a recap from terry's daughter...

because terry is still somewhere between la and spokane...

so, im sitting here wondering where in the world my mom is. her flight out of la was cancelled and with dying cell phones that's the last i heard. im hoping she gets home soon, she's got some seriously swollen ankles and a body that needs a really good rest.

i just thought id share a little bit with you, im sure she'll be posting her thoughts for you in the next few days. i read through some of the comments and you should all know this event was thoroughly documented. :) over 1ooo photos exist as well as hours and hours of video tape that i will be converting into a little documentary :). not to mention various notes were kept by georjette and lynn as well.

anyway,
she started out really strong. her pace was nice and steady and she was adapting to the heat pretty well, drinking what she was supposed to and staying relaxed. gradually the never ending roads and heat started to wear on her mentally. lynn and george checked her temp somewhere about halfway to stovepipe and found out she had a 102 degree temp. we got her cooled down in the air conditioning, got her something to eat and brought her sense of humor back out.
let me just make a side not and say that this was absolutely the hardest event ive ever, ever, ever crewed. they're not kidding when they say a crew can make or break you. i regret that we had to learn as we went as we may have hindered her time in our learning. georgette and lynn were so vital in keeping her healthy and hydrated though. she experienced such a small period of nausea and only one tiny blister, a rarity on the badwater course...the girls figured out that ice in the hat and spray bottles were great little tools in keeping her body temp down.
marcia rasmussen couldn't have shown up at a better time. the trip to stovepipe was a long, neverending one and it was getting to terry and breaking her spirits. marcia came in and offered a welcomed distraction. when terry finally made it to stovepipe, we got her showered and fed and she went for a swim in the pool. it was dark by the time her and i started up the climb out of stovepipe. the skies were beautiful but the rest of the desert was creepy. we still can't believe the four of us girls spent the night in the middle of the desert. that is definitely something id never assume i'd do. this night was long and rough and we finally got her to take a quick rest in the van. georjette paced her through the morning until we were relieved by the boys around 7am. we unwillingly left her behind to nap a few stressful hours at panamint. we brought her back a sandwich and the girls got her back into her routine and she headed across the dry panamint lakebed at 120 degrees with joey still by her side. at panamint we got her to rest and eat and she took off again with joey on her second climb. she did really, really well through here. around 4am we took another short nap in the van and the she headed out with georjette and lynn. the day wouldnt stop heating up. the temp was getting pretty obnoxious and once again the road you could see forever was driving her nuts. a few miles away from keeler her feet started demanding that she pay attention to them. she couldnt ignore the pain much longer but she tried to. lynn and george tried icing her feet to numb the pain, they taped the arch back in place and had to watch as terry went back out despite the pain. at one point after many icings and having to stop, her feet finally went numb and after over 100 miles, terry started to run. she ran despite every single pain in her body, despite the heavy sand filled wind and 120 degree temperatures. she ran and she ran hard and we all watched in shock as it went on for quite a while. she finally stopped when her feet forced her to and we went about the ice and go routine for a while more. 3 miles out of lone pine she mentally couldnt take it anymore. she had to listen to her body. she stopped, took a few hours to rest and then told us all it was time to head back out. george led her the 3 miles into lone pine. 3 miles that hours before would have taken forever, somehow blew by in well under an hour. i traded places with george at the dow villa check in spot, the way up to the portals. my mom was booking it. depsite the fact that hours earlier i was fighting back tears watching her suffer, i looked at her now and knew this wasnt going to take as long as it should. she was determined and sick of being out there, sick of being in pain and sick of the feet that betrayed her. we made it up that mountain in a steady pace, actually a pretty quick pace! when she finished i wasnt suprised, i was just so insanely happy for her. not too many people can claim an accomplishment like this. not only did she make it on her first try, she also made it despite her injuries. her feet are pretty bad now, she'll be hearing lots of lectures from her physical therapists i bet! :) overall though, she made it through without a battle with nausea, without blisters and without hallucinations. that course is relentlessly brutal and is nothing short of torture. all i can do now is hope she doesnt get sucked in and want to go back...! :)

i'll post some pictures later when terry posts her thoughts. so stay tuned and dont forget to still check back!