Cold days, warm hearts

It’s cold.  Again.  I am feeling like we live in the old Gary Larson comic with the 2 people standing outside an igloo. This week has been a typical winter, which is to say it has been a bad week for running.  Monday was a blue day, the sky, the snow, even the antelope were shades of blue.  Gary was blue too.  Cloudy days affect him that way, it is a wonder he made it through adolescence in Kansas where the gray clouds hang so low you almost feel you could brush them away like so many cobwebs. 

The weight of the race weighed hard on him that day.  The inability to run and train, the worries of leaving the house and animals and the worries of travel in a place with ‘travel advisories’.  He was even worried about the people who have offered support, even just encouragement.  From somewhere in his ‘wayback’ he feels beholden to people who offer help and becomes terrified at the prospect of failing. 

But yesterday was beautiful; quite literally the calm before the storm.  The weather forecast issued a ‘winter storm warning’ and apparently Mother Nature didn’t want to disappoint.  Still it has been a week of kindness; Wednesday brought a package from Bob, the coach, with a specially designed camelback pack- the Scott Jurek model.  It looks like the ticket and has just come off the line.  Today brought a gift from our nephew for supplies.  Additionally my stitch & bitch called to let me know there will be a special session just for my origami ponies for the race, but more of that later.

The Race

Today; overcast no running

Today was Gary’s workday so I thought I should talk a little about the race.  It is called the Ultra Caballo Blanco www.ultracb.com/‎, named after a man who lived in the Copper Canyon in Mexico (and in Boulder CO and California and even Hawaii).  He went by Micah True and he fell in with the native people there; the Ramamuri, although most of us know them as the Tarahumara.  The first race was probably nothing short of a miracle. Micah had seen them run and win in Leadville, Colorado and wanted to see them race against United State elite here on their own turf.  He wrote and goaded some of the best to come and race against them.  Some hardy souls did and it sparked interest in the running world.  There is a book, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall that talks about it.  I don’t know how well received the book  in the running world but it did help to catch attention to the amazing abilities of these people.  I suspect Christopher, like most writers, doesn’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.  But after taking a few creative non-fiction courses I realize that is not frowned upon in the literary world.  Micah came up with a great solution to keeping some of the profits in the community. When you run, if you complete the race, you are given a voucher for 500 pounds of corn.  When Gary mentions that part people seem perplexed; the idea of the race is crazy or if the idea of running 50 miles for 500 pounds of corn that stay’s in the little town is worse.  But Gary doesn’t mind; he just wants to run with these people.

The race is 50 miles in the bottom of the Copper Canyon; up hills and dirt roads, with aid stations that hand out fresh oranges and bananas.  This year it sounds like there will be about 250 out of country racers alongside the 400 Raramuri.  A few days before there will be race for the Raramuri children, they are expecting about 400, and all of them will get a bag of school supplies.  (You can donate to the childrens race at http://www.ultracb.com/caballitos/

Gary has read about the Tarahumara for over forty years.  There is speculation that they were the inspiration for some of the Carlos Castaneda books in the 70’s and what good hippie didn’t have one in their library?  Gary wasn’t so interested in those per se, he wanted to know, like he always wants to know, about the people.  What do they eat?  What to they believe in?  How do they get along with each other?  How do they deal with the land around them?  The book brought them back to the forefront in Gary’s very crowded mind.  Searches on the Internet brought You Tubes of them running and photos by Luis Escobar of people with kind, wise faces. 

Gary dreamt about the race, but he is a practical man.  Money has never been a strong point in our life; we are healthy, live in a great spot and have a rare love…that makes us pretty wealthy in our minds’ eyes.  It was a serendipitous meeting with old friends of whom the man runs, that started the foundation under Gary’s dream.  Bit by bit, encouraged by friends we have moved forward.  Now we are going; it is scary and exciting and a far cry from our normal, almost 60 year old lives…

Breaking through the 20 mile ceiling

Today; weather- bluebird, miles 25

The last two days have been stellar.  The blue sky so pure in hue artists would kill for a tube of it.  The weather had become mild too, with highs in the high thirties and minimal wind.  These were the days worth waiting for and Gary was like a young colt on the racetrack. 

Yesterday he headed up to the north end of Sheep Mountain where he could work on slopes.  The You Tubes he has been watching, as well as other accounts of the race indicate there were be steep and rocky parts.  You couldn’t find a better proving ground than Sheep.  The mountain has a number of geologic formations; when you drive the road you drive millions of years of history with fossils from the oceans that came and went in this valley.  But the ends of the mountain are comprised of grus, or ‘rotten granite’.  It is pink with angular faces that reflect the sun.  Some of it has mica or white quartz imperfections that allow the ice to break down the stone quickly, at least in geologic terms.  Gary have found some two-tracks as well as elk trails to race along to practice for the uphill parts of the race.

Today was the distance day.  Because of the bad weather he was unable to practice and as the race draws closer he has worried that he hasn’t run more than 20 miles.  Today he ran twenty five, through the canyon and on the snow.  By the time I got home he was elated and had just returned.  He ran out of water and food and the effects were immediate; he got tired, cold and hungry.  We are looking at camelpacks for water, anyone out there with any experience?

The Inside Scoop

Weather; blizzard, temps in high 20’s, gusts 80mph+, blowing snow.

The last few days have been a blizzard, at least a foot of fresh snow, although it is hard to determine as the 80+ mph winds have deposited it haphazardly.  The horses have hunkered down in the barn, the cats are staying in the greenhouse and the snowmobilers have managed to close the road.

This is the day to reflect on what is happening with Gary’s body, what is the training doing, what is the high elevation’s effect?  That is where we turn to my boss, Hank Harlow.

Hank is a physiologist.  I walk by a number of lectures at the University of Wyoming but always smile at his.  His are distinguished by a number of things; first the riveted faces of the students and second is the multi-presentation of the material. Hank runs a PowerPoint, slides and writes frenzied notes on the board.  The student’s responses to the class are ‘The best and the hardest’.  His passion is contagious.

Asking Hank about the inner workings of a human is a precarious undertaking.  I think he views the human body as something between an aircraft carrier and a Rube Goldberg invention; a bazillion unique parts working in harmony.  We must all look like walking, high dollar watches to him.  I am usually good for a few sentences then he begins to sail right over my head with cycles and compounds and interactions.  But to stop him would be as cruel as to stop a racehorse mid stride.  I just enjoy watching that much enthusiasm manifest itself. 

He is following Gary’s progress with interest so he had ready answers for my question; if Gary can’t exercise regularly, is there any advantage to training at 8,200 feet elevation?  ‘Ah’ he says, chomping at the bit.  Come to find out there are a number of good things; Gary’s lungs and heart work at a greater capacity due to the elevation, and his blood both absorbs and releases oxygen quicker as well which will help keep the body well oxygenated.  Additionally he as more red blood cells than his counterparts training at lower elevations.  ‘But’ Hank warns, ‘the heat will work against him.’  Training here, where we seldom see weather above high 80’s will not prepare him for the dehydration of the heat.  ‘Water, plenty of water’ is Hank’s advice.  I suspect there was far more to that conversation but my brain, like my eyes, probably glossed over and dropped the specifics.  Enough to know Gary does have some perks with training, even if the blizzards are keeping him in a few days.

Neighbors

Sunrise on Sheep Mountain

Miles run 14

Weather; mild to start then snowy and windy on the way back

Today the weather was better and Gary decided to run midday.  He has gone back to running down Fox Creek; while the footing is more snowy, the canyon offers protection from the wind.  Additionally the canyon has a creek so the dog has easy access to water.  It also has less traffic. Highway 11 can be overrun with snowmobilers hell bent for Albany and as I have mentioned before, Kaycee has an obsession with herding vehicles.

Gary's running has become somewhat commonplace on the road and today a few things happened to reinforce that.  First there were the two trucks of neighbors driving home.  Both times the driver slowed down to converse with Gary; commenting on his style and checking his speed against the odometer.  They kibitzed about road gossip and then headed off, giving him the thumbs off before they rolled up their windows and left.   No one even comments on the craziness of the situation.

The other neighbor Gary ran into was the one who has been crossing paths with him for some time, Mr. Cougar, or as we are learning, Mr. Puma in Spanish.  They met up at the ‘Luge run’ the part of the road that is narrow, icy, rocky and steep on both sides –one going up and the other straight down into the creek.  Gary was alerted to the presence of a dead animal by the ravens and magpies flying in and out of the woods by the stream, but was Kaycee who spotted the cougar first.  He leaned over the edge of the road, attentive and with his hair along his back standing up.  He has pretty bad cataracts, I do wonder if he could tell the difference between a cougar and a Volkswagen but I suspect they have a distinct smell. 

Gary called the dog back and went to the edge to see what was there; beneath the underbrush was the cat; crouched over a deer and watching.  The cat didn’t seem terribly interested in either the dog or Gary, just lying beside his meal not unlike the kitties we have in the house.  Everyone left the other in peace.

Neighbors.

Snow Day

Last night we received at least 8” of snow.  The day is  monochromatic, all shades of blue.  It was also much colder- around 10 degrees and as soon as the sun went down it was below zero.  Fox Creek Road is closed due to drifting and snown. The last two runs were sketchy; the wind was cold enough to discourage Gary from running and made him worry about hypothermia.  Today he decided to stay home.

So we are sending out his Pinole Bar recipe to you.  It is a combination of a couple on the web, plus a little tinkering on his part.

1.5 cups toasted masa harina

½ c. Amaranth flour

3T. Chia seeds

6T. Brown sugar

3t. Cinnamon powder

1t. salt

1c. chopped raisins

2 eggs

6T. Honey

4T. Almond Butter

1 ½ c water

Mix well.  Put in 9x9 baking sheet (buttered).  Cook at 320 degrees for 40 minutes.

Cut while still warm into bars and enjoy!