Tomorrow's Quest ... 13.1

Despite being ridiculously unprepared, I’m doing the Lewis and Clark half-marathon in St Charles, MO tomorrow. For those unfamiliar with road races, a half-marathon is 13.1 miles and the full mary is 26.2. I have no delusions of being able to “run” it, my plan is to do a run 4 minute/walk 1 minute approach with the hope of pacing somewhere between 12 – 13 minutes per mile. Now had I trained properly and followed my 3 month training plan, I probably would have had a real chance at running the majority of this distance, but all plans fell by the wayside in my move to Virginia. This isn’t an event I’m going to “race,” this is an event I simply want to complete … hopefully upright and without the need for medical attention.

My longest training run was 10 miles and it was an absolutely miserable experience because I had horrible stomach cramps from mile 5 on. I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed that I don’t have any cramps, blisters or other issues that slow me to a crawl.

My cousin Travis is going to be doing the full marathon and a gal who worked with me when she was a nursing student, Michelle, is also doing the half. The race is sold out so hopefully it will be a fun day. I’m also hoping to get a chance to see Dean Karnazes who’s starting the Endurance 50 challenge that day. They’re going to have a booth set up and he’s going to make himself available for autographs and such. If you like biographies, his book Ultramarathon Man is a good read.

So hopefully I’ll make it and there will be a victory posting soon.

What's your 9/11 story?

I was actually on the last day of vacation with my extended family on 9/11/01 as the events unfolded. We had all gathered in Branson, MO to celebrate my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary and were staying in a large condo on Table Rock Lake. We were checking out of the condo the morning of the 11th and I was flying back to Denver later in the afternoon from Springfield, IL and supposed to be in my office the next morning. As I can best recall, my brother or someone came in and told us to turn on the TV because something had happened in New York. We were watching the Today show as they were trying to figure out what had happened, and how on earth a plane could have crashed into the building, and were continuing to watch as the second plane hit - live - on the air. I remember there was a lot of confusion at first because the cameras had been focusing on the currently burning tower, so there wasn't the angle showing the plane heading in. It was more like - boom - a sudden explosion and it took a few minutes for the different footage clearly showing the plane veering towards the building to come in. At that moment it became clear that this was no accident, and the shock to the newscasters as this was all happening live was palpable. Shortly thereafter, I jumped in the shower and in the middle my Mom came in and told me that there had been an explosion at the Pentagon. I remember at this point in time wondering where the day was going to lead? Was this the beginning of something? We all set off to our respective homes - I was driving with my Mom and brother back to Springfield, IL and we were listening to the news coverage on the radio when the first tower fell. I don't think it had set in that it was gone until we saw the tv footage in the lobby of the resort as we were settling the bill. Then in the car on the way home, the second tower fell - the plane crashed in Pennsylvania all as we were listening intently on the radio.

My brother, who is in the courier business, was on the phone most of the drive home trying to assess the impact on his operations given that all aircraft had been grounded at this time and he had shipments in route. I called my office and not only was I clearly not going to be in Colorado by the next day, my boss was stuck in Chicago and desperately trying to either get a train or rent a car to make it back. At the time, we had no idea as to how long the airlines would be shut down. When we made it back to Illinois, we were at my Mom's glued to the tv watching the non-stop coverage and flipping between all the news channels.

The next day, there was this air of "what just happened?" and commercial air traffic was still grounded. My Mom went to work and I was stuck in Springfield indefinitely and a little stressed out about it because I had no more vacation time at that point and wasn't sure what the ramifications of that would be when I finally made it back. Also, I had left the dogs with a friend in Denver so I didn't have my normal companions with me. I ended up calling a local day spa and going in for a manicure and pedicure to take the edge off and get away from the tv for a while. By that evening, the main stories were now focusing on all the families wandering New York looking for their loved ones and posting flyers. Heartbreaking stories of husbands looking for wives, and children looking for their parents, all still hoping that they were just lost in the chaos and still alive.

I think I finally caught a flight out on September 14th, as I recall when they finally restarted air traffic it was complete madness because folks were still all stuck where they had originally been grounded. When I talked to the local American Airlines folks, I explained that I wasn't in a huge hurry since luckily I was marooned with family. So I waited an extra day until the backlog of people waiting to fly had calmed, I didn't want to take a seat from some poor sap stuck in a hotel in an unfamiliar location. I do remember that I wasn't remotely nervous about flying but a lot of people definitely were.

Overall, I was so thankful that I was with my family as opposed to on my own in Denver when it all happened. Even though it was stressful being marooned at the time without any idea of how long it would be before I could fly again, on that day when there was that feeling of "oh my god, what's going to happen?" there was comfort in being with the people that I love most. Had it happened a day later, it would have been a completely different experience because I would have been in my office .... well I guess because of the time difference I would actually have been watching the morning news and getting ready for work, all alone in my apartment with just my dogs to share it with. Instead, I remember sitting on the couch with my Mom watching the news and being shocked and tearful and just in disbelief of what had happened, but at least having someone to share it with.

I think it took weeks before "normalcy" returned. Even in the office, we all talked of nothing else and I remember that as each day went by, and no survivors were found, it became more heartbreaking to see the "missing" flyers and the people on camera begging for someone to contact them. At the time, I remember having the realization that this would be my generation's defining moment. Just as I recall my Mom talking about where she was when Kennedy was shot, for me it was always going to be "where were you on 9/11?"

Spectacular Spectacles

Yeah, I know I'm kindof pushing it on that title. "Hey I got new glasses" seemed boring so sue me!

Anyway, today I went to Ye Local Lenscrafters to replace the specs that Oakley chewed up about a year ago. To be fair to him, he didn't completely chew them - just ate the plastic off one ear piece rendering them a bit uncomfortable and slightly crooked. Since then, I've gotten by with my older "spare" pair - yes the lenses are four years old and scratched but it's not like I need perfect eye sight when I'm working with critically ill tiny babies.

So whatdya think??

Crikey!! What a sad day!

As a longtime lover of the Animal Planet channel and the Crocodile Hunter, I was so sad to hear of the death Steve Irwin. I've watched his various shows and documentaries for many years and always got such a kick out of his enthusiasm. He was one of those people on tv who was "real" and I appreciated his passion for wildlife and his committment to educating people of all ages. I was checking out the website on Animal Planet and saw this recently posted FAQ:

Q: Rob Hermann of Chicago, Ill., wonders: Do you ever get nervous when confronting a deadly animal such as a snake or a croc?
A: Fear is a natural thing that us humans have. It keeps us alive. So every time I go in on a venomous snake, a crocodile, a bear, a cougar, a tiger shark — any wild animal, I get a little scared, a little nervy. Fear is a good thing.

Hopefully people won't get that whole, "that's what you get" attitude about the dangers of working near wildlife. You know, like that dude in the bear documentary who was killed and eaten and had chosen to have no weapons and to just hang out with the bears. It sounds like in this case, it was a totally bizarre situation where he just happened to get stuck by the stingray in his heart. One article quoted an Australian resarcher discussing how rare deaths like this are. In any case, what a tragedy for his family and fans. No one else, except maybe Jeff Corwin, will ever describe big, snakes as "a beauty."

Have you met my new boyfriend Ernesto??

I'm not your typical girl and I'm not afraid of the weather. I survived a tornado hitting my farm as a kid, the Denver blizzard of 2003 when 41 inches of snow completely shut down the city, and recent tornados coming through Missouri. So when I moved to the mid-Atlantic during hurricane season it just didn't phase me. Not even during my hospital orientation when they talked about how I would be forced to stay and sleep in the hospital in the event of a disaster and that I should keep extra clothes in my locker. I mean the thing with hurricanes is that you can see them coming for days - it's not like those midwestern tornadoes we contend with where you may only have minutes to take cover. Now being a responsible pet owner, I did think about them and had already decided that if a hurricane headed here I would take them inland and kennel them so that I could be stranded at work for days with no concerns.

For the past two days the local news and the talk at work has been nothing but Ernesto - these people here are seriously obsessed with their hurricanes. Once it became a tropical depression I pretty much blew the whole thing off. So we get a bunch of rain and wind - big deal. We can get that in a strong thunderstorm in Illinois. Last night at work, people could talk of nothing else and folks were glued to the tv wanting to know "when it's gonna hit." It started raining pretty early in the night and I have to admit that by morning the rain was beating against the windows and there was an obvious wind. Still, it didn't look much worse outside than some of the thunderstorms with flash floods that I've encountered many times before.

As I was walking down the hall to leave, one of the other nurses said, "you live in Virginia Beach by Shore Drive right?" (the hospital is in Norfolk). I answered yes, then she said "good luck getting home."

So the problem isn't the hurricane or tropical depression or whatever - the problem is that downtown Norfolk ... the very spot where I work .... is surrounded by water and subject to flooding streets anytime there's heavy rain. I quickly did some reconaissance before leaving because the only streets I know in Norfolk are the ones I take to work everyday. Apparently the streets that are the first to flood in any circumstance. Armed with knowledge of new routes that "might not be flooded yet" I got into my car and set off. Then I had to deal with my second problem. I was almost out of gas. I had meant to fill up on the way to work, but I was running late due to traffic so I had planned on filling up near the hospital on my way out. My new route? Not quite sure where a gas station is in that direction.

Once I got out of the parking garage the extent became clear. Water was coursing through the streets and I saw one flooded out intersection two blocks from the hospital. Visibility wasn't the best due to the wind and rain so I missed my turn. While trying to make my way back, I hit more flooded out roads and quickly was driving in circles trying in vain to escape downtown Norfolk. As the minutes wore on, it became a very real possibility that my car was going to die. I finally found a group of gas stations .... but the power was out. (I should mention that power was out all over the place so every major intersection had become a 4 way stop sign making my drive MUCH LONGER and wasting precious fumes. ) I desparately asked the clerk where the nearest station was that had power, and she told me to get on the highway and head east because there was nothing around here. All the while the water is getting higher, and more routes are becoming impassable in my little Escort. I keep turning and getting more lost and finding more flooded intersetions and I won't lie - I was so frustrated and upset there were even a few tears. The underpass to get to the interstate was too flooded for my little car so I had to drive further until I found an exit I could get through. I got onto I-64 and prayed that I made it over the bridge and to an exit with power. This whole fiasco took about 30 minutes all the while I'm on "low fuel" warning which normally buys me about 25-30 more miles.

Thankfully I made it to the other side of the water, and quickly found gas. I filled up my tank and was so stressed from the experience that I stopped at Krispy Kreme and had not one but 3 donuts! Once I hit Virginia Beach, I knew the safe route to take though the roads were still pretty water logged. Now I'm safely home with my dogs who REFUSE to go out in the rain so I'm even more drenched from dragging them on their leashes to the yard to do their business.

I guess it's supposed to rain all day so I'm sure the hospital area will be quite flooded. But I'm off til Tuesday so what do I care??? There's a grocery store across the street, I'm on the second floor, and for the time being I have power. And all this stress?? Just due to a tropical depression, not even something big enough to be called a "storm."