Sweet Danger

Halloween isn't the best holiday for diabetics. Someone put a big plastic pumpkin full of tootsie rolls and tootsie pops in the break room and I can't help myself from taking a sample everytime I walk by. And in the employee cafeteria there are sugar cookies with little tombstones on them and the icing letters "R.I.P." Truer words have never been spoken.

But you gotta do what you gotta do, so I ripped off a blazing 8-mile run in 1:08 today (blazing for me) along the Pittman Wash trail under sunny skies with no wind and temps in the 60s. Perfect. Take that high-sugar count.

Back on the homefront my hot water heater is about to blow. My friend Mike Dindia came over today to check it out. It's just a small leak now but disaster is right around the corner. But he's going to help me take out the old one and put in a new one. He's sure he can do it by downloading info so I believe him I hope for the sake of my downstairs neighbors.

Looking for Mars

Are you looking for Mars tonight? Tonight the planet will be closer to Earth than it will be again until 2018.

If you look close enough maybe you'll see the two rovers: Spirit and Opportunity. Like Columbus, Cook and Lewis & Clark they're exploring unknown territory up close. Unknown to us anyway.

Back on earth, I went off on a nice seven mile run through Sunset Park. I felt great, experiencing no after effects from Thursday's 20 miler. The normal solitude was shattered by toy powerboat enthusiasts who were racing their mini gas-powered boats around the lake. At least the fish were too scared to take the fishermen's bait.

Looks like I'll have to look for somewhere quieter to run. I wonder if there are any good running trails on Mars?

 

Getting Back to Normal

As we closed yesterday's journal, there was some concern about the pesky old blood sugar. But those fears were put to rest today as the readings were 136 (am) and 109 (pm). Must have been the positive influence of the 4 beers last night.

No run today. How could I? I can still barely walk after yesterday's 20 miles and I didn't realize how swollen my ankles were until I got a good look at them in some of the postures of tonight's yoga class. Friday is the night Kim teaches with live music. The sitar player was there, but Linda was subbing for Kim. I missed Kim, but Linda gave me a big hug after class and said she liked my smile.

Although there was no run today, I drove out to check out the new 10 miles of trail way out in Henderson, almost to Lake Mead. What I saw was an asphalt path that's part of a 30-mile trail that borders Lake Mead. Now that would be a one-day challenge! Ironically the park is called Equestrian Park but the sign says, "No Horses Allowed."

20 in the Bank

Today was the day to get my first 20-mile run in as I prepare for the Dec. 4 LV Marathon. The first 14 miles were effortless but then the ankles started to hurt. But as Lewis & Clark led many journal entries, "We proceeded on." The last 6 miles, like a marathon, were the toughest. The run was out on the Old LA Highway, site of many previous marathons but not this year's, which runs down the strip.

After the run I stopped at the Gold Strike Casino in Jean for a veggie burger & fries. I expected my bs to be low after burning 2,000 calories running but it was a near-record high 259! Must have been the fries but could have been the dehydration, 30 minutes later it was 205 and now it's 160 so it's gone down 100 pts in an hour. It should be fine in the morning.

New rule: Any time I run 20 or more miles I'm allowed to have a beer. I'm sure Meriwether and William would have approved this. That only leaves 2 weeks from today -- my next 20 miler and the marathon. Now I have to go take my medicine and watch by bs drop some more.

Paradise Found

Not one to take failure lightly, I set out again for White Rock Canyon today in search of the Colorado River. In my first attempt last Thursday I jogged along a wash between 1500-foot canyon walls but never found the river that was supposed to be at the end of the trail. Today I was determined to find that damn river just downstream from that damn Hoover Dam.

Found it I did. It's only supposed to be 2.5 miles but I think that's the way the damn crow flies. It took me almost 50 minutes of running to finally get there and I'm not not slow. Saturday I ran 3.1 miles in 23:30. But that's another journal entry. It's a beautiful calm, peaceful river and there's supposed to be hot springs there too but I'll save discovery for another day.

Of course I took tons of photos and this amazing run will be documented in a photo slide show sometime before the river dries up. Now it's off to my damn job. The bs was high (154 this morning). Maybe I should reconsider abstinence. A beer on the river would have been nice.

No Regrets

The two biggest fears I had this morning after breaking my beer fast last night were what would my blood sugar be and how would I do in the Danny Gans Run for the Rainforest?

My first fear was quenched when the bs registered 126. That's pretty amazing after 5 beers, a foot-long Subway Veggie Delight with all that bread and a couple of bowls full of pretzels. The 2nd fear was equally dashed when I finished the 5k in 23:30, my fastest time (by 15 seconds) in 7 years. That pace of 7:34 per mile was good enough for 2nd place in my age group and 54th overall out of a field of more than 1,200 runners.

The beer didn't hurt me but now it's back on the shelf until Sept. 13, 2006, unless I come across another surprise journal entry.

 

Beer Break

It didn't hit me until I was reading the Lewis & Clark journals today. Every day I read what the captains wrote on this date 200 years ago. I vaguely remember this reference to beer making but admit I'd forgotten it until I came across it today.

Captain Clark:
October 21, 1805

"One of our party, J. Collins, presented us with some very good beer made of the pa-shi-co-quar - mash bread, which bread is the remains of what was laid in as a part of our stores of provisions, at the first Flatheads, or Chopunnish nation at the head of the Kooskooskee River, which, by being frequently wet, molded and soured."

There it was my permission to drink beer today. After further research it's the only reference to beer or any kind of spirits from July 4, 1805 until Sept. 13, 1806. So who am I to go against history. Wasn't the design of this L&C Abstinence Reenactment journal to follow the drinking patterns of the Corp of Discovery? So with much thought I selected a 6-pack of Hefeweizen Wheat Beer. That's bread right? And it's brewed in Portland, Ore,. an area Lewis & Clark passed through. So in theory this beer could be made of water they canoed through. It was delicious! My first beer in almost 4 months. But this is the only reprise, now it's dryness until next September....unless another journal entry surprises me. Maybe they made wine at Fort Clatsop?