February 27th

Today was easy day, rolling hills are my best friend . I get to use all my gears...up hill gear (Granny Gear) and downhill gear (Rest Gear) and Cruising Gear on the flat areas. All my leg muscles get to work!. For my ten mile mark, I had my three Fig Newtons and white milk. It got me to fifteen miles . Then I ate a half of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich, a few potato chips and a couple of chocolate covered peanuts. I threw the other half of my sandwich to my friend out there somewhere, I sure am glad he left me alone today. OK, everyone has suggested a metal lunch box. I finished 5 miles short of Springerville and tomorrow I will hit New Mexico! Thanks for the food tips Greg, it worked. 675 miles as of today and I feel great so far. I sure will be glad to hit New Mexico tomorrow. It snowed 3 inches last night but had mostly melted by the time I was done. Nice shoulder, no traffic and a 5:59 minute finish.

February 28th

Well, its just a imaginary line that divides two states and it is all about the miles, but it was sure nice getting to New Mexico. Twenty five miles took me into New Mexico by 5 miles. I was glad to see my lunch was left alone, and, just as a insurance, I carried three Fig Newtons in my pack. Well I found a dead cow skull (in my hand at New Mexico border sign). I found it at 19 miles and carried it to my twenty mile mark so when we came back I could easily find it. I set it down at the twenty mile mark and ran on running out of gas at mile 22. I pulled out my Fig Newtons and they were finger licking good. As soon as I ate the last one and licked the chewy nougat off my fingers, I thought "Oh my God" I have been carrying this cow skull in my unwashed hands for almost a mile, carrying it by his eyeballs and his horns! Well, I spit a few times and banged out the last three miles to get my 25 miles. I had to have the cow skull even though I have one at home already, but how many dead cow skulls is too many?

March 1st

The twenty five miles were tough today as it snowed 4 inches. It made for a slower run but I had an 8 ft shoulder and hardly no cars and it put me 25 miles higher into the mountains. It  was a tough run and not much else to say.

March 2nd

No snow today and the terrain has leveled out as we have reached the peaks. We used to look up at the mountains and now we are looking down at the valleys below and we are virtually even with the peaks. The altitude has given Dave a red face, red bulging eyes and he says it sounds like his head is in a barrel and his ears are always popping. I am OK running everyday and going slowly up, up, up. I get a little out of breath in these mountains, but I suspect I would be out of breath anyway even if I lived here. These are the type of  roads that you can see two days of running ahead of you. 750 miles now with no days off and my legs just seem to be moving on their own. They just keep going and I hardly stop anymore and I can run for 6 hours before saying, "OK, that's enough, where's my 25 mile marker". We are staying in Socorro, New Mexico, Tomorrow we have to drive back to my start (83 miles) as no hotels anywhere in between. So we will have to get up at 4:30 am to get a 6:30 start, ,but each day will be closer with less of a drive. We found a MOTEL 6 in Socorro and Gloria Purdy heard of the charity I was running for and gave us a great deal. Then she gave us a free night!! This was the first hotel that really gave us that kind of a break. Thank you Gloria and Motel 6. Also, this is really a nice place. I want to say hi to the grade school class watching in Apache Junction and the runner from Florida. I will try the strawberry fig Newtons next.

March 3rd

Today was probably the easiest day yet. I seem to be on top of the world now and I am getting stronger and faster. I am getting used to running 25 miles everyday now. I saw 7 Elk today and they were right off the road by 20 feet and  they slowly jumped a fence and walked off. They were awesome, huge and seemed friendly. No wonder every business or building I go into has at least two Elk heads on the wall. I told Dennis Lewis I needed at least one more pair of running shoes, so he bought a pair and grabbed a couple of our friends and flew to Phoenix and drove 6 hours to where we are staying and hand delivered them to me. How's that for a friend!! Now they are going to watch the Cubs in spring training in phoenix. From left to right Dave Switzer, Ron Garbrecht, Dennis Lewis, and Dave Luhrsen. They got in at about 6:00 pm and it was good to see them. Then they drove out to my 15 mile mark 80 miles away just to say good bye and take a few pictures. We talked there in the mountains for 15 min, then they drove off. Thanks Dennis!! All my senses seem to be getting sharper. I can smell the pines and the perfume from the cars that pass by. I can hear the slightest noise in the woods and I can spot any movement as I run by..I am drinking green tea every other day and cleaning the poisons out of me. I went to Wal-mart looked at the Elk heads and stood on a scale, instead of buying one, and I have lost 25 pounds. I weigh 199 lbs I am not worried because I have never felt better. Thanks for all the E-mails. I think about them when I run along with a million other things. I have to say I am the most impressed with New Mexico than anywhere else so far, I can't believe how beautiful this country really is. Route 60 has a 8 ft shoulder and virtually no cars, maybe one one every fifteen minutes!!!!

March 4th

Today the route was a carpenter's dream (flat as a board). I was in a bad mood, no sleep for two days, and I get a little home sick sometimes. I don't do well on long flat runs. I like hills so I can use all my gears. I ran 26 miles today and it took 6:28 but I don't care. I didn't bring my A game to the road today. Good days and bad days are what people who have done this before have mentioned and boy is it true. For people who are keeping track.. 11 days to cross California..272 miles....I ran 26 the first two days and then the third day I only ran 20 because it was straight up a mountain with 70 MPH head wind/dust storm. Every day after I ran 25 miles. It took 17 days to cross Arizona with 114 miles of running south instead of east, nothing I could do. 421 miles total as I ran one 26 mile on Feb 17 and on the  Feb 28th, I was 5 miles into New Mexico, So far, New Mexico 4 days 101 miles as I ran 26 miles today, so the total miles is 799 3/10  so far. I am on my fourth pair of shoes, as my last pair lasted 276 miles. I lost 25 pounds and had three days of rain and three days of snow. Running long running, strong and alone.

March 5th

Well it rained at the first ten miles and then it stopped so it wasn't too bad, The wind picked up to 35 MPH in my face and, of course, it dried me right out. I passed through Magdalena, New Mexico today. A nice little town, everybody was either at the gas station or the little restaurant in town. I like passing through little towns like that. Well I ran 26 miles again today in 6:09. That's my best time so far even though I am not really trying any harder, Like my friend Sarah Burge said today its probably a lot easier running up mountains without that extra 25 pounds on me, TRUE! I will run 26 miles from now on until I bump it up to 27 miles I would like 27 miles that to be my average when I am through. Yesterday I got a call from my neighbors Ken and Marylyn at my 15 mile lunch mark so I walked 1 mile holding my lunch in one hand and cell phone in another and I had no pain in my hip from walking. This is good because if I can use my walking gear now my times will get better and I can walk a couple miles at the end . I didn't walk today I even ran eating my lunch but I will try walking again sometime soon to see how it goes. I figure I should spend more time on the road than 6 or 6/12 hours a day, we'll see. 26 miles today has put my average at 25 now, 825 miles so far. Route 60 has been great today in some places 2 ft shoulder, but everywhere else 8 ft. Can you believe 8 ft shoulder. I could set up patio furniture on that shoulder and still have room. I like New Mexico the best so far. If any one else has run this route before I would like to know, if I don't hear from anyone, I would like to name this route, and I am open for suggestions? I am still running strong and running long.