Day 438 -- Elk Springs, Colorado

The problem with Googling a city with a name like "Elk Springs, Colorado" is that you tend to get any old web page that mentions elk, springs, and Colorado. With quotes around "Elk Springs", it's a little better, but one can still go awry. I was delighted to find this deer photo from a family called Daly, who moved from England to Colorado, with a brief (11 year) stop in Texas, and a briefer (4 year) interlude of RVing around the country. Alas, the Dalys live on Elk Springs Ranch, near Glenwood Springs, not very close to where I am. So I can't use this photo.

I made my 20 miler today, and in fact managed to stretch it to 22.2 miles, my longest run ever. I needed that for my confidences. I know that I can finish the marathon (only 4 miles more than I ran today!) It may not be pretty, and it won't be fast, but I can finish. I think I could have run 4 more today, if I'd had the time.

I did not have the time. I just barely walked in the door, took a shower, and we jumped in the van for our annual visit to the Labor Day Parade in Benton, a little town about 15 miles from here. We love the Benton Parade. We've live in this area for 8 Labor Days, and I imagine that we have gone at least 6 times. Today's parade was as good as ever, marred slightly when the medium Little Jogger was stung by a bee. A round of popsicles mitigated the problem, although it still hurts, and will for a day or two.

What not to do the day before a 20 mile run

We are getting a new solar water heating system for Jogger Manor. It will save us a lot on gas, and of course it's better for the environment, too. It will even help heat the home in the winter, because we will be able to run the hot water through a couple of radiators in the finished part of the basement.

However, we needed to clear out some space to make a patch of land that would get enough sun to be worth the investment. So today, a friend of ours from church came over to take down two trees, and trim a third. (That's him, in the picture above.) I spent a good part of the day toting logs and dragging branches. Not the best rest for a long run tomorrow morning. Towards the end, I even began to feel like I do at the end of a long run: "Just a little bit more. Just keep moving."

I think what I'll do is to take tomorrow off, and run the 20 miler on Monday morning. I'll have time, since classes don't start until Tuesday. And I want to be as rested as I can, because I really, really want to complete that 20 miles.

Day 437 -- Lay, Colorado

Here I am at the gravesite of Andrew Jackson Williams, a Civil War soldier from Hamilton County, Ohio. The VFW paid tribute to Williams on Memorial Day, 2003.

It was a gorgeous morning for running. I did five miles at a brisk pace, and felt very, very good. It was nice to come home a little sweaty, as opposed to a lot sweaty.

Day 436 -- Jogger's Progress

	Trip	YTD	Jul
Distance	2513.1	1138.6	173.3
Time	15 days, 17 hrs, 55 min	7 days, 9 hrs, 1 min	1 day, 4 hr, 31 min
Days	436	179	23
States	12	5	1

Tomorrow being a scheduled day off, it's time to take a look at Jogger's Progress.

In total mileage, I was only 0.8 short of my longest month ever, which was this past April. I was about 3 miles ahead of the estimate that I made at the beginning of the month. I cut a couple of runs short, but I made up on the other days, usually a half a mile to a mile at a time. My plan for the next three weeks is to stick very close to the schedule, to try to maximize my chances of arriving at the starting line of the marathon rested and ready.

I note that some time this last week, I passed 2500 miles for the trip. That's cool. For the year, I'm up over 1100 miles. At this point, I expect to finish the year with 1600 to 1700 miles. We'll see.

Only one goal for September: the Quad Cities Marathon. My mail goal is to finish, whether I have to run, walk, or crawl. Beyond that, I'd like to be in relatively good shape, and I even have a time goal in the back of my head, but I'm not even going to type it. I don't want to finish and then get all disappointed because I missed my time goal. Just finish. That's the main thing.

Days 434 and 435 -- Craig

Today I ran through Craig, Colorado. While I was there, I thought I'd do a little shopping at the Centennial Mall. According to ColoradoShopping.info, they have over 25 stores, which "await your arrival to serve you in a relaxed, climate controlled atmosphere."

I ran five miles yesterday, and 8.7 today. No particular reason why I didn't post yesterday, other than I didn't get around to it. It has been hot and humid again, so neither day exactly saw me tearing up the roads. But I finished my runs and didn't die, two important goals. They are now predicting cool, dry weather for a few days. I can only hope.

Back to Work

We don't start classes until after Labor Day here in Wisconsin, but today was the first official day of contract, and the first all-day meetings. Somebody at a different college told me years ago that the real purpose of these opening meetings was to wake up the older faculty, so they'd know that classes were actually on the way.

As these things go, they were fine. I long ago gave up on the hope that any opening-day speaker would totally transform my teaching. At this point, I'll settle for being reasonably interesting and not saying anything patently stupid, which these speakers both managed. Each in their own way, they challenged us to think about who our students are and how well we are serving them in and out of the classroom. That's about the best I can expect.

One funny little quirk. The first speaker wore a lapel microphone, so the first thing that she did was to test it, and then to explain to us that for today's students, you don't want to stand behind a podium. She then stood there for an hour and a half, next to the podium, and gave her talk. Well, I'm sure that if there had been any Millenial Generation students in the audience, they would have appreciated it.

Anyway, I have a couple of short meetings tomorrow on technology, and then a couple of days off, then departmental stuff on Friday. And classes start on Tuesday, September 4. I think it will be a good semester. I'm looking forward to it.

Day 433 -- Yampa River State Park

I'm back! No, the laptop isn't fixed, but I dropped in to the shop yesterday and had them hook it up to an external monitor so I could grab some things off the hard drive. (I was also pleased to verify that it actually works fine, except for the broken screen.) Among the things I grabbed were the USJogger master photo, and the record of where exactly I am. After today's run, I am precisely 87.4 miles up Route 40 from Kremmling. Just a bit north of my current location is Yampa River State Park. As you can see, it's a lovely place.

Today was a good day for running. It has finally cooled a bit, and I felt pretty good after 13.5 miles. I think I could have run 20 today, if I had to. In any case, I'm feeling pretty good right now. Tired, but good.

Days 431 and 432 -- Hayden

I'm somewhere around Hayden today. I hope I'll get my computer back and get this straightened out soon. Besides having the master USJogger photo (which is why I'm not in this shot), it also has my detailed log of exactly where I am, which is now about five days behind. *Sigh!*

I ran six miles yesterday, most of it in a light rain, and then almost eight more today. Today the weather was relatively cool and dry, so it was a great day for a run. I could have gone further, but I'm scheduled for 12 miles tomorrow, and I didn't want to push it.

Day off

Another unscheduled day off. I woke up just enough to turn off the alarm, then went back to sleep. Tomorrow was a scheduled day off, but now I'll run today's distance tomorrow.

Day 430 -- Still no pictures

OK, one picture. But I'm not in it, because my computer is still broken. The prognosis is that it can be fixed. The screen is broken, and they can be replaced. The next question is whether to do that or not. They are going to find out what it would cost, but the truth is that I have an older laptop that would probably do everything that I need it to do -- it's mostly reading blogs and playing games anyway -- so it may not be worth fixing the broken one. In any case, they promised me that they could hook it up to get my files off the hard drive on the broken computer. But until they do, no pictures.

Actually, this picture is kind of apt. It's from Ski Haus in Steamboat Springs, still not far behind me. And it is someone running (from their "Footwear") page. So it fits. But alas, no USJogger.

I did a tough 6 miles today. Tough because of the heat and humidity, which are really starting to drive me nuts. When will this end?!?

Day 429 -- West of Steamboat Springs...

...but no picture today. My laptop is broken, and it's the computer with the "USJogger" photo to stick in front of whatever. I hope that I will be able to get it fixed, or, if not, at least get things off the hard drive to put them somewhere else.

After being up for almost 20 hours yesterday, I slept in this morning, but I got my run in at noon. Not a good idea. By noon it was warm and humid. It was a tough run. But I finished it, and will try to get to bed early tonight, to get up early tomorrow. We'll see what I'm able to posts for tomorrow's run.

Day 428 -- Steamboat Springs

Stopped short. Again. Third time in a little over two weeks. And worse than two weeks ago. I stopped about four miles short of my goal of 20 miles.

I'm trying to be positive. I did run almost 16 miles. But it's hard not to start worrying about the marathon. It's just under five weeks away, and I seem to be getting weaker. I have only one more really long run before the marathon. I just have to make 20 miles on that one, which will be the first Sunday in September. (The 2nd, I think.)

It wasn't a great day to run. I was up too early. I had to get done in time for Mrs. Jogger to go to work at 8, so I set my alarm for 4:00 am. And then I was not sleeping well, so I actually got up before the alarm, and headed out the door at about 4:00. Into the rain.

If it didn't rain all of the last 24 hours, it certainly did its level best. It was a light rain when I set out, but within the first three miles, I got a little gully-washer, which soaked me to the skin. I started to worry about blisters, particularly since, in the dark, I was stepping in more puddles than I planned.

Anyway, I don't think I got any blisters, but I did stop short, and I feel awfully tired right now. I hope that the overall program is enough to get me ready for the marathon, even with a bad couple of weeks. Otherwise, this could be a very ugly marathon.

The image, by the way, is from Priest Creek Ranch in Steamboat Springs. It's a great shot. I felt guilty putting myself into it. (That's probably why I stuck myself back in the background so far.) There are lots of other great images from Steamboat Springs, and nothing else much around here, so expect to see more Steamboat Springs for the next couple of days.

Day off

I set the alarm this morning, but I woke up to a steady rain. After a hard run yesterday, I didn't feel like a long run in the rain, so I didn't. Now I have to figure out how to get in a 20 miler tomorrow.

Day 427 -- Race

I ran a race today. A town up near Madison hosted Jerry's Race Against Muscular Dystrophy. There was a 10K run, a 5K run, and, new this year, a "Hometown Team Challenge." The idea was that various town around the area would organize teams, and it would be scored as a team event, like a cross country meet. Unfortunately, they didn't get quite as much participation as I think they planned on.

The first place team was a bunch of young guys, late teens or early twenties. I had the impression that they had been on a high school cross country or track team, and had gotten together to show the old guys a thing or two. I believe that they finished first, second, third, fourth, and sixth. The second place team was a bunch of middle aged guys, all in fairly good shape. And the third place team was me.

That's correct, I, by myself, represented my hometown. Well, actually, I represented the University. When I read about this thing in the paper, I thought it would be cool to enter a team from the University. I know plenty of people who run. So I tried to get something organized, but it never really panned out. I had one definite "Yes," and two or three "Maybes," but none of them showed up. Not even the "Yes." So I ran by myself.

I finished last. I pretty much knew I was headed for that, as soon as I saw the field. Actually, I ran with one other fellow (I found out later he was in the age group 10 years above mine), and I think that I could have beaten him at the end, but that seemed like it would have been rude. I just coasted in behind him by a second or two.

I wasn't a bad run, actually. I finished in almost exactly the time I took on July 4. I suppose that I should have been faster, since it was much cooler. It was rainy most of the day, but it cleared off just enough for the race, which was pretty good planning, I think. And it was lots cooler than all last week, so it was a pleasant run.

Day 426 -- Twisty Mountain Road

I'm still on the road between Kremmling and Steamboat Springs, with not many towns around, so I went with a generic mountain road shot which I lifted from this Flikr site. The owner, "Novon", doesn't seem to indicate where it was taken, so no telling if it's anywhere near here. The funny thing was how I found it. I Googled "twisty mountain road," which took me to a page of beginning English conversations, for English language learners. So, if you are interested in learning some basic conversational English, head on over to there.

After teasing us for a couple of days, the cool, dry air finally settled in over night last night. I ran 6.4 miles, but I could have run more. I only stopped because I knew that Mrs. Jogger has a meeting this morning. Otherwise, I might still be out there. It's a great morning for running.

Day 425 -- Sunrise

Nothing spectacular about today's run -- five miles, nice and slow -- so I thought that I would throw in a spectacular sunrise. This photo is from Phil Armitage who has many, many beautiful landscape photos at his website. This sunrise is in Rocky Mountain National Park, which is east of my current location. Oh, well. (I have actually inserted myself into this photo, but at the size that it uploaded, it's all but impossible to see me.)

Day 424 -- Search and Rescue

This makes me feel somewhat safer. Grand County, Colorado, has its own Search and Rescue team. They are "A volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through search, rescue and mountain safety education." Not something you see around my neck of the woods. We have a volunteer fire department, sure, but not a Search and Rescue team. Not that many people get lost among the cows.

I had a good run this morning. It rained, on and off, which kept me cool. We've had a decent amount of rain in August, but this is the first day in a while that I've run in it. It felt good.

Day 423 -- Train Tracks

Once again, I'm in a stretch of road without a lot of landmarks. But I found this UP 6887 leading a mixed bag of hoppers, according to the Mountain West Rail web site. I don't know what a "UP 6887" is, or what a "mixed bag of hoppers" is. I do know that the web site says this is just north of Toponas, and I'm, well, somewhat north of Toponas. So I'm probably not far from here. Better not stand on the tracks too long.

The heat and humidity, if not exactly broken, were at least decreased a little this morning. Combine that with the fact that I took yesterday off, and the fact that I ran pretty slowly this morning, and it was a good morning.

Day 422 -- Kremmling, Colorado

Michael's Audio & Video, out of Fraser, CO, installed this very nice flat-screen TV, with the equipment concealed in the closet, in the home of Dean and Susan Billington of Kremmling. The video image is simulated, using a publicity shot from the Kremmling Chamber of Commerce. Yes, I am pretty proud of this shot, both the idea and the execution.

Having had a really rough week, it was really important to me to make my full distance today. And I did. It was rough, but I made it. My socks were soaked in sweat when I was done. It was brutal. Now, if only it will cool off and dry off this afternoon, and stay that way for the rest of my life, I'll be fine.

Day 421 -- Heeney, Colorado

The Master Bait and Tackle Shop* in Heeney, Colorado, is for sale, at a bargain price of $350,000. Here I am, standing in front of the liquor store part of it. The website ColoradoDreams.com suggests that you can "Be your own boss in Heeney, Colorado." Sounds tempting, but I think I'll pass. You have to add on the expense of changing the name of the store.

I did stop after about four miles today. I could have gone further, but I didn't. I'm scheduled for 13 tomorrow, and I want to make that. Wish me luck.

*I'm sure it sounded funny at the time.

Day 420 -- Green Mountain Reservoir

Here I am on a bridge across Cataract Creek in the Green Mountain Reservoir recreation area, "one of the best kept secrets in Colorado." The area is huge, and very scenic. I'm not sure if I was anywhere near Cataract Creek today, but what the heck!

As you can see, I didn't quit running, although I kind of wished that I had. I'm still sick, and it's just zapping my energy. Plus the heat and humidity continue. I did a slow five miles today, and only finished that because I took a walk break. I've already given myself permission to run four tomorrow instead of the scheduled eight. And if it's too nasty, I might just take another day off.

Sick Wars

Mrs. Jogger and I are having a sick-off. Whoever is sickest doesn't need to do anything around the house.

I have a sore throat, which I caught from the littlest Little Jogger. It's not that bad, but I'm a wimp. I just don't have any energy or patience. This is no doubt part of why this morning's run was so bad. She has some sort of the flu. She hasn't thrown up, but her head is all full of wool. So neither of us has done anything this afternoon but sit around and groan.

The Little Joggers are reverting to pre-civilization. It's like the Lord of the Flies, only not quite so polite.

Anyway, wish us luck. If I win the sick-off, I get lots of valuable prizes.

Day 419 -- In a Fog

I am quitting this sport.

I walked out this morning. It was 73 degrees and foggy. Mist started to form on my glasses. I broke a sweat just standing there. Any sane person would have turned around, gone back inside the air conditioning, and gone back to bed. I ran.

It's too bad I didn't enjoy it, because that was my last time. My new sport will be competitive eating. I intend to gain 400 pounds, and be one of those people who has to have everything delivered, because he can't fit through the front door. If you are driving on Route 9 between Silverthorne and Heeney, and you see what looks like a new Rocky Mountain, that will be me.

(Fog image from Wikipedia.)

Day 418 -- Colorado Route 9

Not much in the way of Googlable landmarks in Colorado Route 9 between Silverthorne and Heeney. So I decided to use a generic Rocky Mountain shot from ColoradoGuy.com. I'm sure that if I paid proper attention, I would be able to determine that this peak isn't anywhere near Colorado Route 9 between Silverthorne and Heeney. But, hey, it's my blog, and I'll do what I want.

I ran five miles today. I ran them kind of slow, but it still wasn't easy. In spite of more rain last night, the humidity simply refuses to go away. Anyway, I finished. Part of my brain wants to push extra hard, to make up for coming up short on Sunday, but I'm not listening to that part.

The End of the Internet

While exploring Blessed2Bless, I found the end of the Internet. Well, at least now we know where it is.

Day 417 -- Silverthorne

I passed through Silverthorne about halfway through today's run. I found this nice moose photo at Blessed2Bless, and I thought I'd join in.

I almost didn't run this morning. We had rain last night, with thunder and lightning, and just as I walked out this morning, I thought I caught a flash of lightning out of the corner of my eye. Lightning is one condition that I won't mess with. So I almost turned around and went back to bed. But I never heard the thunder, and I decided I could get out and run, and if it did turn out to be lightning, I could get home quickly enough. I never saw another flash, so it might just have been my imagination.

I pretty quickly began to wish that I had gone back to bed. I don't know whether it was the humidity (which is still high), or lack of sleep, or too many miles this week, but today's long run was difficult right from the start. By the time I had done six miles, I knew that I was in for a long day. There wasn't anything in particular wrong, I just didn't have much energy. It was one of those days when I just had to keep on for the sake of keeping on.

And I didn't quite make it. I stopped about a mile and a half short of my goal, and walked the rest of the way. I don't feel good about that, but I'm trying to keep it in perspective. This is one day in a long training regimen. I did do a lot of work, and I got stronger. I'm sure that I'll bounce back and finish my next long run.

It happened to me in the spring, too, while I was training for the half marathon. That time, it was the seventeen miler that I couldn't finish. Today, it was the eighteen miler. Both times, I think that I psyched myself out early. I decided early on that it was a bad day, and I just kept dwelling on it, rather than letting myself run. And both times, I was monster thirsty when I stopped. I thought I hydrated pretty well today, but I still drank a lot when I got home.

Anyway, I'm pretty tired now, and going to take tomorrow off. Then on Tuesday, I'll get right back out there.

Oh, one more thing. Today I passed the thousand mile mark for the year. Last year, I didn't pass 1000 miles until September 26. So I'm about seven weeks ahead of last year's pace. Which shouldn't be a surprise. Last year at this time, I was dreaming about a marathon. Now, I'm training for one.

Swimming with the Sharks

The Thrift Shop where Mrs. Jogger works is having a bag sale this morning. Everything you can stuff in one bag for $1 on selected items, mostly summer stuff that they want to clear out. Mrs. J was going to go over and take all the kids. I was lounging on the sofa, thinking seriously of taking a little nap while they were gone.

Suddenly, the phone rang. It's the Thrift Shop. Someone called in sick, and they want Mrs. J to work. Could I take the kids over?

Panic!

We get there maybe 5 minutes after the store opened. There are approximately a hundred billion little old ladies standing around the sale tables. Scraps of fabric are flying. I tentatively try to wedge into the crowd to see what's actually for sale. No one bites me, but that doesn't mean that no one was tempted. The Little Joggers all flee for the safety of the non-sale part of the store. I'm alone. I don't know anyone's size, and I have only the vaguest idea of what the kids like to wear.

More panic!

Anyway, I made it out alive, but it's not an experience that I want to relive any time soon.

Day 416 -- Keystone

Keystone is a ski resort town, so there are lots of images of it on the web. This one, from Wayland Baptist University, has the advantage of at least having been taken during the summer. And where is Wayland Baptist University? Why, Plainview, Texas, of course.

I did end up taking yesterday off from running, so I was predictably cranky and listless all day. I didn't sleep well last night, but I popped up and ran this morning, and it felt really good. It felt faster than it was. I thought I would beat Wednesday's time (over the same route) but I was two minutes slower. Oh, well.

Day 415 -- Montezuma

Montezuma, Colorado, is a little south of the stretch of I-70 on which I'm currently running. And something tells me that Roger Wendell is not cross country skiing in this area this week. Nonetheless, a photo is a photo. Perhaps I should photoshop in a stocking cap for my head.

Today was one of those days when I could barely drag myself out of bed. I did it, and I'm glad that I did. I think it would have been a much rougher day if I hadn't run. But it was sure hard to get started. I even caught myself this evening being glad that I don't have to run tomorrow. That's not a very normal sentiment for me, these days. Most of the time, I'm looking forward to my next run. But tomorrow will be a good day to take off, before a lot of miles this weekend.

Day 414 -- Silver Plume, Colorado

Thanks to WesternMiningHistory.com, there are lots of good pictures of Silver Plume, Colorado on the web. I'm not sure why I picked this church and this store. The peak population in Silver Plume was about 2000 people, but now they are down to only about 200, so I'm afraid a lot of these buildings are abandoned. The store still seems to be active, though.

I ran eight miles today, in wicked humidity. I swear that my clothes wouldn't have been wetter if I'd taken a dip in the pool. Nonetheless, I made decent time, and I feel OK, now. I can't wait for the weather to break, but there's no break in the forecast.

Day 413 -- Jogger's Progress

	Trip	YTD	Jul
Distance	2339.8	965.3	160.3
Time	14 days, 13 hrs, 24 min	6 days, 4 hrs, 30 min	1 day, 1 hr, 23 min
Days	413	156	23
States	12	5	2

Marathon training is definitely ramping up. July was my second longest month ever, surpassed only by April, when I was at the peak of my training for the half marathon. I'm scheduled for about 170 in August. We'll see what that actually turns out to be. July was also only the second month where I've run more than 24 hours in a month.

I ran an easy 5 miles today, after taking a much-needed day off yesterday. I was way too tired after Sunday's schlog. The heat and humidity continue, so all my runs are slow, but I finished my scheduled five today, which is what counts.

Which Ancient Language Are You?

As seen at Fumbling Towards Geekdom:

Your Score: Akkadian

You scored

You are Akkadian, a blend of the incomprehensible symbols of the Sumerians with the unwritable sounds of the early Semitic peoples. However, the writing just doesn't suit the words and doesn't represent everything needed, so you end up a schizoid mess. Invented in Babylon, you're probably to blame for that tower story. However, crazy as you are, you're much loved and appreciated, and remain actively in use by records keepers long after schools have switched to other languages.

Link: The Which Ancient Language Are You Test written by imipak on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

You should take this test, if nothing else, for the disclaimer, which is classic.

Day 412 -- Idaho Springs

According to Go-Colorado.com, Idaho Springs is "the birthplace of the Rocky Mountain Gold Rush." It boasts an "authentic nineteenth-century Main Street" Just behind my arm you can see the authentic nineteenth-century USAToday newspaper box. The site goes on, "The main draw of Idaho Springs, however, is the breathtaking scenery of the Rockies." I believe that. I'm well into the mountains, now, and when I Google for images, I see lots and lots of beautiful scenery. I must admit that the thin mountain air is getting to me, though.

Seventeen miles today stretched to about 17.5. It was, as predicted, pretty sweaty work. I drank and drank and drank, and felt pretty OK when I finished. I've still been thirsty all morning. But mostly I've felt a good sense of accomplishment.

Day 411 -- Genesee Park

Here I am at the Park'n'Ride at Genesee State Park. RockyMountainRoads.com says, "It's hard to believe that mass transit has found its way this far up the mountain," but I don't find it hard to believe at all. We aren't that far from Denver, and I'm sure there are lots of people who prefer to live up here and commute.

Today's eight miler was kind of rough. It's still really humid. I made it, but I had to stop for a walk break. Tomorrow, I'm supposed to do 15 miles. Even with walk breaks, I may need an IV drip to keep hydrated.

Day 410 -- Golden

OK, I'm cheating. I'm about in Golden, a good 12 or 15 miles west of the state capitol building. But when I was in Cheyenne, I decided to drop in on Frank again, and so here he is. For new readers, Frank has visited all the state capitols by actually going there. I believe that he's too technologically illiterate to just photoshop himself into the picture. Why else would he bother to do all that real traveling?


Anyway, I thought I'd throw in this shot of Golden, which I lifted from the Mountain Project. And what is the Mountain Project, you ask. Only "The Premier Resource for the Climbing and Mountaineering Community." I have a soft spot in my heart for climbers, who are definitely crazier than runners. Running 26.2 miles is definitely saner than climbing a mountain.

I ran an easy 4 this morning, although in 103% humidity, no run can truly be called "easy." Better make that a "slow 4".

Day 409 -- White Ranch Open Space Park

I think White Ranch Open Space Park is a cool name, although in some places, they seem to just refer to it as "White Ranch Park." From the website:

White Ranch is home to abundant wildlife and encompasses open meadows, forested foothills, a pristine canyon, buttes, rock formations and Van Bibber Creek along the southern border.

It's really quite pretty. No offense to western Nebraska, but there's a lot more interesting stuff to stand in front of than there was a month or two ago. This isn't the greatest photo, but it does clearly show the entrance to the park. I lifted it from the Golden Gate Fire Department.

I ran a nice long eight miles today. It's not too hot, yet, but the humidity is sneaking up. However, I survived, which is always a good thing for any run.

Day 408 -- Eldorado Springs

Four and a half miles today took me somewhere near Eldorado Springs, home, of course, to Eldorado Natural Spring Water. Founded in 1983, they offer "a convenient, affordable way to bring the world's best bottled water to your home or office." Can't beat that with a stick.

We're in Grandma Jogger's hometown again for a few days. My sister is up from Georgia for a visit, and we've packed 12 of us into Grandma Jogger's house. It's noisy. But we're having a good visit. My niece is 7 and my nephew is 3, and they are cute and friendly. I'm a little out of practice with the moods of a 3-year-old, but fortunately, when he gets really, really, really whiny, it's not my problem. All yours, Sis!

Day 407 -- Boulder

Boulder is sort of a popular hang-out for runners and other athletes. They can train at altitude, and hang out in a pretty cool University city in between workouts. So why not visit the Boulder Running Company store?

I spent six weeks in Boulder one summer. I was studying the classics, of all things, in a program funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. We read the Iliad and the Aeneid, and I don't know what all. It was fun. I was going to say that the NEH didn't get their money's worth out of me, but maybe they did. I don't think that the program was meant to turn out new classicists, but more to broaden people like me who were going into other fields. And if today I study ancient mathematics, maybe at least a little of that traces back to my early education in classical literature.

One thing I remember about the program, that makes a lot more sense to me now, is how many of the participants were non-traditional students. Only a handful of us were regular 19- or 20-year-olds. The rest had at least a few years out of school, including at least one woman who had sons my age. I think that was probably a deliberate decision by the selection committee, who probably decided that non-traditional students would get more out of the program, by virtue of being more committed to their studies. So I guess I was pretty lucky to go at all.

I ran eleven miles today. It was a nice cool morning, and the run felt good. It's supposed to warm back up this week, so I'd better enjoy it while I can.

Day 406 -- Get the Lead Out

Today was the Second Annual "Get the Lead Out" Run in my little town. (My town is in an old lead mining area of SW Wisconsin, which sort of explains the name.) I ran the first one, last year, and I thought at the time that it would be cool to try to run every year, so that when they have the 10th, or the 15th, or the 25th, I can say, "Oh, yeah, I've run every one."

One little problem: We were way too busy today for me to run it. It started at 8:45, and I had to coach a soccer game at 10:00. The oldest and newest Little Jogger also had a soccer game, and Mrs. Jogger was taking the other three kids to a production of "Seussical, the Musical" this morning. So no way I was going to get to run this thing. So I cheated.

I got up at my usual time, jogged down to where the race would start, ran the 8 kilometers (finishing about a minute slower than last year), then jogged home. I took a shower, then went out and picked up my race packet. So, officially, I didn't run the race. No finishing time will be posted for me. But I did pay the entry fee, I ran the distance, and I have the t-shirt. I'm counting it. In 10 or 15 or 25 years, no one will know the difference.

The punch line is that I won a door prize. This race has a lot of door prizes. Last year, I won a nice reflective vest, that I've worn quite a bit. I figured this year, either I wouldn't be in the pool at all, because I didn't officially finish, or they'd draw my name, look around and see that I wasn't there, and draw someone else's name. But one of my neighbors stepped up and picked up my prize, a nice little windbreaker, and nobody complained. So, it was definitely worth entering. Next year, I'm planning not to coach, and I hope that I'll be able to run the official race.

(Get the Lead Out logo from Maumee RAP.)

Day 405 -- Berthoud

Here I am in front of the Auserehlian Rug Cleaning School in Berthould, Colorado. To be honest, I'd never thought about where oriental rug cleaners got their training. In fact, I never thought about the profession of oriental rug cleaning. Seems like an awfully niche market, but hey, I guess someone has to do it.

I also call your attention to the web site ImagesOfColorado.com, where they have a lovely photo of a bald eagle in front of Long's Peak, near Berthould. I had downloaded the photo, and stuck myself into it (completely ruining the artistic balance) before I read their restrictions that specifically prohibit the use of their images on other web sites. I'm not too careful about copyright law on this blog, but I can't bring myself to simply ignore a restriction like that. Nonetheless, go to this site and click around. They've got some lovely shots.

I was scheduled for an easy four today, but I stretched it to almost five. Feeling guilty about stopping yesterday, I guess. Which is silly, considering that I ended up finishing the run. I only took a break; I didn't quit completely.

Day 404 -- Loveland

The Kroh Park Shelter in Loveland. Loveland has a very extensive city government site.

I surprised myself today. I stopped short four miles into a five mile run. I was running a pretty brisk pace, and it was very, very humid, but still... Usually when I stop short, it's after I have to talk myself out of it two or three times. I'll be tempted to quit, but talk myself into keeping at it. Then I'll finally pack it in on the second or third round of that. But today, I just suddenly stopped.

Anyway, I walked around the block and then ran the last mile. So I did get my five miles in.

Day 403 -- Colorado State University

I shouldn't leave Fort Collins without dropping in on Colorado State University. Here I am, standing in front of the building that houses the Math Department. I don't know anyone there. Actually, at one time, I looked into taking some on-line statistics courses from CSU, but I never actually did.

I ran an easy four today. I'm really halfway between Fort Collins and Loveland, well south of CSU, but what the heck!

Day 402 -- Ft. Collins

Fifteen miles today took me through Fort Collins. As some of you know, I have a special reason for wanting to visit Fort Collins, although frankly, I'm really just on my way through to Boulder. This is the Fort Collins Museum, which seems quite nice.

One of the great things about my Sunday long runs is the anticipation. During the week, I just basically get up and run before I have time to wake up. But for a long run, I start thinking about it the day ahead. I lay out my clothes, so I don't have to look for them. I decide what I'm going to eat. For a regular run, I don't eat until it's over, but for a long run, I'll have an energy bar ahead, and one or two energy gels on the run. I mix up my Gatorade and put it in the fridge. Then I'll go to bed early, thinking about my route.

Today was a good run. It's the longest run I've had since my 20 miler on May 6. It was tiring, but it was fun. Now I'll take a day off, and get back to work on Tuesday. This is a "step back" week, so I'll be taking it easy.

Day 401 -- Wellington, CO

Wellington, Colorado is "a rural haven of 1500 residents." This according to the Relocate America web site. I know that I would definitely move here, if I were moving.

I ran seven miles this morning. It was nice and cool, and I managed a decent pace, even over some rough hills. The day off yesterday did me some good.

Got lucky today

It didn't start out like luck. The medium Little Jogger and I mowed the yard, and when we done, even though it is somewhat cooler than it has been, we decided to have a couple of popsicles. Well, we ate the last two of the good kind of popsicles. And when the medium Little Jogger found that out, he was upset. So, I went down to the chest freezer downstairs to see if there were any more of the good popsicles. There weren't, but oddly, the bad popsicles were kind of slushy. So we felt around, and realized that the chest freezer had become a chest non-freezer. But, because we noticed so early, only the stuff like the popsicles had thawed. The meat was all heavier, so absorbed less heat. So we got it all out into the little freezer upstairs. But it could have been really bad. So I'm glad that we ate the last of the good popsicles.

Day 400

Day 400 since I started this cross-country run at the beginning of 2006. Back on Day 300, I projected Day 400 to be July 8, so I missed it by four days. I must have taken a few extra days off. That's OK, because the days I did run, I ran long. The first 100 days I ran 537.4 miles, the second 100 days I ran 539.5 miles, the third 100 days I ran 517.7 miles, but the latest 100 days I ran 643.2 miles! And I don't even want to think about what productive work I could have accomplished in the time it took me to reconstruct those numbers.

I ran an easy 4 today, and even so, I felt pretty flatfooted. I just plodded along. Time for a day off.

Oh, the image is from the MySpace Page of the 400 club, a place in Miami that is way, way too hip for an old jogger like me.

Day 399 -- Carr

This bison is a cellular tower. It was designed by Kramer.Firm, Inc. They have a wonderful gallery of photos of their various sites. I love some of their "camouflaged" sites. I'm really guessing as to the scale of this one. How big is a cellular tower, anyway?

The weather has broken, here, so I went for a good long run, at a nice pace. Yesterday I did 4.9 miles in almost 50 minutes, over a 10 minute per mile pace. Today I did 6.7 miles in 57 minutes, an 8:30 pace. And yesterday I was sweatier. I was tired at the end, but it was a good tired.

Day 398 -- Welcome to Colorado

After spending three months in Nebraska, I just cut across a corner of Wyoming, so I'm in and out just like that. Today's "Welcome to Colorado" image comes from the Geography Club at Southern Connecticut State University. They went to a meeting of the American Association of Geographers, and brought back a few photos.

I ran another easy 5 today. I was pretty pooped at the end. The humidity is still thick enough to cut with a knife. It's supposed to cool off and dry off a little tonight. Won't be soon enough for me.

Um....Is this thing on?

The esteemed Shakespeare's Sister has added me to the Big Blogroll of Infinite Awsomeness, and has done so in a very public way. So all of a sudden I'm getting a few extra hits. (OK, a lot of extra hits. 1% of the Shakesville audience is probably way beyond my usual daily traffic.) Only problem is, these people are used to witty and articulate analysis of current news and trends, not some bozo Photoshopping himself into the western landscape. So now I feel pressure to be witty and articulate, preferably from a left-leaning, progressive point of view. Let's try this:

W Sucks!

Thank you. Anyway, welcome, Shakers. If you are trying to figure out what this blog is, try clicking on "About My Journey" at the right. Feel free to leave a comment, and come back for more wit and articulateness, any day now.

Day 397 -- More Cheyenne

Here's a cool web site from someone who just likes funky signs, and commercial architecture. I stole this picture of the Wyoming Motel from him. If you go visit, do click around. He's got some cool stuff.

I'm a bit south of Cheyenne, and should cross into Colorado tomorrow. I ran an easy 5 miles. The weather continues to be hot and brutally humid, so even an easy 5 miles was hard.

Venting (Just a Little)

I haven't posted much about the medium Little Jogger's soccer team, which, you will recall, I am coaching this year. It hasn't been real pretty. They won their first game (the one that I missed while I was in D.C.) and have lost every game since. But they don't seem too discouraged. These are seven-, eight-, and nine-year-olds, and they just want to play. Literally, one kid asked me after the game today what the score was, and when I replied "4-2", he asked "Who won?" Which is what makes today's little peeve all the worse.

One thing that these kids have problems with is goal kicks. Depending on who is kicking, they sometimes have trouble getting them out of the goal box. In the first half, my goalie really struggled, to the point where a couple of times I had someone else take the goal kick. That's OK. Generally, what the ref does is call it back if it goes really, really short, but lets them play if it goes close to the edge of the goal box.

In the second half, their goalie had similar struggles. So on one kick, my guy took to goal kick, kicked it back at their goal, hit it off the post, then followed that up and scored. I was proud of him. He kept his head, followed the shot, and got a goal. So that's when their coach complained about the ball not going out of the goal box. He bent the ref's ear, to the point that the ref asked me if it was OK to call the goal back and let them retake the goal kick. (The ref was just a fifteen year old kick with a tube of Oxy in his back pocket, or he would have known never to change a decision like that.) I said, "Sure. Let's just play soccer." So Cole lost his goal, and we eventually lost 4-2, instead of 4-3. I'm just mad that their coach made a big deal out of it, especially right then. Let my guy have his goal. These kids just want to have fun.

Anyway, I didn't make a big deal of it at the time. I'm trying to get my kids to be good sports, and I didn't think that arguing over this goal would be a good example. I just filed it away to gripe about on the Internets.

Day 396 -- Cheyenne

It's been a while since I crossed paths with Frank. He has taken pictures of himself in front of all the state capitols. I last encountered him almost a year ago, in Indianapolis. Then I managed to miss Springfield, Des Moines, Jefferson City, and Lincoln. Perhaps I'll make it to Denver. In any case, good to see you again, Frank.

I switched my long run, which I usually do on Sunday, to today, because tomorrow promises to be nasty hot and humid. Today wasn't that much better, but I survived by taking lots of water breaks. I ran 14 miles, my longest long run in quite a while, actually. It felt really good.

Day 395 -- Archer, Wyoming

The Winged Warrior, a photo shot by Bob Krieger and posted at TrainNet.org. You have to look close to find me in this photo. It was taken near Archer, and I'm near Archer, so I figured that was OK.

I ran four miles this morning, relatively easy. My schedule has been thrown off by the race on Wednesday. I didn't run yesterday. But I'm planning to get back on schedule for the weekend. Seven miles tomorrow, and 14 on Sunday. We'll see just how hot it gets.

My First Blog

Long ago, before there was any such thing as a web log, before there was any such thing as a World Wide Web, not quite before there were Personal Computers, but before everyone had one, I had this friend...

We were in high school. It was a typical high school, in a typical small Iowa town. We were Smart Kids(tm), which wasn't the key to popularity. We weren't reviled, but we were marginalized. And we became friends.

We lived on the same street. We hung out together, usually at his house, but sometimes at mine. We watched TV, played basketball in his driveway, teased his younger sister and brother, and generally did high school boy things.

We also wrote notes. Most years, we had some classes together, so we'd see each other, but we also wrote notes to each other. Sometimes three or four a day. We didn't have to work too hard in class, of course, so that was something to do. Our notes were filled with inside jokes, mocking references to our teachers and to other students, and general surrealism. That was my first effort at writing just because I wanted to write. Writing whatever was on the top of my head. In other words, blogging. But of course I didn't publish it for anyone to read. I gave it to Stu.

Nobody has ever gotten me quite as much as Stu did. I've been married to Mrs. Jogger for 20 years, but still there are some ways that I'm not as close to her as I was to him.

He went to school out of state, married his his high school sweet heart, and moved to Arizona, of all the Godforsaken places. So we don't see each other very much any more. The last time was before the first Little Jogger was born, more than 12 years ago.

Stu and his wife and are in Iowa this week. They came through Grandma Jogger's town, our old home town, and we had a picnic with them, their two kids, my four kids, Grandma Jogger, and her housemate. It was really good to see him. In some ways, we picked up a conversation that we dropped suddenly 25 years ago. In other ways, it was weird to talk to this stranger with our long-ago shared history.

I hope that we can keep in touch. It's easier now than it ever was. We just need to decide to do it. And we should. I think I'm going to try.

Day 394 -- Freedom Fun Run

Today I ran in the Freedom Fun Run in a little town near Grandma Jogger's town. It was fun. We're down here for a week, and I figured (correctly) that I could find something to run on the Fourth of July. I was just going to pop over and run, and leave the kids with Grandma, but it turned out to be a family outing. Everyone else did the 1 mile, and I did the 5K. The oldest and newest Little Jogger, the first Little Jogger, and the medium Little Jogger all ran it. Grandma, her housemate, and the littlest Little Jogger all walked.

It was a good race, although not fast. In fact, this is the first time in my six organized races that I failed to set a Personal Record (PR). Of course, the previous five races were at four different distances, so it wasn't hard to set a PR. This was, in fact, my third 5K, and the slowest of the three. But that's OK. The weather was pretty hot, and I haven't been training for a 5K. I messed up the pace, as usual. I went out too fast, and faded at the end. You might detect that by comparing the above photo, of me just crossing the starting line, to the below photo, of me about three blocks from the finish line.

The Little Joggers enjoyed themselves. They are talking about doing it again next year. We'll see where we are for the Fourth next year, but we will undoubtedly be able to find something nearby.

The rest of the day was jam-cram packed with activity. They had a kids fishing thing, where they threw some fish into a little artificial pond in a local park. That was not really successful. There were too many kids, and not enough gullible fish. The littlest Little Jogger was devastated that he didn't catch anything. But he got over it when we took him to the rest of the fun -- frog racing, sack racing, pony rides, and the dunk tank. Hot dogs, root beer floats, and ice cream. A great parade. It was pretty hot. By the time we'd been out in the sun for five or six hours, we were medium well. But it was worth it.

Tonight, there will be fireworks, of course. We'll all stay up late, and then, I hope, sleep in tomorrow. I'm not committing to running. If I get up, I will, but if I sleep in, so be it.

Movie Review: Ratatouille

We took the Little Joggers to see Ratatouille, the new Pixar movie, last night. Pixar doesn't do bad movies. They range from good (Cars, A Bug's Life) to great (Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo). This one is well along the spectrum towards great. It was funny, interesting, and enjoyable. The plot was complex enough to keep you guessing, but not too complex for the littlest Little Jogger. Like all kids movies, it has a few fairly simple morals, but it doesn't get too heavy handed with them.

The animation was incredible, of course. But Pixar long ago figured out that great animation doesn't make a great movie. They just tell good stories, that's all. This one is definitely a keeper.

Day 393 -- Hillsdale

According to real estate agent Joe Prunty, Hillsdale is in the Cheyenne metro area. According to what I can see, there's still 10 or 15 miles of open country between here and Cheyenne.

I ran 4 miles today. It's still reasonably cool, but the humidity is way, way up. This afternoon is going to be brutal, I'm afraid. Then thunderstorms overnight. I might not get in a run at all for the fourth, although, if the weather is OK, there's a 5K race that I might run. We'll see.

Day 392 -- Burns, Wyoming

More from Wyoming Tales and Trails. This is the water tower in Burns, about 1915. So, in running my 3 miles today, I traveled backwards in time about 5 years. At this rate, by the time I get to California, there will be dinosaurs!

Today wasn't actually a running day on the schedule. But I felt like running, and the weather forecasters have threatened that this would be the last cool morning of the week.

Peace Patroller

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or hippie. You believe in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home.

Take the quiz at www.fightconservatives.com

Via Misty at Shakespeare's Sister

Happy Birthday, Little Jogger!

Today is the oldest and newest Little Jogger's official birthday. As I said last year, we don't know her actual birthday. When she was found, she knew her age, but not her birthday, so the Ukrainian government arbitrarily assigned her a birthday of July 1. Good as anything, I guess.

So now she's officially 13. I think she must have been 13 for a while, really, because she's certainly working on her teenage attitude. And we all know that you can't start being a surly teenager when you are really only 12.

We've actually been without her for the last week. She came down to spend the week with Grandma Jogger. They've had a good time together. It's been a bit quiet around our house. Not too quiet, though. The other three Little Joggers still managed to stir up some trouble.

Day 391 -- Pine Bluffs, Wyoming

Actually, I'm well past Pine Bluffs, somewhere near Egbert. However, I couldn't find any good photos from Egbert, but there were these lovely old photos from Wyoming Tales and Trails. This is downtown Pine Bluffs, sometime around 1920.

I ran 9 miles today. It's a step back week. I did 12 last Sunday, and I will do 14 next Sunday, but this week I'm taking it a bit easy.