ll mend soon enough.  In the mean time, I have to figure out what to do to avoid blisters in the future.  Last year, I tried mole skins when running with vff’s and that worked…ok.  The problem the with the mole skins was that as it got hotter and I ran in vff’s, the moleskins began to come off my skin and ball up in between the balls of my feet and the toes.  Then, not only did I still have to deal with blisters but also with the discomfort of a balled up mole skin at the base of my toes.  Some one had suggested running with injinji socks to alleviate the blister problem.  That actually works but when the temperature is in the 80′s-plus another form of discomfort develops.  So, what’s the solution?  I don’t know.  If you have suggestions please give them to me.  I promise to give you full credit for your amazing invention/gimmick/wisdom in resolving this age old problem of developing blisters on the balls of one’s feet when running with vff’s in very warm weather.

my stretch spot, intersection of Kansas & Bonaventure road

Speaking of very warm weather.  Today’s temp while I was running was 83 with humidity at 61%.  That gave a heat index factor of 86 degrees.  It was pretty warm but I like running in warm and hot weather.  I just like running.  Give me warm, hot and cool weather and I’m the happiest runner on earth.  Give me cold weather and I’m the grouchiest runner on earth.

Wildlife inventory:

• 4 doves
• 7 mocking birds
• 1 blue jay
• 312 fiddler crabs, give or take
• 1 carolina wren
• 1 snowy egret
• 5 grackles
• 1 squirrel
• 2 dogs
• 1 skink
• 1 red cardinal
• 1 dead, squashed snake (same one from highway 80)
• 3 sparrows
• 1 red-winged black bird
• 1 dragon fly (first dragon fly I’ve seen this year!)

squashed snake on highway 80. it's almost a belt.

Do you know one of the things I really, really like about running?  Yeah, yeah, I know it’s good for you and all but what I really like, – aside from seeing wildlife while running; I like stumbling upon things that you normally do not see while running.  Huh?  What the heck are you talking about, Dan?

I’m the type of runner that likes to run with a camera in hand.  When running out on the streets you never know what you will stumble upon.  So, I carry a camera for those rare moments when something catches your attention and begs to be photographed but no camera is around.  So, today as I was coming down from the Thunderbolt bridge and heading toward Isle of Armstrong I came upon a plastic Halloween pumpkin on the side of highway 80 (not far from the squashed snake)!  Now, that’s pretty bizarre, isn’t it?  I mean, how far are we from Halloween?  Who knows?  Any way, I came upon this plastic pumpkin and, I was so glad that I had a camera with me.  It was totally awesome.  So, here’s a pumpkin for you just before Easter.  How fun is that?

a halloween pumpkin on highway 80 a day before Easter? What the...

I love running.  It’s just such a great form of exercise and at the same time it’s therapeutic and gives you the opportunity to get close to nature, get honked at and yelled at by angry, bitter drivers and, you get to see really cool stuff some times on the side of the road.  I love it!  I wish my feet would never blister and my calves would never get injured because then, I could run forever.  And, if there weren’t oceans on either side of us I could run to Europe and to China.  That would be so fun.  And, I would take a camera with me!

an Easter pumpkin

• my mapped run
• my running log
• total mileage on bikilas: 233.96

Well, that’s it for now.  Thanks for stopping by.

I wish you and yours all the very best.  Have a very happy Easter and all of that.  Eat some eggs and remember the reason for the holiday.

peace,

dh

04/23/2011

Saturday

3:33pm

smiling at the end of my 8.85 mile run today, blisters and all! And, I still have all my teeth.

The Summit is near

Let me set the mood…

I’m in my tent early in the evening hoping to fall asleep quickly because the next day we are off for the summit…

We finished dinner and having our ritualistic oxygen saturation and heartbeat reading.  My heart rate is 80 and my oxygen saturation is 91.  91 is actually not bad.  Of course, Mike, the terminator, is always off the chart.  I think that him and Lance Armstrong are related.  They are both super human or possibly, XMen Mutants.  Who knows.

This is the oxygen saturation and heart rate chart Bernard has been keeping of our group

I feel like a kid anticipating Christmas or Hanukkah.  I just cannot sleep.  I’m too excited about tomorrow.  That, and it’s also way too early for me to go to sleep.  This is the stuff I hate about camping – the nights are long.  Everyone retires early but me.  If only I had an internet connection.  That would be so great.  I could always watch a movie on my iphone.  I do have zombieland on my iphone.  I think I’ll watch a little bit of that.  I’m just afraid of running down the battery on the phone and not being able to video tape the summit.  I could use my camera to video tape my summit but I prefer using the iphone for that.  I can see myself on the iphone when video taping.  I cannot do that with my camera.  So, no zombieland tonight.

Tomorrow morning we are waking up at 3:30 and hitting the trail at 5:00am.  Tomorrow’s the day!  We’re going for the summit!  That’s so exciting.  Yeah.

my iphone getting charged and my headlight - two indespinsable items!

I have a nalgene bottle with hot water comfortably set between my legs in my sleeping bag.  Let me tell you, this feels so awesome.  I think when I get back home I’m going to continue this practice of going to bed with a nalgene filled with hot water.  It warms you up well.  Every one should try this at least once.

I think I’ve gotten some pretty good pictures.  I cannot wait to see them on a bigger screen.  Also, I’ve only used one battery for my camera so far.  I still have two full batteries.  That’s killer.

I’m not yet sure if I want to put on my vff’s on the summit.  I love wearing my vff’s but this terrain that we’re trudging through is rough.  Some of these rocks are very sharp.  I’ve worn my vff’s a great deal but when it comes to hiking toward the summit I’ll stick with my hiking boots.  Have I mentioned that I’m giving my hiking boots to my porter at the end of this trip?  Yeah, I am.  That guys boots are in really bad shape.  I don’t know how he handles this climb in those boots.  Any way, I’ve talked with Joseph (he’s my porter) and I told him that he can have my boots at the end of the trip.  I’m not sure if he understood me or, if he just doesn’t believe me – he didn’t seem excited about that.  They’re pretty good Asolo boots.  I just bought them a few weeks ago for $130.00.  Joseph will get more use out of them than I will.  Back at home, they’ll just sit in my closet for years.  Here, I believe Joseph will be able to put them to good use.  So, why not give them to him?  It would be wrong for me not to.  God has been very good to me.  It’s time for me to do something nice for someone.  Right?  Yeah, right.

Oh boy.  I wish I was sleepy.

I think I’ll read a little bit.

peace,

dh
03/14/2011
7:04pm

Trip Stuff

Four more days and I’m off to Tanzania to embark on a childhood dream, climb Kilimanjaro!  Very exciting stuff but also very time consuming in planning & getting things together.  Thank God that Thomson Safari works out the all of the logistics.  If they didn’t I would have lost my mind and quit on this by now, I believe.

I’ve had a time finding all of the right gear for this trip and also, for collecting all of the stuff that I just want to take along with me but is not essential.

Pictured above is about 98% of what I am taking with me to Tanzania.  A few of the items pictured above will not make it to the top of Kilimanjaro but certain things (pictured) are an absolute.  The prayer flag on the top right of the picture is the one I talked about in my prior blog that was made for me by a ten year old Wyoming girl.  What an amazing, sweet child she is.  She still doesn’t know that I’m taking this prayer flag to the roof of Africa.  So, don’t tell her!  This little girl gave me that Prayer flag the Christmas of 2009 (when she was 9 years old).

Just a little bit below prayer flag from this little girl is the Palmetto Running Company banner.  Proudly, I will wave that banner on Uhuru Peak.

Just to the left of the Palmetto Running Company banner is “4 more days, Tanzania Bound!” flag that I didn’t get a chance to hang at the prayer flag project in the Dairy farm today.  Tomorrow, I’ll hang that flag along with the newer “3 More Days, Tanzania Bound” flag that has yet to be made.

If you look to the left of the “4 more days” flag you will see a “SCAD” logo.  That logo is on a small gym bag I bought today at Ex Libres along with 6 shirts that proudly display “SCAD”.  The SCAD bag will go to the top of Kilimanjaro and I will be photographed with it, proudly.  SCAD has been very good to me.  I hope that this is a good gesture showing my appreciation to the school.  As I mentioned, I bought six SCAD shirts which I plan to give to the Tanzanian porters.  I would like to get a few more SCAD memorabilia but I’m running a bit low on resources at the moment.

Under the SCAD gym bag is Krishna Sadasivam’s PCWeenies Rebootus Maximus.  That too will make it to the top of Kilimanjaro.

That seems like a lot of stuff, I know.  No worries, though.  Its all good.  Oh, not pictured are my vff bikilas!  Do not be worried!  I would not dream of summiting Kilimanjaro without my bikilas!  Actually, I will summit Uhuru Peak wearing my Asolo hiking boots but I will quickly change into my vff’s at the top of the mountain for a picture wearing my vff’s.  I hope that I’m the first person on earth to wear vff’s on the summit of Kilimanjaro.  That would be so cool.  It would be a dream come true for me.  And, to be quite frank, the first time I step foot on African soil will be with a bikila-clad foot, mind you.  You can take that to the press. 

Gear List:

• marmot 900 fill down jacket
• north face goretex shell
• several winter hats
• 10 pairs of socks
• 10 pairs of underwear (including long johns)
• marmot goretex glove shells
• polartec liner gloves
• alpaca wool gloves (a Peruvian friend of mine gave those to me)
• polartec fleece pants
• goretex shell pants
• convertible hiking pants (2 pairs)
• 1 silk sweater
• Asolo hiking boots
• 4 bandanas
• fleece pullover
• neck warmer fleece band
• uv protected polarized sunglasses
• 1 roll of very soft toilet paper
• 12 energy bars
• waterproof gaiters
• headlamp with extra batteries
• panasonic lumix gf2 with 2 extra batteries and 4 sd cards
• iphone 4
• iphone solar charger
• leatherman tool
• journal note book with pen and pencils
• Miniature Holy Bible
• 4 1-liter nalgene bottles
• camp shoes
• vff bikilas
• 1st aid kit consisting of: moleskins, bandaids, scissors, neosporin, tape, alcohol swaps
• meds: anti-malaria, altitude sickness, imodium, tylenol, motion sickness, zyrtec
• 50 protection lip balm
• 70 protection sunblock
• skin lotion
• wet wipes
• toothbrush, floss, tooth paste
• deodorant
• razor for shaving
• anti-bacterial hand sanitizer
• gorilla pod
• rain poncho
• backpack with rain cover
• timex ironman watch
• trekking poles
• insect repellent
• passport, visa & immunization records

Palmetto Running Company Doodle

Quick Swahili lesson:

Nahitaji matoke
Translation: I need cooked plantains

Niache!
Translation: Leave me alone!

Hakuna shida
Translation: No problem

Important Swahili words:

• tembo – elephant
• Jambo – hello
• rafiki – friend
• shikamoo – greetings
• pombe – beer
• kahawa – coffee
• choo cha mtoto – potty
• baisikeli – bicycle

Ok, that’s it for now.

I gotta go to bed.

Thanks for stopping by.

All the best to you and yours.

peace,

dh

03/02/2011

My bikila overlooking the Truman Parkway

The 10.69 mile run I did over the weekend severely beat the crap out of my calves.  I wasn’t able to run until today.  Today, I ran 5.74 miles in the Daffin Park area.  It was a nice run.  The run was pretty much the same one I did last Tuesday.  I just added one extra block to today’s run and, I ran with my Canon point and shoot camera.  I love running with a camera.  The trick is to stop momentarily, take a quick pic and then get going again.  I’m getting really good at this.  My picture taking stops last only a few seconds.  I will admit, though, that some of my pictures do turn out blurry but, most do not.

The Most Excellent, Daffin Park

I ran in my bikilas.  I really enjoy running in those vff’s.  They are killer.  And, I’m adjusting to running in vff’s a lot quicker than I had expected to.  When I started running with vff’s for the second time at the beginning of the year I thought it would take me a month and a half before i would be ready to comfortably run 8 to 10 miles in them.  Its come back fast, even though, it did take me a couple of days to recuperate from this weekend’s 10 miler.  Next weekend I’m running 13.  I’ll then taper until February fifth’s Tybee Island half marathon.  I think I may have mentioned in another blog entry that my goal for the Tybee half is 1:42:30.  If I didn’t mention before, I’m doing so now.  1:42:30 is my goal.  I won’t settle for anything slower….unless, I have to.

the Daffin Park Ibis

As I ran today, I saw a whole bunch of Ibis’ on one of the big fields at Daffin Park.  Its always such a rush for me to see that kind of wildlife.  I love it!

Wildlife inventory:

• 21 ibis
• a flock of dark feathered birds
• 4 squirrels (none were albino)
• 1 dove
• 9 dogs

I hit the old run down cemetery across the street from Myers Middle School again during my run

Tomorrow, I work out at the gym and that means, running the treadmill.  It’ll be a good time for me to catch up on my netflix.  When I get on a treadmill I end up almost always streaming a netflix movie on my iphone.

• my mapped run
• my running log
• Total mileage on bikilas: 40.98

my mapped 5.74 mile run

Ok, that’s it for now.  I’m tired, smelly and crave a shower.

Thanks for stopping by.  All the best to you and yours.

peace,

dh

01/18/2011

River Street on an early Saturday morning

Well, this morning I did something that I normally do not like doing on Saturday mornings, – I woke up early and went for a run.  Normally, I simply do not like Saturday morning runs.  Saturday’s are for sleeping in, right?  That’s how I like my Saturday’s.  But, today I allowed myself to be talked into an early morning group run through downtown Savannah and, I can now honestly say that I have no regrets whatsoever!

It was fun.  I met new people, fun people before, during and after the run.

Six to eight runners met over by the Tennis courts at Forsyth Park (by Park Street) at 7:30am.  By 7:40am, we were running up Forsyth park alongside Drayton Ave.  This is a serious group!  Most times, when I meet up with people to run we end up shooting the breeze for about twenty to thirty minutes before starting a run.  That’s always an annoyance for me because I just want to run.  Socialize after the run but not before, is what I like.  But, this group was just the way I like it- run first, talk later…or, chat along the way.  Awesome!

As I previously stated, we started the run at the parking lot of Forsyth Park by the tennis courts.  It was a balmy 37 degrees but it felt like 32 (according to the weather channel).  We ran up along Drayton Ave to Gaston and quickly caught Bull Street and followed that to Bay Street.  We followed Bay Street and hung a right on W Broad Street.  We then hopped onto beautiful, cobble-stoned River Street, running alongside a ginormous Cargo Ship slowly moving down the Savannah River toward the Atlantic Ocean.  As I ran along the River I was again captivated by this beautiful city, the cool architecture, the cobble stone roads, all the nick-nack shops along the river, the Trade Center on the other side of the Savannah River and of course, the all-imposing Talmadge Bridge spanning the Savannah River which is the separating line between Georgia and South Carolina.

We continued our run on River Street.  I saw a twitter friend of mine along running along the way (@pammydee).  We high-fived as we ran past each other.  I continued running with my group until turning down E Broad.  We ran E Broad Street passing up beautiful apartments and the not so beautiful projects along the way.  There are such stark socio-economic differences in Savannah.  That’s one of the downfalls of this place.  From one road to the next the differences between the haves and the have nots is quite noticeable, unfortunately.  The poor and the not-poor share this beautiful city.  I have to remind myself constantly of these stark differences and pray as to what part I should contribute in helping to bridge that gap that separates us.

Barbara and Jason

The run, though, continued down a couple of lesser known roads until we caught Liberty until turning onto Park St. and back to Forsyth Park, where I did one loop around the park and finished my run at 4.94 miles.  It was a very enjoyable run.  Running through downtown Savannah is an exceptionally enjoyable run.  Downtown Savannah is just so darn beautiful.  It was a gorgeous run with very wonderful people.

At the Sentient Bean with my Bolivian Coffee

After the run, the group grew a little more as we crossed Park Street and entered the cozy, warm Sentient Bean.  Everyone ordered their thing.  I ordered a large Coffee (Bolivian dark roast) and an organic brownie.  We sat around at the Sentient Bean shooting the breeze for about an hour and a half.  What a perfect Saturday morning!

I am so glad that I allowed myself to be talked into joining this fine group of runners this Saturday morning for a run through beautiful downtown Savannah.  No regrets.

Before I wrap this up let me give you my running stats with my new VFF Bikilas.  I bought the Bikilas a few weeks ago and today marked the longest run I’ve done in them so far.

• Today’s run: 4.94
• Total miles with Bikilas: 15.82
• my mapped run
• my running log

The map of our run

Ok, that’s it for now.  I now have to shower and be productive around the house.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my running blog.

All the best to you and yours.

peace,

dh

01/08/2011