The Next Big Thing

Yesterday I mentioned that I have the next big thing on the radar screen. I started to call it a new dream, but I've had the dream for years, maybe five. A little background may be in order.

When I was fourteen years old, I rode a 90cc motorcycle, with a clothes bag tied to the handlebars, from home in Greenwood, MS to Louisville, MS, a distance of approximately eighty-five miles. Many of my family members live in that area, and I stayed with my late grandmother by night and during the day I explored the countryside and visited relatives. It was grand adventure.

A few years later as a young man, I and a now deceased friend, Howard Collins, made the same trip via bicycle. We turned the outing into a back to back century rides, and we had a blast being out on the road dependent upon our fitness to complete a long, difficult journey. In 2009 and 2010 I made the same trip by bicycle, this time alone. I enjoyed it even more as I explored a new route, ran from a storm, and looked for lodging places along the way.

Lodging places along the way? you ask. Pray tell.

Since at least 2008, my goal, my dream, my fantasy has been to run the route. And this time not just to Louisville, but past to the neighboring town of Noxapater, a trip of about 100 miles, where my Aunt Mary and Uncle Paul reside. I have established the roads I'll travel, bought supplies, and yearned to make this journey run. I'm thinking it to be either a three or four day event, covering around twenty-five miles each day. But each year for the last four, my leg health has not been sufficient to make the run, and it has been with tremendous disappointment each fall that I've had to think, Maybe next year. I am now fifty-seven years old. I need to do this while I still have enough strength and health and the mental attitude.

Despite a minor Achilles flareup last week, I am busting out with confidence that this is the year I'm finally going to pull it off. I am 330 miles ahead of 2012 in my running, and the idea of a long, long run just won't let me rest at night. I want to do this. I need to do this. I have to do this.

As of July 1, I am officially training for The Great Noxapater Journey Run (TGNJR) to be held the week of Thanksgiving Break 2013. I'll be shifting my training to long runs/hikes with a lot lower body weight training. Raw endurance is what is called for, and I know how to build that. But I must stay healthy.

Come along for the journey if you like. It promises to be a challenge, an adventure, and grand fun, for me at least. I'll write about my training, my thoughts, and when I do the run, I'll post real time photos and updates on Facebook. Yeehaaa!