Redemption Run - Part III

Victory!

The Las Vegas Rock -n- Roll Marathon 2018 is in the books.  I finished in 4 hours, 44 minutes and 26 seconds – exactly 23 minutes and 23 seconds faster than last year!  I finished with no digestive issues, no leg cramps, and with energy to spare.

The changes I made from last year to this year definitely helped.  One change I didn’t make:  my choice of running buddies.  Sue was amazing – as she was last year.  She kept me on pace, jogged backwards to stay with me when I slowed, and cheered me on the whole way.  She beat the Boston Qualifier time for her age group by 10 minutes and took not only her age group but the group ahead of her.  Yeah, she’s that good.

It’ll be a while before I hit my Boston Qualifying time.  I’m counting on my better times to intersect with an older age group by 2021.

In the meantime, Sue and I are scheming on our next marathon – 2020.  Destination:  Hawaii!

Redemption Run - Part II

The race is in two days!!  At this time last year my stomach was churning with anxiety.  What had I gotten myself into?  Were my friends and family members correct in accusing me of being crazy? 

The day before a race you’re supposed to seriously carbo-load.  That means at least four grams of carbohydrates for each pound of body weight.  For me, that’s 408 grams of carbs the day before the race, and since the race in question is run at night, about half that on the day of the race.

This is a lot of carbs!  To put it in perspective, my go-to nutrition bars contain 30 grams of carbs each.  A bottle of sports drink contains 55 grams. A Science in Sport gel contains 22 grams.  Add that to some real food and it’ll be a great day to eat!

If only…  Some people eat under stress.  Some people cannot eat under stress.  I fall into the latter group, and last year I literally couldn’t eat all the nutrition supplements I’d packed.  Nerves!  This was the one time in my life that I wished I were a nervous eater.  Because my lack of food intake bit me about 3 and a half hours into the race.  It’s so cliché to say “I hit the wall” but that’s pretty much what happened.

This year will be different.  I’ve trained well – with my longest run being 4 and a half hours.  I’ve done it before, so I know I can.  And I’m counting on my stomach to willingly accept the massive amounts of food I’ll be eating in the next two days.  Wish me luck. 

Redemption Run - Part I

The Las Vegas Rock and Roll Marathon – my second marathon ever – is a week away.

I’m calling this my redemption run.  Yes, I finished the first time, but it was a poor finish in my mind.  I ran out of steam at mile 21.  My legs cramped at the end of the race, and I had to take a nap before I could even enjoy my post-race mimosas!

I can do better.  As I evaluated my failings in last year’s race, I realized that I was tripped up by two things:  nutrition and nerves.  I’ll address nutrition in this post.

My nutrition plan for last year was Clif Bloks – with caffeine – during the race.  I guessed that one block an hour would be good enough based on my body weight and the number of carbs per block.  I also counted on the caffeine to keep me energized during the evening run.  I was wrong.  At about the 3 ½ hour mark I hit the proverbial wall, and unfortunately, the caffeine caused a major digestive issue.  Thank goodness there was a real bathroom at that point in the course.

I am going to talk about poop.  I hope you’re not too offended. 

Runner’s bowels are a thing.  According to a post from the Mayo Clinic, “The cause of runner's diarrhea isn't clear. Contributing factors likely include the physical jostling of the organs, decreased blood flow to the intestines, changes in intestinal hormone secretion, increased amount or introduction of a new food, and pre-race anxiety and stress. What is clear is that food moves more quickly through the bowels of athletes in training.”

Anyway, what was I thinking?  Of course caffeine makes me poop.  It’s part of a time-honored morning ritual that works for many people.  I needed a new nutrition plan, and I needed to test it well before the next marathon.

First test – raisins and orange juice.  Hey, ultra-runners eat real food, so I thought, why not?  I tried this combination a few times and came to the realization that a) raisins make me poop, and b) orange juice makes me poop.  Scratch that…

Science in Sport to the rescue.  As a marathon participant I received an offer to try “what’s on the course.”  I’ve never been a fan of gels, but I needed something better and the offer price was right.  I was surprised by the size of the packets – they’re much larger than the more common gels.  I guess this makes sense – they advertise that you don’t need to take them with water.  The water is included.  I was also pleasantly surprised by the texture – it’s more like Jell-O that hasn’t quite jelled than the sticky goo I was used to.  I’ve used these on several training runs now and they’ve kept me going with no digestive effects.

According to Science in Sport (SIS), your body (liver and muscles) can store about 2000 calories. According to my trusty Garmin, I burn about 480 calories per hour.  If only I could finish a marathon in under 4 hours.  Not going to happen, so I’ll need to supplement. One SIS gel contains 90 calories.  One per hour worked in training, so that’s the plan.  Wish me luck.

AARP Tax Aide

AARP Tax Aide offers free tax preparation services to low and moderate income taxpayers.  Now in its 50th year, Tax-Aide has helped 50 million taxpayers – and counting.  You don’t have to be an AARP member, and there’s no age requirement to get tax help from IRS-certified volunteers.

Those IRS-certified volunteers include us.  When we moved to Beaver Dam for the winter, we volunteered for Tax Aide, primarily because there was no Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program in Mesquite.  Makes sense – there are a lot of seniors in Mesquite and the surrounding areas. 

The Tax Aide program requires the same certification as VITA, plus a senior-specific training that we learned a lot from.  VITA’s focus is on getting low-income taxpayers their Earned Income Credit, where Tax Aide focuses on the needs of seniors.  We learned how to calculate the taxable portion of annuitized pensions and how to give a retired Public Service Officer a well-deserved tax break.  We also learned how to advise our clients who really don’t need to file a tax return at all.

In many ways, Tax Aide is simpler.  We saw no disputes over which parent gets to claim which child, and very few penalties under the Affordable Care Act.  Most of our clients have Medicare.  But in other ways it’s more complicated.  The more well-to-do clients are receiving Required Minimum Distributions from their IRAs, and taking capital gains and losses from their stock portfolios.

In two days working at the Mesquite Senior Center, I saw more W2G’s than I’d seen in six years in VITA.  What’s a W2G?  It’s a report of gambling winnings.  Casinos are required to report winnings of $1200 or more to the IRS.  Most players who report significant winnings also report significant losses.  Here’s the rule:  Winnings are considered income and are directly taxed.  Losses can be deducted if you can itemize deductions, but only up to the amount won.  Not a very favorable situation for the gamblers of the world, and they usually tell us about it. 

When we worked VITA it made me happy to see a single mother supporting her children get an earned income credit of $2000 - $3000.  Now, working Tax Aide, it makes me happy to see the 70 to 90 set bringing in a good income in retirement, enjoying their lives, and not having to worry about their taxes.  So far my oldest client is 93.  Hoping to see him again next year!

Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument

When we rode out of Mesquite, Nevada into Lime Kiln Canyon, we had no idea that the road was one of the gateways to a little known national monument.  The Grand Canyon – Parashant National Monument is located on the northern edge of the Grand Canyon in northwest Arizona. The monument was established by Bill Clinton’s Presidential Proclamation 7265 on January 11, 2000. 

Per the National Park Service web site, “This national monument is a very remote and undeveloped place jointly managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The 1,048,325-acre monument is larger than the state of Rhode Island.  There are no paved roads into the monument and no visitor services.”  Visitors must be prepared to leave pavement and cell service behind.  Pets are allowed, as are off-road vehicles.  A high clearance 4x4 vehicle with off-pavement tires is strongly recommended to handle the rocky roads.  You can get visitor information at the BLM office in St. George, Utah.

Near the Lime Kiln Canyon Entrance

According to the Grand Canyon Trust (www.grandcanyontrust.org), “Much of the monument remains unexplored, with only five percent of the protected land having been surveyed. You can see remnants of ranching, mining, and timber cutting at sites like Tassi Ranch, Nixon Sawmill, and Pa’s Pocket Line Shack. But human history here dates back much further. Thousands of archaeological sites—petroglyphs, artifacts, agave roasting pits, pueblos—document the cultures and lifestyles of the Ancestral Puebloan and Southern Paiute cultures. The monument’s name derives from an early translation of a Paiute family name “Parashonts,” meaning “elk or large deer standing in water.”

Jacob's Well

Grand Canyon – Parashant is one of the 21 National Monuments to be evaluated under President Trump’s Executive Order 13792.  So far, its acreage has not been reduced – at least, not as far as I have been able to find online.  Maybe it’s too remote for mining and timber cutting to be economically practical.  We saw evidence that grazing is still permitted at a site marked “Jacob’s Well.” 

The nearest towns to the monument are St. George, Utah, Fredonia, Arizona, and as it turns out, Mesquite, Nevada.  The road into the monument from Mesquite is completely passable in a 4WD vehicle.  I don’t recommend driving the sedan.  But if you’re a fan of beautiful desert wilderness, I do recommend Grand Canyon – Parashant National Monument.

The Mesquite Senior Center

This year we’re volunteering as tax preparers for AARP Tax Aide.  Tax Aide uses the same IRS-sponsored certification tests, the same process, and the same tax software as the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program that we’ve supported for so long.  And since it’s a program to help seniors, what better place to meet than the Senior Center? 

When I started this blog by researching fun things to do in retirement, visiting a Senior Center didn’t make the cut.  Somehow I had it in my brain that I would never be old enough to go to the Senior Center. 

Turns out I am.  According to the Mesquite Senior Center newsletter, patrons 60 and older qualify for the reduced lunch price of $3.50, and are welcome at all events.  Who knew?  So I read through the newsletter.  In January they had a line dancing party; they had a Valentine’s dinner in February, and a murder mystery dinner in March.  They offer several crafts each month for a minimal charge, and several exercise classes including low-impact Zumba.

We were told by our Tax Aide colleagues that they usually eat lunch on the days they work.  We tried it on training day, and it was actually very good.  Coffee, lemonade, and punch are available at no charge all day long.  I am absolutely amazed at the efficiency of the center.  They cook the lunches on site and package them for the Meals on Wheels program.  When lunch hour starts, all you have to do is sign in, pay your $3.50 and sit down.  The staff serves you with a smile.  Of course, we’ve eaten lunch there every time we’ve worked.

The center is open 5 days a week from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  Classes are available during these times, as are tables to play cards and do puzzles, or just have coffee and visit with friends.  They also schedule field trips to exotic places such as Las Vegas. 

So, while I’m still not old enough to spend my days at the Senior Center, I’m pleased to know about the services offered, and count me in for lunch.

Does Anybody Really Know What Time it is?

Does anybody really care?

Beaver Dam is in the northwest corner of Arizona.  If you go eight miles west you cross into Nevada, which is in the Pacific Time Zone.  If you go twenty-three miles east, you cross into Utah, which is in the Mountain Time Zone.

And Arizona?  It’s in the Mountain Standard Time Zone.  Always.  Arizona is one of two states in the U.S. that does not observe Daylight Savings Time.  Half the year, Arizona is on the same time as Utah.  The other half, it’s on the same time as Nevada.

This can make life interesting.  Since there’s almost nothing in Beaver Dam, if we want to do anything, we’re either driving to Utah or driving to Nevada.  And what time it is where we’re going is almost more important than what time it is where we are.  If we were going to Utah, we plan to leave normally.  If we were going to Nevada, we’d leave 45 minutes later than the time we were scheduled to arrive.  Weird, I know, but we got used to it.

Just as we had pretty much figured out our regular routine, Daylight Savings Time hit.  Utah and Nevada dutifully changed.  Arizona dutifully stayed the same.  And now, instead of being on the same time as Utah and an hour ahead of Nevada, we were on the same time as Nevada and an hour behind Utah.

This hit us pretty hard last weekend when we commuted to Hurricane for the Tri-State ATV Jamboree.  We had to be at the Jamboree Headquarters each morning at 6:30 AM – challenging even when you don’t have to adjust for time zones.  We had to leave the trailer at 4:30 AM to make it on time.

Then there’s the TV schedule.   Our trailer antenna picks up one station from Phoenix.  Everything else is from Utah.  So the Channel 4 news at 5 is on at 4 here.  And clocks?  The trailer clocks are set to Arizona time, which is effectively Pacific Time.  The car clocks are set to Utah time.  My watch is set to Utah time.  Thankfully the cell phones change with the location, so if I ever get confused, I have an authoritative source.  Verizon really knows what time it is, and apparently, they really care.