Packing, unpacking, then packing again.

Lots going on since I last posted, namely moving a mile north into West Harlem/Hamilton Heights and trying not to screw up my back a week before the TNF Kansas City 50k.  I spent the better part of the last two weeks prepping for the move.  I'm used to moving semi-frequently what with rent prices changing, roommates changing, etc, and I enjoy the opportunity to purge more than I normally would and to reassess where life has taken me.  However, I must say that this move ended up being the most stressful due to the need to prep two apartments.  The roommates were a non-issue in terms of stress, thankfully, and it was mainly arranging items.  Usually I purge to simplify, pack it all away and head on out.  This time I needed to prevent redundancy of items (printer, kitchen stuff, etc), establish bicycle storage, and help figure out how to hide items such as newspapers from the 1860s so that the cats would not claw them in ritualistic paper sacrifice or get cat hair on them (which can damage them in the long run).

The other headache is that the new apartment is the 6th floor of a pre-war walk up building.  My old apartment is also on the 6th floor, and I usually took the stairs unless loaded down with a backpack and two canvas bags stuffed with groceries and cat food.  I've only used Craigslist movers before, and that was my budget for this year too.  I planned to help, as I always do, particularly getting things up the 5 flights.  But, since I was honest about the walk up situation from the get go, none of the Craigslisted movers returned my call or email.  I had to fall back on actual movers.  Made the process super smooth, though cost a little more than I had hoped.  At least nothing is broken and the process is done.

The Great Move was carried out Saturday morning.  The mega-prep was Friday.  The new apt is actually closer to 1.2 miles north.  I wanted to get the cats, bikes and my computer up there the day before -- items I'd rather not leave to the will of movers, even if packed well.  I also had a third load to take to Salvation Army, and there were a handful of objects such as old wooden two drawer filing cabinet that needed to be placed with the garbage outside the building at the new place.  The day went like this: walk from new apt to old apt, finish packing a few items, walk load to Salvation Army, walk home, walk cat prep items (litter box, food bowls) and computer to new apt, take out 2-3 loads of garbage, walk home, ride bike #1 to new apt, walk home, ride bike #2 to new apt, walk home, pack up kitties and take subway to new apt, lay on floor so the stress in my back could go away.

By my counts I walked 7.5-8 miles and ascended 55 flights of stairs (11 sets of 5 flights each), half the time carrying crap.  Saturday morning I woke up with sore biceps and semi-tired legs.  But, again, the move is done.  Thankfully.  And the kittehs acclimated uber fast, despite the trauma of a ride in cat carriers.

Latest antic by Sadie: while Nathan and I were in the other room, she snagged the remainder of a calzone off the table and lugged it 6 feet away without any evidence of dragging it.  She and Merus love love love cheese.  She was happily trying to decide between licking or nibbling at the melted mozzarella when we found her.  She's a very small kitteh, and the remaining calzone was nearly the size of my fist.  Can't wait to find out what she'll catch and bring for display once she becomes a mountain kitteh....

In other news, I got an email from TNF regarding the upcoming race.  It is a long-ish email discussing weather.  Apparently, when TNF decided on the date and location of the race they never considered what August means in Missouri, or even what summer means in Missouri.  The email included this:

Alert Level	Temperature Range	Conditions	Recommended Actions	Rules in Affect
Low	Below 80 degrees	Good	Enjoy the event!	n/a
Moderate	80 - 88 degrees	Less than ideal	Slow down. Be alert for course changes.	Hydration system required.
High	89 - 95 degrees	Potentially dangerous	Slow down, consider stopping. Be alert for course changes.	Hydration system required.
Extreme	Above 95 degrees	Extreme and dangerous.	Event cancelled.	Athletes required to stop.

The first thing I saw was the "rules in affect."  Hydration systems, be they a bottle or hydration pack or whatever, are required if the temperature gets at or above 80 degrees.  I planned to use one the whole time, with the attempt to get in 3/4 to a full bottle of GU Brew (electrolyte drink stuff) per hour.  That's what I always do on my long runs, regardless of summer or winter conditions.  Relying on aid stations that are spaced an average 2 miles apart means I'd have anywhere from 16 to 20 minutes between fluid intakes, more if I needed to walk any sections.

Then I saw "athletes required to stop" should the temperature raise above 95 degrees.  Hey TNF, did you notice that you chose a date at the end of summer, meaning that we've all had July's heat wave to acclimate?  For those who may not remember, the Chicago Marathon had a peculiar heat wave a few Octobers ago, with temperatures just shy of 100.  I'd say that's different -- average daily high for early October is 65-70 degrees, so a heat wave is much more of a jolt.  Even still, the Chicago Marathon removed the competition and stated it was then a fun run, encouraging people to take it easy.  Notice how they didn't simply cancel the event.  Average highs for late August in KC are about 86.  Should KC reach 95 on race day then this would merely match the preceding month and a half.  Meaning, it should be expected.  That's what happens when you schedule a race in the midwest for the middle of August.  If you think its un-runable, then you should have thought about that before creating the race in the first place.  The Badwater Ultramarathon, 135 miles long, runs through Death Valley during the summer.  Temperatures vary from 40 degrees to potentially 130 degrees throughout the race.  You may have to run on the white paint to avoid melting your shoes.  But considering that those are the expected possibilities of the selected course, the race is never cancelled.  Granted I am a native of MO and know what lovely heat and humidity are possible, but you'd think the race directors and other runners would also have considered such things.

Please understand that I'm not arguing any of this to diminish the difficulty of running in the heat.  Since signing up for the race, I have considered this race to be between nothing more than me versus summer weather.  It is not going to be a fast race, and those attempting heroic finishes need to have trained accordingly.  I signed up for the race, I take responsibility for choosing a potentially hot race, I have trained in the heat (lately have been wearing long pants and shirts to keep up my head tolerance even as New York's heat has eased), and I'm going to be ridiculously pissed off if I'm forced to stop mid-race.  Liability can be an annoying hurdle.  Luckily the highest I've seen predicted for this Saturday is 90, which won't even hit til midafternoon.  Should all go according to plan then I'll be done around 11am-12pm.

Now to go find the sunscreen that actually stays on when I sweat.  It ends up hovering in a re-fluidized state atop a layer of sweat, but it stays in place and does its job so long as I don't try to rub it in with the sweat.  Many other errands to follow too.  Kansas City tomorrow!  Will get to see family and a few friends from back in the day.  Hot spit!  At least this time packing will be a small operation.