Live Footage of the Evening - Rain, Rain and more Rain

Chad and I are back in Pennington now and guess what, it is sunny! Figures that it would be nice, in fact it doesn't even seem that it rained all that hard here, which makes me believe that the storms were isolated to Allamuchy.

Here is some footage of us hanging in the tent while Jayne was out slogging in the woods and really digging it. She didn't encounter the bear that was supposedly wandering out in the woods. The bear was probably just hanging out in a cave where it was dry wondering what these humans were up to.

Kathrin

Flooding at Allamuchy

I had set my alarm for 4am, thinking that I could snooze for a bit before the dawn lap, but I was awoken before that at around 3:30am by wicked thunder storm #2. I went back to sleep thinking that the rain would stop by 5am, but that was not the case. I went back to sleep with some difficulty because by that point there was water dripping from tent ceiling onto my pillow. I guess when the weatherperson said there were going to be isolated thunder storms, they meant that the storms would be isolated to Allamuchy, aka. Mudamuchy

Although I kind of like the idea of going out now, I think that would regret that decision when I am walking my bike through 10 inches of mud at mile 4. We have called it quits for this year, which makes me sad. I think that Loggie's Ladies have to find a race that isn't in August when such crazy weather is likely, or maybe racing in the desert at Moab, Utah should be a consideration!!

Thank you everybody for your support. It has been great reading the comments.

Kathrin

Warm, dry, and fast...

probably somewhere, but not Allamuchy. I had the pleasure of doing my first lap in the dusk/dark. Having a little trouble seeing, I had a few run-ins with some rocks and mud that jumped out of the trail. I'm hoping to get a chance to ride the trails in the light but the thunderstorms that started on Jayne's second lap haven't completely let up yet. Hopefully it will be dry enough tomorrow.

We have decided to give Jayne the tough girl award for doing almost her entire lap during a torrential downpour. Concerned that she was having a miserable lap we all stayed up waiting for her return. She got back about twenty minutes ago with a huge grin on her face raving about how much fun it was.

You go girl!!

Anyway, Kathrin loves the crack of dawn rides and is going to re-evaluate the weather situation at about 5am. Until then...

-Stacey

Hell is somewhere between mile 7 and 8

I was feeling really good until just past mile 7, that is when the trail from hell appears (uphill) followed by a downhill that required some really good balance and aim. It is really hot!! The folks at the medical tent had their hands full when I passed, looks like a lot of folks who were in need of water.

I really dig the course this year (with the exception of that hill from hell) but there are some sections that you can really let it rip and they (thankfully) too the really long hill that used to be at the end.

Pam is out there right now and Stacey is ready to rock. Then we head into the night. Should be fun.

Kathrin

Riding Buddy

Oh boy. Mud. Lots and lots of mud.

Spend a lot of time riding with this guy, my new mountain biking buddy...

-Jayne

and we're off!

poor jayne, she drew the short stick so she took the first lap - like champ! after overcoming our 7:30
am car/stuff logistical issues, realizing upon arrival that half of our bike rack was no longer attached to the car and that the bathroom at Quickmark was actually the stockroom, we had a successful start.

here's to staying hydrated and energetic in the 95-degree, 98% humidity-weather :)

~Pamela

On our way....

We had some minor logistical issues with loading the bikes, but Jayne, Pam and I are now on our way. The last weather report looks promising, with the thunderstorms holding off until 1pm tomorrow. Send us some positive energy!!

-Stacey

The Countdown

There are about 4 hours and 45 minutes until we get underway. It is a rather foggy morning, but that should burn off and get really hot. Pam, Stacey and Jayne should also be on their way and we are all meeting there.

I have got run, my ride, Seung, will be here any second.

'later

The Ladies Meet for PreRace Strategy Session

We finally all met tonight and figured out the logistics for the weekend. Tents, lights, bikes, getting to the race, etc. It was great to meet face to face, and we are definitely all psyched about the race on the weekend. It looks like the weather is going to clear up in time and get really hot, which is better than rain we guess :-)

The fundraising is going well. Thanks to all of our friends and family who have shown their support. Be sure to check back as the race gets underway on the weekend.

Kathrin

From Dr. Loggie ...

Thanks you for supporting research efforts into pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP). This is a difficult and frustrating disease to treat, most especially since our therapeutic options remain relatively limited. We are trying to change that with our ongoing research program. The disease is rare enough that conventional funding sources are difficult to obtain. Fortunately, we have had strong grass roots support from patients and families. We have already been able to broaden our treatment approaches in a relatively short time. We have added people and have additional resources. We fully expect to make continued progress. We also expect that treatments arising from these will impact not just on PMP but also on more common cancers such as colon cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer. We are looking at the disease from several different points. We have ongoing research into the associated mucin production which is a dramatic clinical manifestation of PMP. A series of experiments looking at mucin suppression using drugs formulated in our laboratory are planned to begin in September. We are looking for possible alterations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) at the molecular level and associated changes in cell signaling which can influence this disease. This has recently been a fruitful avenue of research for our translational research group into a very rare disease, malignant peritoneal mesothelioma.

(A web search on “loggie foster mesothelioma” should turn up recent abstracts.).