Paul Stassos Runs Montana

Paul's Thoughts May 4th

Hello everyone! I have an Internet connection thanks to my wonderful hosts for the evening - Tom and Helen Hougen of Melstone. Helen made a wonderful dinner and I am now relaxing and taking time to make some updates to this site.

Today was my 7th day on the pavement and I have now completed one-third of this trek across Montana. I'm currently 207 miles into the journey. I arrived in Melstone this afternoon after a day of battling stiff headwinds which continued to do some damage to my skin (when combined with the heat) and my lips are about as chapped and sore as they can get. Today was one of those days to simply put my head down and push Bob... one foot after another. It was a pretty tiring 26 miles, particularly after the 42 miler yesterday. So, in a 36 hour period I covered 68 miles. My feet were ready for ice... and Bob was ready to get a few more food supplies. Both of those items were accomplished.

My left foot is still sore... and downright painful now and then. However, it's not getting any worse. My feet have been blistering - which is common when traveling such distances on hot pavement - and my skin is very sensitive after being burned by the sun and wind. On any trek of this magnitude it's hard to keep the sunscreen constantly on the skin due to sweating. Even though I had applied sunscreen early in the day, and again on two other occassions, I ended up burning the top of my left ear. Also, I wore a tank top (singlet) today and lathered up the sun block... but apparently missed a part just behind my left shoulder. To say the least... it burned - and actually blistered. So, my skin is really paying a price right now. The blistering feet is simply one of the many discomforts that come with what I do, and every night I put on my nursing hat and work at mending the day's damage from the road. Then, each morning I have to put any bandages necessary on my feet, shove 'em in my shoes, and get on the road. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's painful. What I do is not like a walk in the park. I'm sure there are those who see a guy walking/running down the road with a jogging stroller and a sign stuck on the front reading "Trek Across Montana" and think - unique way to see the state. However, what I do has many dangers involved - and I'm not just talking about cars and trucks coming at me all day... or dogs that want a runner's leg for lunch.

It's incredibly demanding on the body to travel the marathon distance or more every day - particularly when pushing 65 pounds. The body rebels at times and wants to quit. That's when the mind has to take over. Mentally, I evaluate my physical condition (which I'm always monitoring) and if the body is not bordering on a dangerous or permanent damage condition then my mind kicks into overdrive and propels my body forward. It's hard to explain, but my mental strength in all of this is much greater than my physical strength. I'm simply wired well to be able to push myself to extreme measures all alone... day after day. It's part of my character that I've always known I've had, but which I truly didn't tap into fully until I ran across America in 2006. To put it simply, my body and mind know precisely how to do these ultra-endurance endeavors while allowing me to live to tell about them - without permanent damage. I've been checked out by doctors in the past (and even last week) and overall my body is fine. My blood tests show very good results and I don't suffer from any physical ailments in my everyday life. What's important is for me to constantly monitor my condition closely and make adjustments as needed.

I'll be on the road at 6:30am tomorrow morning... heading for Roundup, Montana. That 35-mile day will be followed by a 40-mile day on Wednesday in order to get to Ryegate, Montana. I may actually need to contact Lyle and Laurie Burgess of Ryegate to see if they would be willing to pick me up about 7 miles east of Ryegate so that I can bring that day's mileage down to 33 miles. I would tack the remaining 7 miles onto the following day - which would give me a 36 mile day on Thursday instead of 29. I'll have to see how my body responds to tomorrow's 35 miler. So, Lyle and Laurie if you're reading this please e-mail me and let me know if a transport into Ryegate from about 7 miles east would be possible on Wednesday. Thanks!

See... adjustments are essential. You have to carefully monitor the body and adjust as needed. Success is not making a plan to achieve a goal and then being so rigid in that plan that you ultimately fail due to a circumstance that you just wouldn't bend on. There are many steps to successfully achieving a goal. You have to wisely make a plan; prepare properly for the goal; and, then make any adjustments needed while aiming to achieve the goal. I try to do that on these endurance treks, and in all areas of my life.

Okay... time to sign off for tonight. I want to once again thank Tom and Helen Hougen for taking this tired runner in for another night. They allowed me to stay with them in 2006 when I ran across America. I don't think I'll be running to their doorstep again.

I've received several mileage reports, but am out of time tonight to be able to post any here. Thanks for sending those and please continue to do so. Also, I'd like to put together a music slideshow that I can post on this web site when this is done. I'd like to get team pictures and some running/walking pictures from team leaders as possible so that I can include some in the music slideshow. It will feature pictures of my journey as well as some pictures of participating teams. I thought it would be a neat thing to do when P.A.C.E. Trek wraps up.

Have a super day and keep logging those miles!