Well last night I ran with the Iron Cowboy and I saw the light...the one we needed to run with in the colorless dark New Mexico sky.
I tried most of the day to find the location and ETA of the 5K Charity run; info on their FB pages was vague at best. However, thru postings from locals and sleuthing the web sights by you Kathy I found the intended location and ETA of 7PM.
They had got off to slow swim start in the AM and that kind of snowballed their timing and with his bike pit stop to IV hydrate and take a nap it was 9 before I got the heads up on FB that the start location changed and the run was underway.
Got to the caravan and there were maybe 20 people milling about. I was informed that his plan was for the Cowboy to do 5K repeats on the Bosque multi-use trail. Ideal for night running as it is straight and flat. James came trotting into camp and the place came alive. Fluids, strategies(they decided to go to 1 mile repeats), nutrition and vest with light projectors. A fresh entourage assembled and off we went. In our group was a mother and her 9 year old daughter, a guy who came down from Moab, UT and my wife and I.
The entourage kind of ran interference with hand held lights to point out puddles from the rain squalls and scare of critters crossing the path. The support guys had different fluid choices and nutrition for James to select; he was very intense and definitely runs the show.
The pace was plodding at best-maybe 14 min pace and any incline was walked. As we shuffled along I just sat back and as the group took positions James opened up. He started talking with the mother and her child in a very sincere and kind of touching way being truly interested in their story. He asked their names and fully engaged them in the conversation. As the mom and daughter turned and left due to the late hour he hugged them both and encouraged them to follow their athletic dreams; really quite touching.
As I ended up in the default position next to James he did the same with me just as sincere asking me what was my name and what was my story and we talked at length of my races and stories. He discussed my wife's story of finishing 3 in AG at IM Brazil and he asked if she got the Kona ticket and was disappointed for her that she didn't.
I mentioned to him his presence on Slowtwitch and 13 pages at the time and you could feel him roll his eyes " I bet their roasting me!" he said. I told him I felt from what I read that he had a lot of support-though skeptical-but support none the less. I mentioned a lot of people thought his logistics needed some work and he responded that he purposely sought bigger venues over ease to better get exposure for his project. I asked his biggest logistical surprises and he said he didn't expect the amount of moisture(he rode 30 miles that day in a heavy rain) and it played havoc on his feet giving him what sounds like a form of trenchfoot. Another unexpected issue was the motorhome not being able to keep pace as they intended. And then there was hitting the deer coming out of Flagstaff.
I asked what message he'd like me to pass on to Slowtwitchers and he didn't hesitate; he said "tell 'em that it is going great, I feel really strong and I am totally excited to keep going"...and there was no doubt to me he was sincere.
In review I see this as a seat of the pants operation with a certain fluidity to change and adapt as things come up, and with the enthusiasm I saw I really think they're going to make it. Go Iron Cowboy!!
I tried most of the day to find the location and ETA of the 5K Charity run; info on their FB pages was vague at best. However, thru postings from locals and sleuthing the web sights by you Kathy I found the intended location and ETA of 7PM.
They had got off to slow swim start in the AM and that kind of snowballed their timing and with his bike pit stop to IV hydrate and take a nap it was 9 before I got the heads up on FB that the start location changed and the run was underway.
Got to the caravan and there were maybe 20 people milling about. I was informed that his plan was for the Cowboy to do 5K repeats on the Bosque multi-use trail. Ideal for night running as it is straight and flat. James came trotting into camp and the place came alive. Fluids, strategies(they decided to go to 1 mile repeats), nutrition and vest with light projectors. A fresh entourage assembled and off we went. In our group was a mother and her 9 year old daughter, a guy who came down from Moab, UT and my wife and I.
The entourage kind of ran interference with hand held lights to point out puddles from the rain squalls and scare of critters crossing the path. The support guys had different fluid choices and nutrition for James to select; he was very intense and definitely runs the show.
The pace was plodding at best-maybe 14 min pace and any incline was walked. As we shuffled along I just sat back and as the group took positions James opened up. He started talking with the mother and her child in a very sincere and kind of touching way being truly interested in their story. He asked their names and fully engaged them in the conversation. As the mom and daughter turned and left due to the late hour he hugged them both and encouraged them to follow their athletic dreams; really quite touching.
As I ended up in the default position next to James he did the same with me just as sincere asking me what was my name and what was my story and we talked at length of my races and stories. He discussed my wife's story of finishing 3 in AG at IM Brazil and he asked if she got the Kona ticket and was disappointed for her that she didn't.
I mentioned to him his presence on Slowtwitch and 13 pages at the time and you could feel him roll his eyes " I bet their roasting me!" he said. I told him I felt from what I read that he had a lot of support-though skeptical-but support none the less. I mentioned a lot of people thought his logistics needed some work and he responded that he purposely sought bigger venues over ease to better get exposure for his project. I asked his biggest logistical surprises and he said he didn't expect the amount of moisture(he rode 30 miles that day in a heavy rain) and it played havoc on his feet giving him what sounds like a form of trenchfoot. Another unexpected issue was the motorhome not being able to keep pace as they intended. And then there was hitting the deer coming out of Flagstaff.
I asked what message he'd like me to pass on to Slowtwitchers and he didn't hesitate; he said "tell 'em that it is going great, I feel really strong and I am totally excited to keep going"...and there was no doubt to me he was sincere.
In review I see this as a seat of the pants operation with a certain fluidity to change and adapt as things come up, and with the enthusiasm I saw I really think they're going to make it. Go Iron Cowboy!!