Day 26: 10.5 miles (3 hrs 35 mins)

Today I walked the entire perimeter of Lake Chabot. Lots of ups and downs. Elevation gain: 5,177 ft; Elevation lost: 5,147 ft. It was a bear. When I got through, I really wondered if I could do the 60 mile walk.

Highlight: Possible bald eagle sighting.
No bunnies seen today.

Ave speed: 3.40 mph

Lowlight: Getting my first blister.

I. am. so. sore.

Day 23: 5.5 mi

Climbed bigass hill today. At the top, I'm rewarded with the nice vista shown above.

Highlight of the walk: a pair of baby bunnies!

Avg moving speed: 3.78mph
Cumulative total ascent : 1883 ft
Cumulative total ascent: 1893 ft

Duration: 1 hr, 18 mins

Day 20-22: Rained out!

No walking -- did indoor cross-training instead. Rain, rain, go away!

Day 25: 5.5 miles (1 hr 56 mins)

Another bigass hill hike which takes me thru a campground (above). Amazing that Castro Valley is a tourist destination --- people come here ON PURPOSE and stay.

Highlight: Spotting a pair of bunnies!

Ave speed: 3.03 mph
Max speed: 7.72 mph
Altitude lost: 2768 ft
Altitude gain: 2785 ft

Day 19: 6.3 Miles

Did the bigass hill walk today. About a mile into it, you take a mountain goat trail straight uphill, and it's super-steep for the next mile. Then it smooths out into rolling hills, and then steep again, and then you're on top of a ridge with magnificent views. The first third is killer, the second third is downhill, and the last third is another upward climb. It's a good workout: 2,746ft worth of ascent over the course. Ave speed was 3.1 mph, which is pretty good considering the really steep parts.

Highlight was seeing a wild turkey couple, with the male in full display:



Click here to view the track and results.

Day 18: 0 Miles

Sunday has been decreed as my official rest day cuz between church 'n' chores, I usually don't have time to squeeze in exercise.

Day 17: 5 Miles

Didn't walk yesterday --- rain, again. So was eager to get to it.

Went to the Training Meeting today. It was held across from the San Jose Rose Garden which was in full bloom. After learning stuff like what blowdrying facilities are available in camp (none), and how far you have to walk before you can jump on the sweep van (none), I took a walk through the rose garden. DKM, they weren't your dad's roses, but they were pretty darned great:





Got home and walked 5 miles with Jeff.



It was a tough walk to start, with fierce, freezing winds, but we made it through.

Day 15: 6 miles

My first official training "walk" today. New shoes felt great. When down to the lake, but extended the length of my usual course by crossing the bridge and running up the Northern end of the lake. The best part??? FINDING A BIRD NEST. I collect 'em (this one looks like a bushtit nest).

The funniest part of the walk was this out-of-order chemical toilet. How the hell does a chemical toilet with NO MOVING PARTS get declared out of order? Maybe a coon crawled in and drowned in the pool of blue poop n pee. I think I'm better off not knowing what happened.



Here's the bridge I cross to get to the Northern end of the lake:



Here I am, tall, skinny and sideways:


This is where I am, at the northern end of the lake:


And here's the view of it from the southern shore trail, where I am about 20 mins later:



Had a little problem getting a good GPS sig, so part of the walk was not recorded.

Here's the track, you can see for yourself.

So far, training is going really well. Fundraising, not so much.

Day 12 - 14: 0 Miles

Rain. Rain. Rain. So no walking, just yoga.

Monday was a washout anyway, cuz we were up most of the night. Jeff had a bad reaction to some meds, and we thought we'd end up at ER. Fortunately, it passed, but I slept several hours after I got home. With the rain, I don't feel guilty for not walking.

I did buy some new snazzy PINK New Balance shoes. They have wide sizes, and I'm hopeful that the extra width will help with my sore right paw (which doesn't generally hurt when I'm wearing sandals, just shoes.) Even if my paw still hurts, at least I'll by stylishly pink. Might even buy a second pair.

KYOOT, no???

And just a quick plug for Zappos: free shipping that was upgraded to overnight for free -- so they were on my feet less than 24 hrs after I ordered them. I love love love Zappos.

$2109 to go!

Day 11: 472,440.945 inches

I ran 12K today, the equivalent of 7.42 miles. Piece of cake, except for the waking up early part. In my age group, I was 750th of 1836, solidly in the middle of the pack.

The last time I got up this early to do physical exercise was circa 1984 or so -- the last time I ran the B2B -- good practice for the 60-mile.

We also walked a lot after the race, for a total of 12 miles.

Most of you know I have Rice Krispies knees (they go snap crackle and pop and hurt a lot), and you're probably wondering how I do it. This is the answer: kinesiology tape. In my favorite color. I apply it, then do an elastic bandage on top of that. Makes a huge diff.

This is the Rocktape brand. It seems to adhere better/longer than other brands. Comes in many colors.

Day 9-10: 0 Miles

With the Bay to Breakers on Sunday, I've entered the workout taper phase. Not that it matters; the Kenyans will probably cross the finish line before I've crossed the starting line. But after the Wednesday night all-nighter in ER with Jeff, I've been zonked, and am just trying to get to the point where I feel rested and hydrated before the race. The hardest part of the race will be getting up before the 8 am start time. OUCH!

Although we'll be wandering SF tomorrow, Jeff's toe problem will probably preclude walking any distance, so I won't log much mileage before Sunday.

If it matters, I spent several hours gardening and working on the patio bricks this afternoon so they'll be as clean and sparkling as Jeter's.

I got a donation from the fabulous Susan Faye. If you haven't seen her artwork, take a look -- it's just lovely -- very "happy" stuff, reminiscent of Laurel Burch's upbeat, decorative designs. I can highly recommend commissioning something from her as a gift to someone special. And she's got some new products including pawsome kitty corsage pins and quilt blocks.

Thanks, Susan!!!!

Day 8: 5 miles

It's hard to make them out in the brush, but here are three goslings (Manny, Moe and Jack) that I saw tonight:


Good run tonight, despite my painful pinkie toe. Weather was cool; pace was fairly brisk (for me). I probably won't run again before Sunday, since I've spent most all of tonight in ER. Switching to the 3-day walk schedule on Monday.

These little orange blooms exploded on the hills between yesterday and today:

See the Track map here.

Only $2259 to go!

Day 7: 5 Miles

I took it easy today, mostly because I removed half of the toenail on my little toe this morning, and was VERY uncomfortable for the first couple of miles, And it was hot (I usually run in the eve. but couldn't today), so I wanted to be careful not to overheat.

More photos:

Here's a map of my track

Still only $2259 to go!

Days 4,5,6: 0 Miles

Unseasonably cold and rainy weather kept me indoors.

Day Three: 5 miles

Today, Jeanette joined our team! WOO HOO! Welcome, Jeanette! I'm sure you'll help the team set a brisk pace.

Splendid evening for a run. The hills are starting to brown :(, but most of the area on this particular run (except up the not-too-big-ass hill) is still pretty verdant, since it's shaded. I always hate to see the green go, which always happens around Mother's Day. Wildflowers are beginning to pop - the thistles will be awesome very shortly.


Here's the view from part-way up the not-too-big-ass hill. The distant hills on the horizon are the Santa Cruz mountains. So when I pass this point, I wave to Rocky and Jean.

And this is the homeward leg.

Click here to view the run.

Only $2259 more to raise!

Day Two: 6.25 miles

Well, my phone ran out of juice before I got home, so it didn't track the entire run. You can click here to see the track. I did the Big-ass Hill run, but only went about halfway up Big-ass Hill cuz I needed to be home by 8.



The highlight: a great blue heron springing into flight across the golf course pond, and a VISHUS DEER (below) from about 6 feet away. Temp was perfect.



Lowlights: my back was killing me at the end. This will be my biggest problem during the walk. And running down the Proctor trail, there was nothing but poison oak on the hillside, both uphill and downhill. I felt like I couldn't help but inhale poison oak molecules.

I ran behind Mr Tinydik's house. Here's what the back of his poolhouse looks like:


From this point, I am ascending the big-ass hill behind the golf course:


Only $2279 to go!

Day One: 5 Miles

I did the short loop run down around the south end of the lake and back: 5 miles. Notable sighting: a group of Canada Geese on the trail, with a Jackson-Pollockesque mine field of green goosie poop, which required quite a bit of tap dancing around to navigate. They were very vocal in cheering me on. No word on how much they plan to donate.

Click here to see the track. Until the Bay to Breakers is over, all of my training will be running. After that, I'll add walking mileage.



I only have $2300 more to raise!!

The most exciting thing that happened today: Roberta appointed me TEAM CO-CAPTAIN!!! I just about wet my pants.