1 Massie back in Md and 1 Massie out and finally a bit of good news

Tristan and I apparently refuse to be in the same state for more than a few minutes this month.  On Saturday morning my flight arrived from San Diego at Washington Dulles about 5:30 a.m.  At about the same time Tristan was getting on a plane to Washington State for a mountaineering expedition.

Of course Tristan left me a nice treat to remind me of him this morning...an alarm clock going off at 3 a.m.!!!!  He is very lucky he was in WA because seriously if he was closer I would have run to where he was and strangled him or beat him silly (if he is lucky I will have forgotten this in the next week or so!).

Tristan also left the dog in a very bizarre outfit.  Apparently Gilligan (or Tristan) wants to be preppy.  So Gilligan was in an old cable knit sweater when I arrived home.  And it was nicely knotted around his neck.  All Gilligan needed was a pair of loafers and a pair of khakis and he could have been on the cover of GQ.

As per a brief telephone conversation, this stylin look was to protect Gilligan's neck wound.  Perhaps this was the case before Tristan left, but by the time I got home it was in a bit of disarray and definitely not covering his neck wound.  In fact I would suggest by the time I arrived home, Gilligan looked like a retired pole dancer (and a not very good one at that).

Gilligan is now wearing a turquoise blue t-shirt which accentuates his brown eyes (as per Cosmopolitan Magazine) as well as his smurf shorts.   Tristan objected to this outfit because it was too feminine for Gilligan, but Tristan is not here, is he??

During the same brief conversation Tristan mentioned my dermatologist called and my biopsy was negative...WAHOO!!!  This is even better considering I had become "lobster face" at San Diego.  I went out for several long runs and really struggled with sunscreen staying on (and boy is the sun bright there!).  If sunscreen gets in my eyes and burns, I tend to wash it right  off.  And I hate hats!  Suffice it to say, if I had to go for a follow up appointment the dermatologist was not going to be pleased at how red my face was/is.  On a positive note, I am completely embracing the monochrome pink look!

Finally Tristan was able to say he is getting guided on Mount Rainier by two folks who have summitted Everest.  This made Tristan really excited.  One gentleman is a Sherpa that has a speed record going up Everest and the other guide has guided Everest as well as summitted Mount Rainier well over 100 times.  I think Tristan is in good hands and I know he is really looking forward to this expedition up the Kautz Glacier (I think...or else it is Eammons Glacier--which ever one is not the popular route).  

I sure hope his guides let him have everything he wants and needs (last expedition I think he wished he had one additional thick pair of gloves).  I would argue over everything I packed and keep everything.  If I want a 100 lb bag to carry up the mountain, that is my prerogative.  And any trip up the mountain is only about 10 miles and 10,000 vertical feet which probably means I would be carrying less pound miles then I do on my average 100 miler.

Finally today I got paired with my VT100 pacer.  It is Theresa, the wife of my pacer from last year.  She will pace me from mile 70 to ~90.  This will work out really well because realistically I just need someone to help me out over the night hours when I become lonely, tired, depressed and start wondering why in the world I paid good money to be tortured:-)  

I know we will have lots of fun.  I am a bit nervous about VT100 because I definitely am not in as good shape as I was last year, but hopefully the knowledge of the course and my experience with other 100's will make up for my potential lack of fitness.  Pretty much it is too close to the race for me to cram much so hopefully grit and determination will make up for any deficiencies I have because of my recent personal life challenges