Preparation is everything. Part 1 of 4.

A book about a transcontinental run, which I read almost three decades

ago, planted the original seed for my cross-country run. “Oh, that sounds

like fun” (or some such thought) was my reaction. The seed lay quietly dormant . . until I began thinking about retirement. Then the little bugger started to sprout. A big dose of fertilizer came during a run a few years ago when one of my

| et me start with this warning: reading books is a dangerous activity.

Photo by Paula Vaughan

A The Petoskey breakwater in Little Traverse Bay—a destination well worth training for through blizzards and 1,400 miles of summer running in America’s heartland.

The Boulderto-Petoskey .

route, with a pci marker noting : each day’s Minnesota oe ? ; stopping point. en nense®ee South Dakota eo Wisconsin

Fs bd Michigan ra lowa

ow eee® e Nebraska Colorado e ene? ° Denver

Saturday-long-run running buddies (one of the gang known affectionately as the “satboys”), Andy Edmondson, mentioned that a couple of female friends in San Francisco (Caroline Merrill and Annabel Marsh) had run from Boston to Los Angeles in 1984 when Annabel was 60. I, of course, piped up with “I’ve always wanted to run across the country; I just don’t know where from and to.” I started tossing out ideas when Ding! Ding! Ding! the light went on: Boulder, Colorado, where I’ve lived since 1973, to Petoskey, Michigan, where I grew up. Perfect! I make the trip back and forth at least once a year; I’ve driven it, flown it, taken a train, run bits of it whenever we’ve gone by automobile. . .. Why not go via my favorite form of transportation: perambulation? And thus the little seed began to grow.

Training and preparation

Training and preparation for the run began with talking. If you tell someone about something you want to do, you’re much more likely to actually do it—or so the theory goes. In my case, it worked. First, I told my running buddies. Oh, and I mentioned it to my family. My husband’s steady refrain right up until we bought our support vehicle was “Don’t encourage her.” (Lost cause; the dam had broken.) Then, somehow, the person who was organizing my university retirement party found out about my plans and announced them in the campuswide invitation for my retirement party. No backing out now!

Next: a stroke of luck. I ran into Mark and Shirley Plaatjes one day, and they asked about my upcoming running plans. I told them about the run to Michigan. Mark asked, “Why would you want to do that?” After doing my best to explain, lL asked if he would like to coach me through the training. He invited me to stop by his shop, I did, and we drew up a training plan. Mark’s advice and encouragement throughout the year were key to the success of the run.