For those of you not up to date on the Whitaker life saga, we have now decided to go to six months in Spokane and six months in Mazatlan. Joel and Janice drove to Spokane around the first of May and looked at several houses. One was chosen and the purchase was closed on May 23rd.
This house needed several projects to bring it up to date. As Joel has two left thumbs and does not do remodeling well, he stepped aside and Janice is the foreman and Joel is in Mazatlan, staying out of the way. He will return to Spokane on June 30, hopefully when all the major projects are finished.
Janice will bring everyone up to date on the new house and remodel at a later blog.
While staying out of the way, Joel has been training hard for his 42nd full Marathon. His last was six or seven years ago and we were unsure if he would ever do complete the 26.2 miles again due to severe arthritis in his right ankle and then a stroke in August of 2011.
The stroke was a wake up call for Joel as after the arthritis settled in he had gotten lazy and his weight had ballooned. In rehab Joel decided that he was not to be an invalid and immediately started walking and watching his weight. After losing 55-60 pounds Joel decided to have something done about his ankle. He was referred to a Mexican rheumatologist who also was an Ironman Triathlete who was familiar with the runner's issues. He arranged a surgery that fused three joints in the ankle and also transplanted some bone in the ankle to replace bone that had died.
Joel is now training for a July 14, 2013 Marathon in Missoula, Montana. He will run with his old running friend, Carol Dellinger. Carol is a breast cancer survivor and now does motivational speaking at Marathons and cancer related programs. This will be Carol's 270th Marathon. She is now recovering from knee surgery and it will be her first Marathon since the surgery. We started running Marathons at the same time many years ago. Notice the same type of determination both Joel and Carol have to not let the cancer or stroke beat them to the ground but they are both rising above it and have not only survived it, but rose to the challenge and have conquered it by not letting their disease determine what their future will be. I will let everyone know how these two survivors fare after July 14th. We will have a cheering section as Janice and two of our grandsons will be cheering for us and Cheryl will be cheering on Carol. Missoula is special as our grandfather Whitaker had a street named after him in Missoula, so we will have to drive on it.
The training in Mazatlan is great as it is warm and humid. By getting used of these conditions, there is little the weather can throw at us in the July Marathon. Joel runs a 13 mile course twice a week, along with several shorter runs. Joel also one day a week, walks to El Faro, the lighthouse hill, and climb up to the lighthouse. It is around 8 miles round trip plus the climb. The first half is a road, with switchbacks. About halfway up the hill the steps start. The road ends and a climb of 330 steps starts. This gives his 66 year old body a challenge. It is worth it as you get a great panorama or the harbor and the city.
Many of the Americans and Canadians are now up north and the city is quiet. In June it will come alive again when all the Mexican tourists arrive from inland cities after school lets out. Until then, it will be Joel training and Janice supervises the house makeover. La vida es buena.
