SouthSide Early Childhood Center + 146 Miles in Death Valley = 1 inspired idiot

I am overwhelmed by the support everyone has shown and want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your donations, words of encouragement, and for holding back on how you really feel about me taking on this ridiculous challenge! The kids at SouthSide are going to enjoy a nurturing educational environment for decades because of what you’ve done. THANK YOU!

I wanted to take you through the course (you can click on the map in Column 3 for a visual depiction) and my schedule. This is a very conservative schedule and we could go faster (or slower) depending on conditions. So, here it is:

Monday, July 2
0300 – 2000

42 miles- Badwater to Stovepipe Wells
Conditions- Flat and HOT!
Notes- Most drop outs in the race happen in this section because runners push themselves too hard. We will be extra cautious here.

July 2-3
2000 – 1000

30 miles- Stovepipe Wells to Panamint Springs
Conditions- Hilly and hot at first, but cooling off to about 100 at night
Notes- First 17 miles, straight up in the DARK (5000 feet). Then 6 miles straight down (those same 5,000 feet). Last 7 miles across the Panamint Valley (hopefully not too hot!)

1000 – 2400

28 Miles- Panamint Springs to Owens Lake (First 100 miles done!)
Conditions- Pleasant? Hopefully, should stay below 100
Notes- 8 miles again, straight up 3,000 feet, then a meandering downhill section over the next 20 miles

July 4         No running- Independence Day! (just kidding)
2400 – 1000

22 Miles- Owens Lake to Lone Pine
Conditions- Dark for most of the time
Notes- “Easiest” part of the course, except for the fact that we’ve already run 100 miles.

1000 – 1800

13 Miles- Lone Pine to Mt. Whitney Trail head
Conditions- Hopefully only in the 90s (I will guard against hypothermia)
Notes- After the easiest, the hardest climb on the road (great). 13 miles…wait for it…straight up (about another 5,000 feet). Then we rest. Because we have to have a permit for the final 6,000 feet to the summit, we have to wait until 0400 on July 5 to start that section.

July 5
0400 – 2100

22 Miles- Up the Mountain, Down the Mountain
Conditions- Even cooler. In fact, downright cold is possible going to 14,500 feet
Notes- This will be the hardest climb (but after a rest). 11 miles, up 6,000 feet, hang out at the summit, then 11 miles down. That’s it!

This will be my last blog entry before the run. I will be tweeting between then and now and will be able to tweet from time to time from the course. Also, you can follow my progress via one of two GPS linked maps here: SPOT TRACKER

and here:

TRACKING THE WORLD (this one relies on the cellular network to transmit to the map, so if I appear to be stopped for a long period of time, don’t worry!)

Thank you again, especially to my wife for putting up with all the crazy hours of training I’ve done to prepare myself for this. I wouldn’t be here without you!

Look forward to hearing from everyone on “the Twitter” (if it doesn’t crash again).

Here’s how the fundraising is going so far!

Filed under: About my training | Tagged: Badwater, children, Death Valley, run, SouthSide, ultramarathon | Leave a Comment »