Location, Location, Location

Location, Location, Location

You hear that a lot when people talk about buying or selling a house.

This can also apply that when running all over the world.  I have seen many places that I could live but each one has a drawback and it is mostly the location.  Asia is great but the location is just too far away from the USA where my kids presently live.

I Just spent a few days in Denver and Boulder Colorado.  During the month of late March when there is a drought going on.  It seemed like a great place to live.  In reality the location creates the downside with a great deal of snow the majority of the year.  I use to ski a lot as a kid but now I have decided that I rather live some place warm.  I like running marathons in cool weather but the rest of the time including sleeping I rather be warm so as I said before the location of Denver/Boulder would keep it from making it to the short list.

Another thought would be to move from one location to the next every 3 months and basically follow the sun year round.  Really starting to give that a lot of thought.  Rent a home or apartment and just keep moving.  I do get bored easily so not sure how 3 months would work out.  It would cut down on the daily cash burn rate since airfare is the number one expense.

I am presently in Belize and decided to come for a visit since you hear so much about many expats moving there.  This is our 32 destination in 3 1/2 months and will report on how it stacks up with others.  

Once again Location rules.  Great stay but Belize city needs some work and after a visit to San Pedro for the day it was not worth the extra ferry or flight.  I hear that the rainy season starts in a month and lasts for 6 months.  I might return for a 3 month stint but year round in with half of it in the rain just will not work.  The Mayan ruins in Altun Ha were great but the ride there and back was a bit much.  The roads need work.  That is all that I will say.  The food was amazing and since I like to eat that was a plus.

Once again could not do or see it all but maybe next time.  The apartment was great and the same rental company picked us up from the airport and was able to rent the same vehicle from them.  They love their dogs in Belize City.  That is not exactly true but they all seemed to join in with a song each night.  Not really a problem with 100 channels on the TV so was able to watch the NCAA mens and women semi and final games so I was a happy man.

On our way back to ATL where a quick trip to the cleaners, the UPS store for my taxes from the accountant and the Storage unit to switch out from beach wear to Marathon clothes is in order.

Short night and early flight for Boise for Marathon number 56.  The 4th since my surgery and the 7th in the last 12 months.

The rest of the year I have 5 more Marathons scheduled along with a 21 miler and 2 half marathons.  Hope the old body can hold out.  Feeling really good right now.  Got some nice slow runs in along the water in Belize.  I must admit I really do love to run anywhere when you can hear the water hitting the beach or rocks as it were in Belize. 

The following I wrote back in August 2014 a mere 2 months after open heart surgery.

Enjoy

I run because it has taken me places I have never been before, both mentally and physically.  

With the 52 marathons and numerous other races under my feet in 34 different states and 8 different countries I can easily say that I have been places that I would have never visited if it was not for running.  As an example, a few years back, I ran the Missoula Montana Marathon.  I needed the state in my quest to complete all 50 states but the cities experience will stay with me for a lifetime.  This is a city that I would have never experienced if it was not for running.

Mentally as I competitor and mid pack runner I get to go places in my mind that I have never been before.  I compete against myself and I always win.  Each day that I head out the door either on a training run or a race I set a goal and have always been able to achieve that goal.  When I turned 50 I set out to run a 50 mile race and even though I was one of the last finishers, mentally I won since I was able to achieve that goal.

4 weeks ago I had 8 different holes in me at the same time as I awaited for open heart surgery to replace my faulty Aortic Heart Valve.  After having my heart  stopped, valve replaced and then started back up and my Mini Zipper chest incision closed I am right on track to finish marathon number 53 at the Berlin Marathon September 28th , 79 days from now.  This was a goal that I set for myself over a year ago knowing that I would require the intervening surgery.  This is some place mentally that I would have never have gone if it was not for the running.

I can only imagine where running will take me in the future both in fantastic destinations and in my mind.  Where will marathon number 60 take place when I turn 60 in July a mere 360 days away.  Only my minds eye knows for sure.

For me running can only continue to take me places I have never been before even though right now I have no idea where these places might be both mentally and physically.

Here is something I read the other day that makes you think.

WORLD CHANGING IDEAS

The Science Of Why You Should Spend Your Money On Experiences, Not Things

You don't have infinite money. Spend it on stuff that research says makes you happy.

You would have to say that hold true for me.  I have everything in storage and traveling the world to see what I missed after 37 years of flying airplanes.

The World is so big.

This is something I have had to relearn.  Growing up and looking at the map of the world you know that that that the world is so big but you really don’t fully understand the shear size until you really start to travel all over the world.  As a pilot I was in my own world and each destination was tied to where I was departing.  Now that I am going from place to place and trying decide where to go next is when you really start to understand how truly big the world is.  I have heard of places that I have not heard of before and wonder if there is enough time to actually get to see it all.

The Marathon outside of Boise was great.  Even though Boise did not make the short list as to where to live it was still a nice visit.  Broke down and bought a Jeff Galloway timer for this marathon.  I have seen him go by us many times with his walk run regime and finally gave in and tried it.  I had ours set for 2 minutes run and one minute walk and it worked great.  I highly recommend it.  Jeff actually qualified for Boston using this and maybe there is still hope for me.  I have run the last dozen marathons with running

4/10 or a mile then taking a walk break for a 10th.  Near the end I would always find myself walking more and running less and did not have that problem with Jeff’s timer.

The Marathon was in Nampa,ID and we ran near and around Lake Lowell.  We were on mostly roads facing on coming traffic and it was a bit unnerving at first.  The volunteers were great and I think there were two ladies that actually came out to cheer us on.  I was not the last one to cross the finish line but there were only 100 folks running the marathon so it was safe to say that there were not many behind me.  Very strange experience after running the last two international Marathons where there were 10’s of thousand of runners.

On the way back from Boise Usair/American asked for volunteers and offered a $450 per person voucher, $10 dinner voucher, which I had to ask for, and since I had a Admiral club voucher already we enjoyed the 6 hours tasting wine and snacks.

Presently on a short trip to pick up the final items from Bloomington and Louisville to drive those items back to ATL.  After 4 days in ATL will then go back out to the west coast for the Big Sur Marathon.  Since we already have the state we are only going to do the 21 miler there.  Understand that is the most scenic part.  Short trip after the 21 miler to Malibu beach then back to SDF for Derby with Sis and friends. 

Oh my