What ho, shipmates!
I don't know why, but I remain amazed at how time flies. Thank all of you for checking in on this log. I promise to get started sooner rather than later.
So, "What's the hold up?", you may ask. Well, there was the 50 mile ultra marathon and the end of the semester and a trip to Ireland. All of that took up way too much time. And since Brad
@BradNSW was interested in how the ultra went, I'll spend a post on that experience.
I've been a cowboy all my life. I've also been Superman and Batman. One of the things cowboys have is big belt buckles. They earn them. Earning a belt buckle was near the top of the bucket list I have been constructing in my head lately. So, how does a 60-year-old man earn a belt buckle? Since I know nothing about bull riding or bronco riding or barrel racing, I needed to find another way. Turns out that you can earn a belt buckle if you complete a long race. My particular race was the Frisco Railroad Run in Willard, Missouri. The race has several options 8K, 13.1 miles, 26.2 miles, 50 kilometers and 50 miles. You can earn a buckle at 50 km or 50 miles. The 50 K buckle is smaller than the 50 mile buckle, and what's the point. 50 km is only 32 miles. Hardly more than a marathon and I've done a few to test my grit.
You should know that my usual training regimen for a marathon is to do nothing. Why train if how fast I can run has nothing to do with it? I complete a marathon from time to time to test whether I can compel my body to complete the race. It's all a test, for me, of whether I have the grit. So I smoke 4-5 cigarettes, drink a pot of black coffee, and get up and do it. With the ultra, my admiral made me train. So, I spent 5 hours one Saturday and got about 20 miles under my belt. Then a couple of weeks later I spent three hours. Training complete. Now 50 miles.
You should know that I talked about it and so did my admiral (spoiler alert she finished 3 hours before me). So, at 4 a.m., I started.
About mile 21 here's what happened:
By the time I got to the turn-around (mile 25) I was fading. The balls of my feet were burning - blisters!
I could also feel the pain of the toe-nails I was going to lose. Some of you know what I'm talking about. About mile 31, I started to negotiate - how could I cheat? It took about 5 miles to figure out that cheating was not feasible. Also, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. It was about then that I felt a searing pain on the bottom of my right foot. It took a few strides before I understood that the blisters had exploded. Once I knew what had happened, I felt ok. I also started negotiating again. The race organizers gave runners an option to downgrade their race. So, having completed 50 km, all I had to do was get to the next aid station and wait to be driven back to the start. But I had talked about it. And when I talked about it I talked about 50 MILES. Nope. No way. I could never live with that. That negotiation lasted until about mile 44 when the blisters on the left foot burst. About that time, I understood what commitment was about. I had been suffering since mile 31. I learned that suffering is choice. I decided to choose to accept that the pain was part of the journey. Every painful step was a step closer to fulfilling the commitment I made to myself. So the last 6 miles were cake. (And if you believe that, I have some excellent swamp land for sale with no snakes
) So, even though I really wanted a smoke and a cup of hot black coffee at mile 48, I waited until I finished the task.
Here's a video of my finish. My admiral, the Lovely Renee is handing me the belt buckle.
View attachment Ultra finish short.mp4
I've been wearing it everyday.
Thanks for letting me share this with you.
Blessings. Peace. Gratitude.
Chuck
, or looked in and "liked", thank you for sharing and for your patience. 
