the hay is in the barn . . .

first of all, speaking of hay in the barn, i want to congratulate one of my clients - jaimie holland. got this email from her yesterday . . .

OLSEN!!! I got the last qualifying score i needed today...its official...i'm qualified for the pan am trials!!!!!!! so excited!!!

great great job holland! you worked hard for this and you deserve it!!!!! (by the way, she's talking about the pan am games . . .)

it's been a crazy week leading up to today.

last sunday i met up with robbie and digger for a mini pylon reunion . . .

AND finally got that alaska beer to digger. carried it up k2 in my pack, so i had to make sure he didn't open it right away . . .

monday was my last 'leg trashing' session with the mighty alex. 42 minutes of prowler, walking lunges and farmers' walk. owwww! worst one yet!

on tuesday, the shit hit the fan. everything seemed to crash at once and my brain pretty much exploded. my confidence level was non-existent, and i ended up having a melt-down of epic proportions! i was ready to throw in the towel and stay home. even poor coach spaff was concerned! things got a little better throughout the day on wednesday, and by the evening i was coming around. it all seemed to come together thursday night as i was finishing my run through palgrave forest. as i approached my little red mazda, i yelled to the skies, 'look out bc, dora the explorer is coming out to run some mountains!'

today was my last 'long' run before fatdog. i started at humber station and ran over to the dingle creek - one of my favorite spots on this trail . . .

of course, i had to take a stop at my k2 bench on the way back . . .

and so now, this is it . . .

i am ready. i have my plane tickets and have arranged for airport drop-off and pick-up - thanks moose! i have two pacers - the incredibly brave 'banff trail trash' leslie - meeting me out there to run 50 or so miles at night with me, and my 'unsuspecting' friend dunc - to run the last leg (which is 33km - including 20k straight up for 4500' - which could conceivably take 10 hours.) but we won't tell him that until he gets there! hehe

i am mentally and physically prepared. i was even amused when i read on the site that they were 'assessing snow conditions to make sure trails are passable for race day . . .' HA - bring it on ! that's what i went to alaska for!! seriously though, i just have to say that regardless of what happens, i really want to thank coach spaff for getting me to this point. it was almost a year ago that i broke my stoopid toe, and wasn't able to run at all. and i also want to thank my beloved alex for getting me strong as shit. i know i will hear his voice in the deep recesses of my brain at about the 35 hour mark going, 'this is too easy for you . . .'

and if the spirits are willing, then i will succeed.

"so here i go it's my shot.
feet fail me not, this may be the only opportunity that i got.
you can do anything you set your mind to, man."