Idaho Trip Report

 Prior to this trip, Idaho was one of just 5 states that I had visited only once under the strict standard.  The other 4 are Alaska, North Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska.  I hope to check those off my list by the summer of 2024.  My first Idaho trip came in 2011 for the Coeur D’Alene half marathon.  Aside from CDA, I saw little of the state aside from the I-90 corridor and did not venture beyond the panhandle.  This was before I set the 50 half marathon states goal.  At the time, I merely wanted to visit all 50 states. A CDA race enabled me to check off Washington and Montana as well, which I accomplished on a drive from Spokane to Missoula.  I did return in 2017 for a photo op at a scenic spot just outside of Yellowstone but only stayed for a few brief moments so that does not count under the strict standard.  I felt that I had not done justice to the state as a large portion of it remained unexplored.  I considered a February visit but opted for Palm Springs, which proved to be a good call because the road that I would travel was closed at that time plus it would have been very cold. 

4/22-

There was some drama on the fights.  The flight to Denver was delayed by 30 minutes so I ran/walked as fast as I could to the connecting gate at another concourse.  I arrived about 2-3 minutes after the boarding door was scheduled to close but found to my relief that the flight to Boise was also delayed.  You could say that I made the connection only because of the 2^nd delay.   At any rate, I was on the ground by 2:30 local time and on the road by 3:00.  I did have some slack time planned in case of a SNAFU so the trip would not have been wrecked if I was stranded overnight.    

I initially planned to go up Hwy 55 to McCall but cut it short by stopping at Banks, about 45 minutes north of Boise.  I found a pretty nice sand beach with views of mountain tops that still were capped by a bit of snow.  Of course, both the air and water were way too cold for a swim.  My hotel was on the outskirts of town about a mile and a half from the city center but still found a pizza restaurant and a bar within walking distance.  There, I was invited to join a group of people because one of them is from Dothan, Alabama.  Everyone at the table was very nice and my beer was put of their tab.

4/23-

Boise to Twin Falls via Hwy 21 and 75.  Hwy 21 is known as the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway through the Sawtooth Mountains.  It was the biggest driving day of the trip.  I did get a sunrise start and the first stop was a state park called Lucky Peak, which was an overlook with a nice sand beach down below along with mountain views above.  As you travel further north on Hwy 21, you gain elevation.  Snow began to appear just below 5000 feet but once you hit 6000, it was piled 10 feet high on the side of the road.  Stanley, at around 6250 feet looked like a winter wonderland.   

After lunch in Stanley, I picked up Hwy 75 South to Twin Falls.  I arrived around 3 PM and walked from my hotel to Centennial Park, which had awesome views of the Snake River Bridge and a couple of waterfalls.  At less than 4000 feet elevation, the snow was gone, and it looked like a different world even though I was only 100 miles south as the crow flies.  After an early dinner, I drove about 10 minutes to Shoshone Falls Park, which is often called the Niagara of the West.  The best time to visit is in the Spring just after the snow melt.  It did not disappoint.  With time to kill before sunset, I took a 40-minute drive south on Hwy 93 to the Nevada border and was rewarded with more snow-capped mountain views.

4/24-

Mostly interstate on I-84 back to Boise with a stop at Niagara Springs State Park.  With time to kill, I took another short detour this time to the Oregon border.  The plan was to hike up to Table Rock but that proved to be a bust.  There was no parking or vehicle access and strict No Trespassing signs.  Camel’s Back offers better views of the city skyline.  Go there instead.  After checking in, it was a walking tour of downtown.  I found it to be compact and one day is really all you need.  Just a few blocks from the city center, it’s all residential with tree lined streets.  In late April, trees were just beginning to bloom, and I got one shot of snow-capped peaks with cherry blossoms.  Cool.

4/25-

Junk run around a couple of city parks, which had more lakes and ponds with mountain views.  I hoped to check out the history museum, but it did not open until 10 AM, which did not allow sufficient time to catch my flight home.  The only thing that I would have done differently was to skip Table Rock in favor of the museum.  No issues on the flight home.  I had a close connection in Chicago but did not have to change terminals and got home at a decent hour.  A very good trip overall that can be done in a long weekend.  Next up is either Oregon/Nor-Cal or Alaska.

RANT: LGBT and Trans Issues

I hoped to remain silent on this issue but I can no longer hold my tongue after recent events:

 When growing up in the 1990s, I had no high school classmates who were openly gay though I heard through social media that a few of them did come out in later years.  Some were surprises, others were not.  Surveys show that among Gen-Z (age 18-25), roughly 1 in 6 identify as something other than fully heterosexual and cisgendered.  That is compared to only 1% among people my father’s age and about 4-6% among people my age.  About 20 years ago, we were told that it was all genetic.  You were either born that way or not.  I never really bought into that, and the recent increase is strong evidence that it is primarily due to environmental factors.  I believe that very few people are truly “born gay.” I have no firsthand experience but some believe it can be traced to imbalances during the mother’s pregnancy.   Some were sexually abused as children, but I do believe that more people are identifying that way because it’s celebrated in today’s culture.  I don’t know the exact percentage, but a good chunk of the 16% identify as bisexual.  I’m betting that they “mostly” prefer the opposite sex but choose to identify as something else because it’s cool to do so nowadays.

How would I react if a close friend came out as gay, bi or trans?  It would depend on their attitude.  Suppose they mind their own business and stay relatively quiet about what goes on in their bedroom?  I would not care, and it probably does not affect the friendship.  There is a difference between talking about going to dinner and a movie with your partner versus sex with your partner.  On the other hand, if you cannot make it through a day without referencing your sexuality and frequently talk about your relationship drama, I don’t want to hear it and I would think less of you.  That goes for straight people too.  I had a former co-worker who is straight, but her life was like a soap opera, and I did NOT want to hear about it.  Lastly, suppose that a church member acknowledges same sex attraction but chooses not to act on it and speaks out in favor of abstinence or at least monogamy?  I’d actually think more highly of them.   

Because homosexuality involves an action, I’ve always had a problem with arguments that equate it with racial discrimination.  If a person has a certain percentage of non-European DNA, you can tell immediately that they are a racial minority.  With LGBT people, you might suspect it in some cases, but nobody has to know unless they tell.  With that said, I know what it’s like to be bullied for being different than others.  I believe in treating all people with respect and civility.   I never have and never will mistreat anyone because of their sexuality. NO discrimination.  Tolerate but don’t celebrate.

For better or worse, same sex marriage is here to stay and I will not rehash the arguments for and against it.  The dirty secret that nobody talks about is that while there are exceptions to the rule, most straight couples seek monogamous relationships with cheating being a taboo that usually leads to a break-up.  Most gays are NOT monogamous.  There is also rampant drug and alcohol abuse in addition to promiscuity within the gay community.  RFK Jr, who is hardly a conservative icon, stated that drug abuse hastens progression of HIV into full blown AIDS, while many patients can live in good health for many years with HIV if they make good lifestyle choices.  Even with the advanced anti-retroviral drugs, current life expectancy among gay men is only 59 years with or without HIV.  By comparison, a 45-year pack- a- day cigarette smoker has a life expectancy of 63 years.  We certainly don’t promote smoking in schools.  When you are an adult, you are free to do as you please and I support laws that guarantee your rights.  Just don’t promote it to children.   If more people would remain abstinent until marriage and remain in monogamy, there will be fewer social problems associated with broken homes.  Why not promote that instead of LGBT issues?

I knew that the LGBT lobby would not stop with gay marriage.  I predicted that they would go after businesses and churches who would not cater to their agenda.  I also predicted that within a few years, they would push for legalized polygamy and polyamory on the grounds of discrimination against bisexuals.  I never saw the push for trans rights.  Nowadays, you cannot scroll your Yahoo news feed without seeing multiple articles promoting trans-rights, which are usually calls for “gender-affirming care” for children and allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports.  Riley Gaines, who spoke out against the latter was called vile names, violently assaulted, and barricaded in a room for 3 hours.  Books depicting gay sex in graphic detail are available to boys as young as 11 years old in middle school libraries.  As for drag queen shows, why are they so insistent on performing for children?  That should be strictly “adult entertainment.”  The term Christian nationalism, which I had never heard until recently, has popped up frequently in liberal news sources.  To me, this implies that opposition to the trans agenda put you on par with the nut jobs in Uganda or Saudi Arabia.  There are plenty of secular folks who agree that it should not be promoted to children.  Trans activists stormed the Capitol in Kentucky and Tennessee yet nobody on the Left called them threats to democracy.  For the radical Left, no matter how extreme their viewpoints, dissent will not be tolerated.    

As for gender-affirming care, let’s call it what it is.  Underage patients are allowed to have their private parts mutilated but cannot get a tattoo until age 18 or buy beer and cigarettes until age 21.  Word on the street is that “puberty blockers” are prescribed without parental consent or even notification but you need a permission slip to go on a school field trip.  I don’t believe that puberty blockers are safe.  In fact, studies show that the effects are irreversible if taken for an extended period of time.  Even though the transition is affirmed by their role models, mental health issues still persist and suicide rates remain extremely high.  Many go on to regret it and de-transition.  When that happens, they become a pariah in the trans community while the rhetoric is always to “express yourself as you please.”  What if that expression involves a southern accent, church attendance, hunting/fishing and driving a pickup truck?  I don’t think that lifestyle will be affirmed by the Left. 

Trans athletes can participate in sports, but it must be against the boys.  Suggesting that grown men who identify as women should be allowed to compete against biological women is just plain NUTS!  I never thought I would see this happen.  In most sports such as soccer and basketball, a National team of All-Star boys aged 15-16 can defeat a women’s professional team.  To their credit, Track and Field has banned biological men from women’s competition.  A woman who can run 400 meters in 50.0 seconds is a serious contender for an Olympic medal and probably ranked in the top 5 in the World.   Every year in the United States alone, hundreds of high school boys can beat that time.  Granted, hormone therapy will slow you down a bit, but you retain advantages of larger bone structure, muscle mass and greater lung capacity.  I can certainly envision a college man who runs 46.5 and thus, no chance of making it as a pro going on to dominate on the Women’s side.  A man who can run the distance in 45 seconds would be unbeatable in the women's division even with hormone therapy.  I fully support saving Women’s sports. 

RANT: Usage of the N-Word

 Several years ago, a South Carolina acquaintance casually dropped the offensive slur in the course of conversation and I could tell that it was a regular part of his vocabulary.  To my credit, I did speak up and told him firmly not to use that word.  He justified it on the grounds that it only applied to "lower class blacks" and denied that he was a racist person.  His response was something like this:  "I just don't have any tolerance for idiots.  Not all black people are n______ just like not all white people are rednecks."  

NO!  That is a filthy and disgusting word that should NEVER be used by anyone under any circumstances!  Yes, you are a racist.  Just hearing it in movies about segregation is enough to make me cringe.  I could never be friends with anyone who holds such hateful views.  

What about rap lyrics and black people who use the word as a term of endearment?  I don't like it but I'm not going to say anything.  The justification is that the word that ends in a has a different meaning that the one that ends in er.  Tupac Shakur came up with an acronym: Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished.  Think about all the people who were crammed on slaves ships and beaten by cruel overseers on the plantation while being called the hateful slur.  Somehow, I don't think that they would be pleased to hear their descendants using it to each other.  To be fair, I will admit that I am not offended by a redneck joke from Jeff Foxworthy.  However, if a comedian from Massachusetts or Connecticut told the same joke, I would be offended.  

How should we punish people who use that word?

I say it depends on the context.  I heard a story about a fire chief in Pittsburgh who called Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin a "no good n_____" on social media.  He was fired and rightly so.  No place for that kind of crap and I wouldn't want him as a co-worker.  

If you are quoting somebody else and use the whole word instead of the first letter, I'd be more lenient.  A football coach was forced to resign for reading aloud a note passed between players that contained the offensive slur.  I'd discipline him and tell him to offer a sincere apology but no, I would not fire him.  If he was caught on tape making a racist rant, that's entirely different.  

Two other instances that I thought were overkill:

A football recruit lost his college scholarship because of a TikTok video in which he rapped the n-word, which were song lyrics.  Also a girl had her college admission rescinded because a jealous ex-boyfriend posted a 3 year old video of her using the offensive slur.  IIRC, she was also quoting song lyrics.  

I would have sent them to mandatory counseling and/or make them do a service project but no, I would not deny admission to University.  

With the exception of sexual misconduct, there are few things more damaging to a person's reputation than being outed as a racist.  Would I give them another chance even if the context was extremely offensive?  Not right away.  I will say that some people change so don't give up hope.  If after a few years in which they show genuine remorse and repentance, yes I could be talked into giving them another chance.

Training 4/10-4/16

 4/10- AM- 3x 1 lap at Montreat.  Even on no pills, I was better than yesterday.  Opened with a 3:29 (10:27 pace).  Took some caffeine and actually improved to a 3:14 (9:42 pace).  MINUS 45 per mile.  Yes, that is enough to be considered significant.  On the full Thym-Adren, I improved to a 2:48 (8:24 pace).  Again, significant but not a night and day difference.  I'm baffled by this one.  During an adrenal SPIKE, I was BETTER on caffeine.  WHAT THE __________!

PM- 2 miles on Lakeshore in 18:53 (9:26 pace).  Not that bad.  Much better than yesterday and I CREDIT the caffeine.  Yes, the adrenal spike is still there but it has diminished.  I predict that I will get WORSE when I'm off caffeine.  Will it be a temporary blip?  When can I tolerate the ACV and Probiotics?

Distance= 3.0

4/11- It happened again.  I was BEYOND AWFUL without caffeine but significantly better with it and I need large doses to pull off anything close to respectable times.  I can't go on like this.  I must endure a few rough weeks without caffeine and hope that the adrenal spike eventually dies down.  Today, I was over 12 off caffeine but under 10 with it.

Distance=2.0

4/12- Rest day.  I have no desire to run.  This might be the end.  Adrenals remain spiked.  I need to take mega doses from now on.

4/13- Dreamed that I ran a 3:08 marathon last night and it was a vivid dream.  That's all it was however as today was one of my worst days on record.  Managed only a half mile at Montreat in 6:23 on no pills.  Took 6 at work and it had little effect.  Got home and crashed out in bed.  I was out cold for 2.5 hours.  I got up for another 2 hours then went back to bed.

Distance= 0.5

4/14- AM- Repeated the no pills half mile and my time was down to 5:58 (11:56 pace)

PM- Upped the dosage to 8 pills and I wasn't much better.  Lakeshore 1.5 in 16:54 (11:16 pace).  1st half -8:20, 2nd half- 8:34.  Not a terrible fade but it was a terrible performance.  It may get worse next week if I can stay off caffeine.

Distance=2.0

4/15- 1 mile this time at Railroad Park and I was beyond awful with a 12:16.  This was done on full pills but no caffeine.

Distance= 1.0

4/16- AM- 1.5 miles at Lakeshore in 17:24 (11:36 pace).  An improvement over yesterday and that's all I wanted to see.  I may be back out there this afternoon.

PM- 2 miles in 19:14 (9:37 pace).  MUCH better.  Splits were 9:53-9:21.  Adrenal spike may finally be dying down.  Still crashed out later in the day but got better after dinner.

Distance= 3.5  

-12 miles on the week.

Training 4/3-4/9

 4/3- I still don't know if yesterday's horrible performance was the adrenal spike or tiredness from rough surf the previous day.  Maybe it was a combination of both.  In either case, I was much better today.

AM- 1 lap at Montreat in 3:43 (11:09 pace) plus a short cool.  That's 23 seconds better than yesterday or MINUS 69 per mile.  Took 6 Thym-Adren at work.

PM- Back at Lakeshore for the real workout this time hours after the pills.  Repeated the 2.5 mile distance but my time was down to a less horrible 24:55 (9:58 pace).  1st half- 12:15, 2nd half- 12:40.  No real attempt to kick because I knew I had the sub-10 pace, which was all that I wanted.

Distance=3.0

4/4- Unplanned rest day.  Feeling worse today.

4/5- 1 mile at Montreat in 10:41.  I did manage an even pace but had zero strength.  3 Thym-Adren pills just won't cut it.  This adrenal spike is not going down so easily.  I need at least 6 of these pills, maybe more at least temporarily.  This could be good news in the long run.  A BIG adrenal spike probably means that I really did solve a long-standing problem (candida).  I'll go with 6 for the rest of the week.  May go as high as 9 for a couple of days.

Distance=1.0

4/6- MUCH WORSE!  I learned today that ACV INCREASES demand for adrenal suppressants.  I must lay off it for now then gradually re-introduce it if tolerated.  I turned around after I was over 12 minute pace through a half mile and getting slower.

Distance=1.0

4/7- Only slightly better but at least I am headed in the right direction.  2 miles on Lakeshore in 23:30 (11:45 pace) with splits of 11:28-12:02.  OUCH!

Distance=2.0

4/8- Unplanned rest day.  I've learned that Probiotics ALSO spike the adrenals.  

4/9- 1 mile in 11:23.  Nuff said.

Distance=1.0

-8 miles on the week.