La Penitente

I didn't do the mini-marathon. I got the packet and the bib and the t-shirt the day before, but was divided on whether I really would go because the weather prediction was severe thunderstorms all day long with possible tornado conditions. When the alarm sounded at 4:15 am, I looked out the window at the pouring rain, imagined fighting the traffic of cars of 15,000 crazy marathon people, finding my way to shuttle buses with 15,000 other people, only to walk for hours in a drenching rain, and... well, I wimped out. But darned if the weather didn't clear and become overcast for the rest of the morning, perfectly respectable weather for walking.

So, I feel bad and have to do penance. Tomorrow I will do my own mini-marathon, rain or shine.

I have my new boots and my new orthotics and have pretty well broken them in. Lift-off time is less than three weeks away. I am very grateful that I changed my original plans to go in April because the Iceland volcano would have put the kabosh on that. I only hope that the backlog of folks trying to get home from Europe and to Europe will have thinned out by May 16th.

I am getting a bit panicky with so many loose ends to tie up before I go. Bills and  other obligations to hand off to others. Little odds and ends of things to buy. Figuring out how to blog and post through my BBerry. Practicing my essential French and Spanish. Researching how to get from de Gaulle airport to the correct train station. Je veut acheter un billet-simple pour Bayonne. Ou et le ATM? Hola peregrino! Buen Camino. Soy americana de Kentucky. Hace muchos cabellos rapidos!

Papa John Ten-Miler

I completed the Papa John Ten-Miler on Saturday in Louisville. That is all I can say...I completed it. It took me three hours and ten minutes. That's a nineteen minute mile. Well, let's put it this way: the traffic control guy was right behind me picking up the cones until I did manage to pass a few other "dawdlers." I swear there were a bunch of people behind me until the drenching rains came. My theory is they all gave up and went home, leaving me as the last of the determined ones. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it. Il faut aller doucement does not apply to this kind of race, but I really did want to see how I would do walking in the manner I plan to walk on the Camino. The rain came somewhere between the second and third mile. It was a little chilly, but no big deal. I had to smile as I came up to a couple of young boys who were laughing hysterically at their wet condition. One turned to me and said, "I got drenched back there!" as if he were the only one who had found himself in that situation.

I have been finding lately that my shoes are not as comfortable as they once were. (In fact, during the walk I had a severe pain in the ball of my left foot for several miles.) So I went to Foot Solutions in Elizabethtown last week to have it checked out. The folks there were great and spent a couple of hours with me. In the end, I am getting new orthotics and new boots. My old boots were a size too small. Maybe they were always too small, or maybe my feet are bigger. Who knows? I should have them in two weeks, with enough time to break them in before I leave. I hope they come before the mini-marathon on April 19th.