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Las Cruces, NM

Mobile post sent by grtrunning using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3

Sights along the way days 10 -12

I will share a little here, but check out the Webshots for more.

Pounding out the miles & flats, flats, flats

The past couple of days I have been working really hard. I hand been right on the cusp of my new goal pace and I wanted to get off the edge. Last night (rather early this morning) I took care of the edge. I put in another 100 mile day! Now I am comfortably 90 kms above my goal pace. To do that I swear I went through 20 patches and spent a couple of hours on the side of the road. I am not exaggerating. I have found a bike shop in Las Cruces, NM, RIDE ON SPORTS, that says they have the tire for me. The Armadillo from Specialized, I Googled it and found this video:



We will see, but I am very excited about this product.

02/25/08

Today was tough lots of climbing not much Zzzooming. I stopped in Globe AZ because after Globe there wouldn't be any stores for a long time. I met a trucker who said that the route up 60 had snow and that I should take 70, a southern route. It would mean that I would be on I-10 for a stretch in NM. I called the NM state police and they said that it would be ok. I have decided to take the route and I will try to get from Globe to Safford all in one day. Like the 100 mile Desert run. This crosses a large indian reservation and is 78 1/2 miles.It does have a few hills but I feel confident.

Today was spectacular for the views. I also had a thrilling section in a tunnel. there were no signs preventing me so I just went for it.

I will be out of touchmost of tomorrow (limited cell coverage)

New Goals!

02/23/08

I have completed my first week on the road. My goals have changed a bit as I have discovered more about the "Zzzoomer effect" I am much faster than I thought I would be. Now I am going to shoot for 100k per day average. For the teams that I am running with This new goal will be retroactive from the start and as long as you have met your weekly goals your team will stay with me. My rules for this are that one can increase their mileage goals but can not decrease them. I have a small cushion going into the mountains but not much. I am hoping that if I fall behind my goal I can make up for it on the other side of the Continental Divide.

I am no longer trying to "break the record" for the solo journey runner classification as defined in John Wallace III's website. However setting that as my initial objective made sense to me when I was only running. But now that I have chosen "Fun over Fame" I hope that no one is too disappointed.

I have said all along that this is not just running, but now I have to conclude that it really is a completely different athletic activity. I do run a lot but I "scoot & glide" which I call Zzzooming a lot as well and that saves my muscles and I hope will help prevent any over use injuries. This "run" has all along been about inspiring kids (of all ages) to get out and exercise. I don't have any children of my own and this is my way of sharing some of my knowledge and energy in a fun way. This crazy contraption is a great conversation starter. It is a conversation magnet! The older boys are curious about the techno gadgets like the solar power & GPS systems.

Another objective of mine has been to see if I have what it takes to run around the world with Jesper Olsen beginning in July. I chose this time period because may want to run the 6 or 10 day race in NYC again. Since I had to run in the winter I had to choose a southern route (which several people have noticed is shorter) this is a coincidence but it also serves my objectives in staying healthy during what I am considering an epic training run.

So far I am Happy,
healthy and still Zzzooming down the road.

I hope this helps explain some of my motivations and decisions

Glen

Field of Dreams

02/22/08

Field of dreams - If you build it they will come.

I began this run on a wing and a prayer (as my Grama T. would have said). Two days before I left I had less than $100 in cash. I had been working on a masonry project that was going to pay out eventually, but I still haven’t been paid. Just before I left Anytime Fitness from Erie, CO stopped me on the side of the road and asked me what I was training for. I told him and he got rather inspired. Hi gym offered a financial sponsorship that helped me afford the gas and other last minute necessities that I needed to begin. He also started making some phone call to the corporate office and other Anytime gyms along my route to see if they would also help out. A couple of days after I had started I got a message that my Cousin Jim who is the Founder and President of a company that designed and built “The Pocket Wizard” flash controller. It is a radio controlled flash system that offer remote wireless flash control. The funds offered by them will enable me to complete the crossing. I recommend anyone to read “the Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, one of the themes in it is that if you are following you true passion the whole Universe will conspire to help. I honestly believe that, and each day I see the proof.

02/21/08

Narrow Shoulders, Big Trucks and Rain

The route on Hwy 72 was challenging until I found Hope - Hope, AZ that is.

This stretch has been not quite as pleasant as the past few days. It was great, don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t trade it nor would I wish to go some where else. Yet I had some challenges. I stopped earlier than normal for the evening because I wanted to sleep in a bed and take a shower. Actually I would have preferred a bath but the little motel that I stayed in only offered showers. I went to bed at around 10pm and woke up at 3 am and began running at 3:45 am. I wanted to get past the turn off to US Route 10 ASAP. Apparently the truckers use the road I was on regularly. When I run after dark in the late evening or early morning I feel safer because I can be seen and there is a lot less traffic. Last night I had my diner bought for me by some one that had seen me on the road earlier. This morning I was welcomed just beyond Hope AZ. Buy two woman Frankie & her daughter Lynne who had tracked me down and drove over 60 miles to find me running in the rain. Thank you SPOT. They gave me some cash for breakfast and I asked them to join me. They changed their plans for the morning and met me in Salome. They wouldn’t let me pay for our meals with the money they gave me. We chatted about living your dreams. Lynne and her husband travel in there 38’ double slider RV back and forth from San Diego to Savannah regularly. She felt that she had to meet me when her mom and dad (Dick) mentioned that they had seen me in Parker, AZ yesterday and after they went to the website they decided to track me down.

This is the second time some one has used the website & SPOT to find me on the road. I met up with fellow runner Rick (we met at the Across the Years running race a couple of months ago) outside of Palm Springs. Rick was driving to Phoenix to visit with family. He also mentioned that he wants to run some when I get to Phoenix. Which by the way I am way ahead of schedule. I should arrive there Saturday morning. I will probably stay in Wicksburg tonight and leave early in the morning like I did today.

I don’t know if I can keep this pace up but I am going to “up level J” my goal to 100k per day average so that I don’t run away from the teams that are running with me. I know that it will be more difficult out of Phoenix, so I am trying to bank some miles before I hit the hills.

My camera battery died today so some of the photos that you see were taken by Lynne & Frankie.

Day 5 Map

Full Moon Rising over the Mojave

If I write a book about this adventure I think the title will be the same as this blog entry. Last night was magical. After the day before when I had all the hills and wind I was blessed with a long stretch of down hills and a tail wind. I was tring to out run a storm. I did and was treated with a full moon and an eclipse! It was so beautiful and bright when the moon rose after the eclipse that I turned off my head light and ran by the moon light. I got just over 90 miles before I went to sleep. I had crossed the entire desert in one big push. since I was so close to 100 miles I got up and back on the road early and did another 10 miles before 9:28 am so that I actually logged 100.1 mils for the day.

If I was just running I would never have been able to do that, that fast. Zzzooming rules!

Yet I've got to say that it was very beautiful in the moon light and as I got closer to the end I slowed down and just took in the images & impressions.

It just keeps getting better, and better.

Day 4 Map:

Dealing with the wind & hills

There is always the other side to difficult experiences, and if you just keep going forward you find can find the edge of something wonderful. Yesterday I struggled through the cross winds and very long hills to arrive at just such a place. Honestly, if I had just stopped when
it was prudent (by most expected standards) I would have had the shortest day yet, and not met some really nice people. Resulting in shorter totals for each subsequent day. However I just kept plodding along, and low and behold it all turned around under a beautiful full (or near full) moon. I ended up having my best day yet. I decided to celibrate at a local Marine Corp. watering hole called " Stumps". At first I was a bit nervous walking in in my running cloths & shorts. I got some strange stares at first but they weren't shy about asking me what I was doing. I made a lot of great friends and stayed there until it closed. I only spent $5 of my own money. Semper Fi ! :)

Earlier in the day I met a interesting man named Lloyd. He walked up to me in the Subway parking lot and asked about my Zzzoomer. I explained what I was doing. and we talked for quite some time. He lived in the town for over 30 years and gave me his card with some hand written sayings that I added to the skin.

What a day I had. I know this only the beginning of even greater days to come!

Day 3

Day 2 - The Journey Continues

5:30pm Pacific time (Posted by Jamil):

Since Glen has lost his internet connection temporarily, I will be adding a few updates. Glen is now zzzooming into Palm Springs according to the SPOT messenger. It looks like he has some very fast splits coming out of the mountains. The design of his cart allows him to use gravity to his advantage on the downhills. By "zzzooming" he is not actually running, but instead transferring the energy he used to push his 135 pound cart up the mountains to now coast back to lower elevations.

He had the cart over 30mph on a downhill yesterday morning!After Palm Springs, Glen will make his way up through Twenty Nine palms and across the Mojave desert on his way to Arizona. The forecast calls for rain which should hopefully keep Glen cool through the low lying desert areas. Let's just hope he can keep all of his electronics dry!

Be sure to check out this article that went out today:http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/02/18/news/coastal/09_18_622_17_08.txt

10:49 Pacific Time (by Jamil):

We have just added audio podcasts! Check them out on the right side of Glen's blog. You can subscribe to his RSS feed by visiting the following page and will be updated when we post new podcasts along the way.

I have begun!

I am blogging from inside the Zzzoomer. I know a lot of you are very curious about my sleeping arrangements. I will get some pics and video in the morning of the “sleeping capsule”. It is cozy that’s for sure but it is definitely nicer than a “bivy”.
Today I found 60 cents and 2 cute little figures that I picked up. I spent $28.00 on food today. I eat well and even had cofee at Starbuck in Tesquelus ? CA. I met a lot of people whole were just fasinated by the Zzzoomer. I ask everyone to go to the website and sign my guestbook. I know few will, but I ove seeing the enrties.
I had an amazing send off. The mayor was there and I believe a counsil member. The local newspaper covered it and I know got some great pics. I hope they have it posted on the web so that I can have it on the website. My good friend and transplanted yoga instructor, Brandon Cox was the first to arrive with his girl friend Steph Schwartz, another ultra trail runner who now is mostly doing yoga. They help me finish detailing the Zzzoomer prior to its debut. Brandon, Kieth Kirby & Akio _____ (who took second at Bad Water) all began the run with me. Though there was some up hills it was a pretty flat with one big downhill in the first 5 miles, so they had a hard time staying with me. I wish I had them later - the hills were MUCH harder later on.
I forgot to mention that the Zzzoomer grew to 135 lbs !!! That included everything (water etc). I was shocked that was more than twice what I was hoping for. I already know of some things that I want to leave in Phoenix. I doubt though that I will get it under 100 lbs.
I had 3 flats at around 10 miles. They all happened because I didn’t adequately prepaire my rims with tape over the spoke holes. I am so glad I brought that roll of duct tape!
I also had a running handle break when I was picking up my cart to make a big turn.

I reall didn’t use it much so it really wasn’t that big of a deal.
I got to 76.5 kilometers until I stopped for the night. It was my exact predicted stopping point. I honestly thought I would go farther. But I started late, at 9:28am (the mayor & and the reporter had a lot of questions. Honestly though, I didn’t leave the Comfort Suites until 9:00. I had hoped to leave earlier but we had some problems getting the logos printed for the businesses that are helping with the expedition.
There is no cell service here so I will have to post this blog and all the pics and vids that I took tomorrow morning further down the road. Bummer.
It is great that the Spot Messenger had satellite service, because it has no problem posting my location.
Well it is now after 10pm and I am going to read a little and go to bed.
Until tomorrow -

10:00 am

I am eating steak & eggs in a casino in Cahuilla,CA. I coudn't sleep past 1:00am. I hung out in the Zzzoomer until about 1:45am when I decided to get back out there. I began by 2:15am and hiked up a mountain to3800' for the next 3hrs, when my battery died on my head light. It was still dark so I rested/slept for the next 2hrs. I stopped here for my final 1st day total of 94.2 kms or 58.0 miles.

Unfortunately, castastrophy happened. I lost my cellular data card and my wireless mouse (with the signal sender for my large key board). I'm sending this over the wifi at the casino.

It may be a while before I can replace it. what a pain. I wanted weight reduction - but not that.