I can’t believe the race through the Sahara desert is getting so close already! I am getting really excited to go and I can’t help but think that this is going to be fun but challenging! Well I suppose that I should introduce myself first off….My name is Susan Jones and I am part of team memento viviere. I just graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison and I am going to be going to veterinary school this next year at Ross University. Currently though I am working in research on the University of Wisconsin Madison campus.   

As far as training goes though I am getting back into it after a short illness and getting hit by a car while running (he ran a stop sign). I am getting in 3-10 miles a day right now and I am hoping to increase it gradually over the next several weeks. I also just signed up to do a 92 mile bike race in August (I figure a little cross training couldn’t hurt) as well as a couple triathlons and possibly a half marathon in September. I did just complete my first triathlon and it went pretty well (I was fourth in my age division- although it was a small triathlon). We will see how the next one goes this weekend. Otherwise I am just going out and getting miles in.

I thought the running was going to be the most difficult part of all the preparation.  But running is probably the easiest part of all of this – all it requires is the determination and dedication to lace up a pair of shoes and head out the door.  After that all it is one foot in front of another.  The only trick for me to keep running is to make sure I stay mentally stimulated.  While I’m always mulling and scheming, I’ve found the best thing to keep myself entertained is a good audiobook.  I’m currently half way through The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett -- chosen primarily because it is 41 hours long, but truly a story that has drawn me in so deep that I actual can’t wait to put the headphones back on everyday.

But the running has turned out to be the least complicated of it all.  Currently, we are working on making sure the timelines for vaccinations and visas are accurate and followed among our team members.  And then there’s the food.  I’ve been trying various Mountain House meals (stay away from Jamaican BBQ chicken) for the last month and a half and recently made the lovely discovery of the Mountain House Pro-Pak meals.  They are single serving and half the bulk!!  I’ve also discovered Trail Foods, a natural freeze dried food with less sugar; the downside of course being that each meal has few calories (but I think they taste better).  I’ll be starting a spreadsheet of various foods, their caloric content, and weight/bulk in preparation of determining what is going to have the final honor of making it into my pack.  

The equipment list is growing, I’ll be updating the equipment section of the blog profile later, but will probably also put a list into the blog that I upload my food list in as well.  And finally, the question everyone wants answered: how’s the training going?  I’m getting in 6-10 miles/day during the week and about 15 mile trail runs on the weekends.  I don’t plan for days off – my vet clinics schedule manages to give me surprise days off.  Of course that’s because I’ll end up in the hospital with an emergency transfer until there’s no possible way I can manage to drag myself off on a run and still manage to get back to work bright and early the next morning.  I have started running to work with my Salomon Raid Revo 30 – a brilliant idea because it truly forces me to run home again even after the longest days.  Of course, the internal dialogue occurring during those middle-of-the-night runs is probably not suitable for print.  Those runs home are probably made even longer due to the often emotionally draining patients I often have during the day since I am currently on the oncology service.  But there are more bright spots than not, in my days --- so onto another run!

I have been quite remiss in my blog writing – though I can honestly claim not to have realized how much time has passed since my last (first) entry!  Every two weeks I switch onto a new rotation in Cornell’s Animal Hospital ; I just finished Cardiology and have started on Emergency and Critical Care.    So while I should probably getting some sleep for my 7pm to 8am shift tonight, I thought I’d update the blog instead!

My training currently consists of six miles 3 to 4 days a week, with a 10 to 15 miles run on the weekend.  The second to last weekend of February I went on an 18 mile run and completed the american birkebeiner in Hayward Wisconsin the following weekend.  The birkebeiner is a 51km cross country ski marathon based on the Birkebeiner Rennet in .  Both races re-create the 1206 journey of 2 soliders; “birkebeiners” because of their birch bark leggings, when they skied infant Prince Haakon out of harms way during the Norwegian civil war.  Getting to and from the race proved to be a logistical nightmare.  I had to leave at the last minute due to my on call schedule, which would have still been alright, if New York wasn’t experiencing terrible weather at the same time.  To make an exceptionally long weekend shorter, my first flight was canceled, the second was delayed 5 hours, and then canceled, the third flight was delayed 2 hours and then I managed to make it to Philly, where my next flight was delayed for several hours.  Needless to say, I arrived in Minneapolis at midnight, where my brother picked me up and we drove the 2.5 hours up to Hayward .  The next morning I managed to register and while I missed my wave, I managed to make the second to last one and finished the race.  While I would have liked to have an accurate representation of my time, I deliberately did not excessively push myself.  Not did I get minimal sleep in the week and evening prior to the race, but I was in the middle of getting over the flu virus that has been making the rounds this year. 

Other than my training, I’ve started sampling several types of dehydrated meals, almost all of them Mountain House brand since that is what is available in the stores near Ithaca NY .  After I finish determining which meals will be best tolerated, I will publish the list.  My equipment currently consists of the Salomon Raid Revo 30 pack, the Marmot Atom sleeping bag, injinji socks, and a Princeton Tec LED headlamp. 

Most importantly though, I’m looking forward to the spring!

First off, a quick introduction.  I’m Barbara, another member of Team Memento Vivere (the origin of which is talked about in the first blog entry by Amber).  I'm a veterinary student from Ross University School of Vet Med, doing my clinical year at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York .  As for what I plan on doing next – besides visiting the Sahara Desert ; I plan on doing an equine internship mostly likely in or .

Currently, we have a fair bit of snow in Ithaca but while here’s nothing better than a white Christmas, but it certainly makes outdoor running a little too adventurous for my taste at times!  After a near collision with a very nice blue sedan as we were both sliding down a slippery hill towards a T-intersection, I gave in to the depressing realization that a treadmill is probably a safer, albeit more mundane, way to get my miles in.  I know there will be those who continue to push on with their outdoor runs, but Ithaca NY is known for its hills, gorges, and snow.  Add in an ice foundation to the snow we’ve gotten, and any run becomes a study in how not to crack a knee cap or twist an ankle.

So on to the treadmill, where those five mile quick runs seem like they never end.  I’m currently getting in 25-30 miles a week, depending on my call schedule.  I have also been cross country skiing on the weekends and doing yoga every few days.  I was swimming three times a week as well, but the University pool is on holiday hours, which are conveniently when I work so I will be starting that again in January.  I plan to increase my mileage in January and get in 30 to 35 miles a week, but to be completely honest when it’s down to sleep verses run, sleep usually wins!  I'm doing nothing fancy at this point with my training.  Just getting in miles and trying to get enough sleep that my mind calls it quits after two miles! 

In other race preparedness news, I’ve started randomly trying different foods that may potentially make it into my race-ready pack.  Some of them are actually quite good, but other things, such as any brand of ice cream, are a little too different for my taste.  I’ll write about them more in detail once I’ve tried everything I plan to. 

And now I’m off.  If anyone has any questions or thoughts, I’d love to hear them!  Hope the training is going well….

Barbara