The Road to Badwater Part III

The morning of the race
We all turned in early and were out by about 10:00 p.m. I slept well until about 2:30 and then woke up hourly until 6:00 when we all started moving. We went to breakfast at the FC Inn. I didn’t have much of an appetite, but I forced down some bacon, eggs, fruit and coffee – I don’t have much of a pre-race eating ritual like some runners.

Everyone was a little quieter in the morning as we focused on the event ahead. My crew jumped into, as Dave would say ‘it’s all about Gregg’ mode. They loaded up the vehicles with my gear and labeled them with ‘Geerdes 29’ and motivational verses, while I got dressed and rested. My race didn’t start until 10:00 so I was trying to relax as much as possible, but even when lying down I couldn’t get my heart rate below 60.

At 8:45 Dave’s alarm went off and we drove to the start.

The heat at Badwater by 9:00 a.m. was already intense and I knew it would only get worse. I was truly having second thoughts about my ability to handle this heat and even my bronze goal was looking slim. Experts say that you can only effectively consume about 1 liter of water per hour. At Death Valley, during physical exercise you can easily sweat through double or triple that amount, i.e. you can’t keep up with your hydration demands.


While I was baking in the heat, drinking more water, and going through the motions of the 10:00 a.m. wave photos, all I could think of was the intense heat. How am I going to run in this heat? Then I heard Race Director Chris Kostman call for the 10:00 wave to line up. A young lady sang the national anthem and suddenly I began to feel my confidence come back to me and thought - let’s get this party started. The count down was given and ‘BANG’ the race was on.

• Lesson Learned: Prep your crew well, the more they know you and the situation the better they can prepare themselves and support you
• Lesson Learned: If you trained correctly your body will start acting independent of thought in preparation for the event
• Lesson Learned: Fear is a good thing, but don’t let it control you.

The Road to Badwater Part 2

This is Part 2 in this multi-part series featuring my friend Gregg Gerdes and his inspiring tale of running the 135 mile Badwater Ultra-Marathon

The Day Before the race

On Sunday, we drove to Furnace Creek, CA, stopping along the way in Pahrump, NV for Breakfast. I can’t say we were big fans of the city of Pahrump, although we did learn about the ‘Chicken Ranch’ and came to the conclusion that Pahrump appears to be the ‘XXX’ center of NV, that being said the Pahrump Café has a great skillet Breakfast and the waitress there was a lot of fun, she even prayed for me and my upcoming race. (Interesting fact: Pahrump was in the movie ‘Rainman’.)

Before we left the city of Pahrump we picked up a few more groceries and our last Starbucks Frappacino. (Note for would be travelers: If making the trek from LV, this is the closest Starbucks to Death Valley.)

Photo: The last Starbucks
We arrived in Furnace Creek and were welcomed by an intensely bright sun and exhausting Death Valley heat. I mean it was REALLY hot. We checked into the Furnace Creek Ranch and soon found out that the hotel ice machines were broken and so we would be paying $3.50 per bag of ice – how convenient. And believe me, we went through a lot of ice. The hotel was nice, has a good restaurant, general store, and even a golf course – Yes, a golf course in Death Valley. I didn’t get to play a round (this time), but I highly recommend the ranch if you ever find yourself in Death Valley.
I’m not sure what the temperatures were that day, but as I said it was REALLY hot. As we waited for the pre-race briefing we were all feeling the heat so it was nice when the doors finally opened for the pre-race brief. The pre-race brief is quite an ordeal as they acknowledge all the volunteers, the runners as well as lay out the race rules. As you look around the room you see all these people and their crews, (most crews were between 4-6 people) who are making this huge sacrifice to be there in Death Valley to challenge themselves, it is quite inspiring.

After the pre-race brief, we enjoyed a pre-race dinner at the FC Ranch. I announced that I believe everything happens for a reason and that each of my crew members were on my team for a reason and I was blessed to have each one of them with me, I also announced that I was making Dave Strauss my Crew Chief. You need to have one-voice if . . . when things go bad. Dave had already crewed me in the Viaduct Trail 100 miler last year and we had run the Oil Creek 100 miler together. He had the most experience on the crew on what a pain I can become during these events.


Photo: Pre-race briefing
MY CREW:
Janet Geerdes, my wife – Prayer warrior and my #1 Cheerleader
Gordon Geerdes, my brother – The Finisher
Calvin Baker, my uncle – Long mile man
Nanc Baker, my aunt – Prayer warrior and crew caretaker
Dave Strauss, friend – Crew Captain
Mike Densley, friend – Downhill Pacer

After dinner we all wanted to check out the infamous BADWATER. We all packed in the Van and drove the 17 miles to Badwater. Along the way we realized that we had no water in the Van with us. Now in any normal situation I wouldn’t care about not having water in my vehicle, but with as intense as the heat was I was hoping we didn’t have any vehicle issues. Badwater is an amazing location, it humbles you when you realize that if you were left here and had to make it back to any form of civilization, 17 miles away, you would surely die. For those who don’t know, Badwater is the lowest, hottest, driest place in the Western Hemisphere and the 2^nd hottest location in the world. Word has it that Charles Manson came there to find a doorway to Hell. Believe me, you need water.

We spent about one hour walking around the area, taking photos and taking in the beauty of the area. Death Valley is mind blowing, the question that came to my mind is why did God create such a desolate place, but yet make it so breathe-takingly beautiful.

By the time we left we were all feeling the intense heat and were drying out, (I even allowed Dave to run the air conditioner on the drive back). We returned to the hotel and everyone drank at least 2 bottles of water/Gatorade trying to recover from our 1 hour Badwater experience, and then we drank even more in preparation for tomorrows adventure.


Photo: Badwater Basin

That night I debriefed the team one more time on all my supplies, which I had set up in clear bins and then I gave them my ‘penciled-in’ race strategy, knowing that the heat could ruin all strategies. When I run 100-mile races I usually have 3 goals, bronze, sliver and gold. For this race my bronze goal was to just finish, and I figured I could do that in 36 hours. My silver goal was to finish in under 33 hours which would mean I would need to average better than 4 miles an hour, a little more challenging especially for a rookie. My Gold goal, which I admit I rarely tell anyone, was to finish in less than 30 hours and in the top 10, not very probable unless everything came together.

• Lesson Learned: There are diamonds hidden everywhere if you are willing to open your eyes to them, even in Pahrump
• Lesson Learned: Pick your crew wisely
• Lesson Learned: You need a strong crew captain. He won’t always be right, but you need a single voice when things go bad.
• Lesson Learned: Enjoy it
• Lesson Learned: Know your environment and stay hydrated
• Lesson Learned: You need to have a strategy and you need to share it with your team, once you get started you aren’t the only one making decisions

The Road to Badwater Part 1

Today I would like to share a journey with you, one that, if you are like me, you may find inspirational as well as full of surprising insight. 

Gregg Geerdes is a former member of Connections.  Along with his wife Janet, he is living in California preparing to go overseas in service to our country.  This is his story.....


The Road to Badwater
by Gregg Gerdes

I can’t give you a definitive answer as to when I started on this path. Was it when I first applied to the 2009 race while in Baghdad? Was it after I ran my first ultramarathon in 1997? Was it when I began running early in the morning while in grade school? Or maybe have I always been on this path and just now become aware of it? I don’t know. What I do know is, now that the race is over, Badwater was an amazing memorable section of road along a much longer road, a section of road through the desert that I will remember for as long as my memory serves me well. Here is my story.

Photo Left: Team ‘Geerdes 29’ at Badwater Basin – 282 ft below sea level

In 2009 I had received my orders to Taiwan. You might say that preparing to move to another country is enough to keep a family busy; between selling our home, learning Chinese, and saying our goodbyes to so many amazing friends, we didn’t have much time for additional pleasures, yet alone challenges of a lifetime. However, on February 18, I was accepted into the 2010 Badwater Ultra marathon, a 135-mile race through Death Valley, considered by many to be the world’s toughest foot race. How can you say ‘no’?

• Lesson Learned: You can do more than you think you can, but it will take sacrifice 
• Lesson Learned: You need good friends; they will help you through everything 
• Lesson Learned: Seek the Lord in all things

10 days out

 After moving out of our home on June 15th and then spending 3 weeks living in various hotels, a timeshare, and a friend’s home, on July 2nd we departed Northern Virginia for Tucson, AZ via Los Angeles. The State Department, my employer, wouldn’t fly us directly into Tucson so we would have to drive the 500 miles from LA back to Tucson. I had told my situation to Brandon, a good friend who also was my roommate in Baghdad. Brandon now works in L.A. He not only offered up his Ford F150, but also met us at LAX with keys in hand.

Photo: Final Algonquin Ct. BBQ

We packed up our 10 bags of clothes, my running gear and everything else we needed since our pack out, filling the truck bed and thus preceded to make our drive across the Mohave Desert. Along the way temps reached 110 degrees. To us Virginian’s it felt like an oven, but I would learn soon enough that it wouldn’t be the hottest temperatures I would experience.

We arrived in Tucson that night and spent the next week relaxing at Grandpa and Grandma’s while I bought supplies, went for easy training runs in the heat of the day, and generally tried to acclimatize to the 100+ temps. In my training back in Virginia I had acclimatized myself by wearing extra clothes on my runs and spending time in 195-degree saunas, however I knew I still needed a week under a hot sun.

On Thursday, July 8th, Janet and I left the kids with Grandpa, Grandma and Auntie Jean and drove to Las Vegas, stopping for one night in Laughlin, NV. Laughlin is a small casino town on the AZ-NV border. The hotel room only cost $30, and it was a comfortable room. Not much to do in Laughlin unless you like to gamble, although Janet and I found an awesome Sushi restaurant there, which we highly recommend.

The next day we finished our drive to Vegas. Our accommodations in LV were excellent. Back in February, Janet my accountant, logistics manager, and #1 cheerleader had traded-in our one-bedroom unit timeshare for a two-bedroom unit timeshare at the Desert Paradise Resort. It was excellent resort and would serve us well both before and after the race.

After arriving we picked up our rental car. I had wanted a full size van for the race, but the cost for one week was outrageous so we settled for a mini-van. Just before we picked up the mini-van Janet prayed that we would get a white mini-van, to protect us from the sun. Not only was the mini-van white, but also the license plate was 135-ABC (can’t remember the letters). It brought us a good laugh.

That night Janet and I went to dinner at Chipotle’s and met a recent friend of mind Keith, who just happened to be in LV that weekend. Keith had crewed at Badwater 3 times and had given me his personal insight into the race. Keith through his connections had also gotten my team Injinji Safari Hats, which were perfect for the race.

On Saturday the crew began to arrive. Mike Densley flew in from Virginia; Cal and Nanc drove in from Tucson; Dave Strauss had the most trouble as his flight from Virginia kept on getting delayed. This however turned out to be a blessing, since our wonderful white ‘135’ mini-van was having mechanical problems. When Janet and Nanc picked up Dave at the airport they brought the vehicle back to Budget, who didn’t have another mini-van in stock so they gave us a 15-passanger van and added Dave as a driver at no cost - Totally awesome. (Note: My final Team member Gord wouldn’t meet us until Sunday in Furnace Creek) 

• Lesson: You need to ask for help 
• Lesson: Train specific for your event  
• Lesson: Seek advice from people who have experience 
• Lesson: Plan early and if you don’t have that skill, find somebody who does to assist you 
• Lesson: Pray for everything and then leave it up to God, he usually has a better solution

Coming up: The Day Before the Race

The Heart of Disbelief

Connections takes another step in its transformation of being the fast paced source of deep biblical training.

Once again, Chuck Sickles led a thought provoking discussion that considered evil and suffering and why it is THE way that most people fall away from God.

Come join us as Chuck concludes his series next week.

Chuck Sickles Leads Connections on Apologetics

Today we had a wonderful passionate discussion today led today by Chuck Sickles.  This was a wonderful initial presentation in a four part series.

Chuck made the assertion that apologetics is about "bringing faith to the reasonable and reason to the faithful".  Very powerful.

He begins with helping us to be clear about our own faithfulness.
John 20:6-8 (New International Version)


6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"


Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."



16Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "

18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

John 20:6-18
 
 
"Moes could mediate the law; Muhammad could brandish a sword;
 

Apologetics Featuring Chuck Sickles Comes to MBC Connections

Chuck Sickles – Leader of the MBC Apologetics Ministry and popular McLean University teacher.


11 Apr - Is it arrogant for Christians to believe there is only one way to God? (part 1)

18 Apr - Is it arrogant for Christians to believe there is only one way to God? (part 2)

25 Apr - The Problem of Pain and Suffering and the existence of God (part 1)

2 May - The Problem of Pain and Suffering and the existence of God (part 2)


Remember we will be moving to Room 1410 starting this week.

See you Sunday...

Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance Jude 1:2

Raising a Modern Day Knight

Every man wants to succeed with his son. Deep down, we all dream of releasing into the world a son whose life is highly competent, whose character is rock solid, and whose aspirations are noble. In short, we long for a son who will make us and others proud!

The question is “How?”

This Sunday, March 28th, please join us as we will be sharing some thoughts from "Raising Knights in a Modern World".   I will be sharing fundamentals from this program developed by Robert Lewis in his award winning approach to dealing with the challenges of young men today.

Some of these thoughts will be personal as I share with our group some of the thought processes I went through in developing my letters to my sons.

The process behind launching a son like that can be as mysterious as it is intimidating. But no process is more important or personally fulfilling. “A wise son makes his father glad.” (Proverbs 10:1)