By next week I will be on my way to the Olympic village in Lake Placid for blue planet boot camp. There we will find out the make-up of the five relay teams and receive the complete instructions and logistics details for the blue planet run. Then finally, on June first we will hit the pavement, marking the beginning of a 15,200-mile journey around the world.
In preparation for going on this run I have made some lists. To-do lists for home projects and work projects to be finished before take-off. Then there are shopping- and packing lists and a check-off list for things already in process. My passport is somewhere at one of the foreign embassies awaiting fancy visa stamps from Russia, Belarus, China or Mongolia. My newly acquired regular- and sunglass frames are being fitted with progressive, scratch resistant lenses and will next week be ready for pick-up. Over the last several weeks I paid visits to my doctor and dentist, chiropractor, massage and physical therapist and underwent check-ups, alignments and adjustments. An ankle strain, incurred on one of my practice runs, put me on ice and heat packs. Medical advice had me elevated, wearing compression sleeves and greased-up with muscle balm and therapeutic warming ointment. My physical therapist, apparently knowing me better than myself, had threatened to put me in a glass box with the door shut, but after the incident changed her mind to a padded room with the key safely out of sight! “Stay healthy and off the trails”, she said with a threatening voice. “You worked way too hard to now blow it on one of your crazy run-arounds!” Oi Vay, that Tracey can be so tough!
Back at home, maps have become part of the décor. Mounted on a poster board and tagged with colored pins the Europe map is staged on a paint easel in one of the kitchen corners. I have practically memorized the route and am contemplating taking some Russian lessons, just enough to be dangerous during the twenty-three day Soviet land crossing.
In preparation for going on this run I have made some lists. To-do lists for home projects and work projects to be finished before take-off. Then there are shopping- and packing lists and a check-off list for things already in process. My passport is somewhere at one of the foreign embassies awaiting fancy visa stamps from Russia, Belarus, China or Mongolia. My newly acquired regular- and sunglass frames are being fitted with progressive, scratch resistant lenses and will next week be ready for pick-up. Over the last several weeks I paid visits to my doctor and dentist, chiropractor, massage and physical therapist and underwent check-ups, alignments and adjustments. An ankle strain, incurred on one of my practice runs, put me on ice and heat packs. Medical advice had me elevated, wearing compression sleeves and greased-up with muscle balm and therapeutic warming ointment. My physical therapist, apparently knowing me better than myself, had threatened to put me in a glass box with the door shut, but after the incident changed her mind to a padded room with the key safely out of sight! “Stay healthy and off the trails”, she said with a threatening voice. “You worked way too hard to now blow it on one of your crazy run-arounds!” Oi Vay, that Tracey can be so tough!
Back at home, maps have become part of the décor. Mounted on a poster board and tagged with colored pins the Europe map is staged on a paint easel in one of the kitchen corners. I have practically memorized the route and am contemplating taking some Russian lessons, just enough to be dangerous during the twenty-three day Soviet land crossing.
But that’s not all! With our favorite daughter moving into a new apartment we drove to Chicago to come to her aid. With a carload full of Ikea furniture we went to work and assembled her kitchen-, living- and bathroom furniture. We hang curtains and mounted shelves until the wee hours and accomplished all with very little shuteye. While in Chicago we managed to get in a sushi meal and stopped-off at the mystical gallery where the elderly Seminole Indian lady foretold our future! The year ahead looked full of promise with guardian angels on alert and ready for action. Every card I picked, conjectured good fortune and with renewed confidence and a big smile we paid our dues and left the semi-dark eerie abode!
Then there is my electronics list. I had bought a new notebook for the occasion and added a PDA with wireless keyboard, mobile phone, GPS, compact digi camera, ipod shuffle and a four-gig scandisk. Now up to speed with the latest Hi Fi, Wi Fi, Blue tooth and skype technology I am ready to take on the world and communicate from whatever and wherever landmass! Add to that some electrical juice and there is another suitcase just for all the different transformers, converters and batteries. Fortunately Radio Shack had a "special" I couldn’t refuse, on a universal converter. I promise it will come in handy!
Oh, and did I mention my running gear and accessories with enough clothes to last between weekly laundry services? Four pair of running shoes, power bars, glucose tablets, sunscreen and borealis Buzz-Off mosquito repellent. And lets not forget my royal Dutch orange bandanas, a water bottle, and the Stick, just to name some other items on that short list. Ofcourse there is more, but I will leave it with that. As you can see, it takes a bit of planning to go for a run, but it will all be worth it in the end! I will be ready and hope that you are too, because we are going on a journey to enrich the lives of 1.2 billion people. So give them a hand and I will do the running for you!
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