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May
22, 2004
Round
Two: The Hills Throw Us a Curve
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Upper
Achilles Tendonitis has temporarily limited
Bill Lapsley's running, but
hasn't dampened his spirits.
Teammates Dave McGillivray, Bob
Whirty, Hap Farber and Fernando
Braz offer Bill tips on how to get
through a downhill
leg.
See more photos in our gallery |
New
Milford, PA - Yesterday,
team TREK USA conquered the first series of
hills that make Pennsylvania famous, with little
difficulty. It raised our confidence that
today?s contest would again end in our runners
being under whelmed by the hills.
Our job was to cover 142 miles to New
Milford, PA.
Once
again our evening?s sleep was interrupted by
the sound of thunder, the flash of lightening,
and rain that fell so hard that thoughts of Ark
building filled our dreams.
When we awoke, it was still raining hard.
Group 1 would have a wet start, while
group 2 made their way to the half way mark, 71
miles down Rte. 6E.
The weather forecast called for early
morning showers with gradual clearing and
temperatures rising from the lower 60?s to a
high in the 80?s.
Group
1 began the assault on the hills.
The first rotation of legs featured heavy
rain, unrelenting hills, and a crown on the road
that made life all the more uncomfortable. Again, our founder, Dave McGillivray, warned us of the
hazards of the severe crown on the road and the
associated pains they cause.
Essentially, the left leg must drop much
lower before hitting pavement.
The result is extra stress on that leg,
excessive hip rotation and strain on the
hamstring.
After all the miles on our odometers, the
extra strain could prove dangerous.
Soon,
as predicted, the rain stopped, the clouds
broke, and we were treated to a beautiful spring
day in the hills surrounding the beautiful
farmlands of northern Pennsylvania.
As with group 1, group 2 attacked the
merciless up hills punctuated by screaming down
hills. It was difficult to decide which was
tougher on the body ? the breath taking ups,
or the knee pounding downs.
As
with many discomforts in life, if you work at
them hard and long enough, they really aren?t
that big a deal. So it was again today.
Penna threw its toughest at us, and the
team responded.
The extreme crown was the extra added
attraction, but even that was handled.
We?ve got another day of Penna hills,
and we are sure they won?t get easier.
We, however, are getting stronger.
No doubt much of that strength comes from
knowing that we are nearing the end of our
journey and the return to our loved ones.
That magnetic pull is growing stronger
each day. Though
the adventure has been one that we will never
forget, and one which will change us forever,
it?s time to come home.
Today,
a little taste of home found us.
We were met by our good friends, Jack and
Karen LeDuc.
Jack is a start line announcer at the
Boston Marathon, prepares all the signage, and
has more funny gags than a dime store joke book.
He?s a great guy to have around when
spirits need to be lifted, and his wife is just
as delightful.
Jack
and Karen are staying at the same motel as we,
and they warned us not to expect too much.
Well, they were right!
Pool? No. Jacuzzi? No. HBO? No?
Gift Shop? No. High Speed Internet? No. (Dang!) Phone? NO. No?, No.
Three prong plug to plug in your
computer? No.
Yup, we are really looking forward to
coming home.
Speaking
of coming home, we?ve had many inquiries about
our schedule on Monday and Tuesday.
Please check the ?News?
section of our website for a complete timeline
of where we?ll be, when we?ll be there, and
what will happen.
We hope to see many of you in the next
few days. We have lots to talk about!
PS
If there are any ideas, comments or
questions about the journal, send me a note:
Tom
@TREKUSA.org
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