Date: 2003-12-30
To: The Initiative 
Miles today: 0.0

(Drafted 12/30/03)¢We got a Black Hawk down, we got a Black Hawk down.¢   As with so many things in life I have discovered, you need to start out on the right foot. Back in High school athletics our coaches always spoke so highly about ¢setting the tone¢. It was usually with an aggressive style of play or showing the hustle and heart necessary to show the opposition that no matter how hard they try we will do the little things needed to win; and we will never never never quit. A quick example:September 1999 my junior varsity football squad was set to play the Coopersville Broncos. Coopersville was our darkest and fiercest rivals. The problem was they always beat us. In fact, this was the only time I defeated the mighty Broncos in my entire adolescent athletic career at any level, in any sport. How¢d we do it? By setting the tone early. We kicked off and the kick went off the side of the kicker¢s foot and flew toward their sideline. The poor shmuck that picked up the ball successfully faked Ryan Smith, the first defender to the ball. However, Ryan had arms that were like six feet long and he grabbed the kid by the face mask as he flew by. The kid came to dead halt like a dog that ran out of leash, he was completely decleated. It looked like something out of a cheesy Hollywood football movie, almost fake. This all happened right in front of Coopersville¢s bench and home crowd. They erupted into a cry of anger and distain. Yes we got a 15 yard face mask penalty for it, Ryan got chewed out by the Refs and our coaches; but you could see the look of fear in the eyes of the Coopersville players the rest of the game. We ended up winning 12-6, it was awesome.   You may be thinking, ¢Ben if I wanted to read about your football glory days I would go to www.washed-upoldfootballplayers.com, not trailjournals. Bear with me; I am just proving the point that to start the hike of a lifetime I do believe I need all the necessary advantages. In Andy¢s words, the scales need be at least balanced if not tipped in your favor. What I am thinking of is the conversation Andy and I had when we both decided that we would have different start dates and we would not start the Trail at the same time, February 1st. My point to be made was that if he did choose to start Feb. 1 because his ankle felt, ¢all right¢, or just ¢okay¢, that that would be too little confidence, too much of a variable. If you are to do all 2177 miles, you need to be of the mindset that there isn¢t anything that¢s going to pull me off this trail. Come hell or high water I am going to be climbing Katahdin at the end of the summer, which brings me to a Black Hawk Down tie in.When chief Warrant Officer Cliff ¢Elvis¢ Wolcott¢s Blackhawk helicopter goes down the success of the mission took a step backwards. As General William F Garrison so eloquently puts it, ¢We just lost our initiative.¢ The men on Super-61 are have compromised the operation. (Though it is not at all their fault, that is not my point) The Rangers and Delta Force soldiers who were just trying to return to the base now had to make their way to the fallen chopper. The same could happen if Andy¢s ankle would have snapped days into the trek. His ankle is a liability. When he leaves in April for his hike, it should, Lord willing, be good as new, a non-issue. A liability is the one thing I hope never to be in life. This means after the Trail when I am a police officer for the City of Holland I will make it my goal to be both physically and mentally superior. I will make it priority one not be the officer that others will have to risk their own lives to save.So what I am worried about 33 days before my hike is to start? Here¢s a H.N.B.S.A. of my physical and mental status, outlined of course, for your convenience:a)        My left Achilles tendon which has been sore now for about a year. It has been self diagnosed as tendonitis. The resolution: I have hung up my basketball shoes until after I get back from the hike. The only way to fix it is through rest and non-use. I¢ll rest when I¢m dead thank you very much. Also I plan to pack along enough duct tape to tape my ankle back together should the thing snap. Hike on brother.b)        The iliotibial band (IT band) of my left knee is a hit or miss thing. Sometimes when I run it flares up and there is a shooting stabbing pain in my knee. The pain is from the tendon scrapping against the end of my femur. The resolution: Rest and stretching. See the February 2004 edition of Backpacker. c)        The AC joint on my left shoulder. This is where the clavicle (collar bone) attaches to the achroid (sp?) process (shoulder socket). I separated my shoulder during my senior year of football. After a day of hiking with a full pack it really aches. Like ¢taking the wind out of me¢ aches. The longer I am out, i.e. 5 days, the sooner in the day it starts to hurt. The good thing is that I¢ll only be out there like 160 days, wait, I am pretty sure that¢s not to my advantage. The resolution: Suck it up you fricken lush.d)        Missing my family. I still have 33 days to go but I can see the pain in my mother¢s eyes whenever she sees something that makes her think of me being gone for 5 months. I will sorely miss all the lazy Sunday afternoons spent playing with my sisters, brother-in-law, and my nieces. I will miss watching Sci-fi and war movies with Father. Especially the bad ones. Its funny, I watched Black Hawk Down with him in the theaters and I don¢t really remember him being there. But all the sucky ones like ¢Red Planet¢ and the gay one with Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver; those are the times I will remember most. Paying 20 bucks to watch a bad movie with people you love most, truly priceless. The resolution: Enjoy every minute I spend with them for the next 33 days and then when I return, take advantage of all the time we have together and make up for the 5 months we were away.e)        Hypothermia. I am really not scared of Hypothermia in and of itself. The problem is that it can kill you, and that¢s not what I am going for. Kinda hard to finish the trail when you¢re dead. Solution: Be smart, do things right, make no mistakes, listen to my gut, watch the skies, and bring a warm sleeping bag.And that¢s all I have to say about that.So the mantra goes:Lead, follow, or get out of the way.