What is Next?

I have started a new blog if anyone would like to follow my current adventures! Thanks 🙂

Jess Goldman

This past year has been a crazed whirlwind of pitfalls and detours. When I broke my pelvis in February, I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to run again. It took months of physical therapy and grueling effort to get from zero gravity restrictions and aqua jogging back to a return to run plan. I had a very short time to prepare for the Ghost Train 100 miler in October and was not confident that I would be able to complete it. 

Thanks to my friends and family members that came to crew and pace me, I ended up finishing it as the first place female in 21:19. I spent the next 24 hours in a state of shock and disbelief. I grinned from ear to ear and felt a deep sense of accomplishment as I scrolled through my Facebook posts. It didn’t last long. Someone finally posed…

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Another wild week!

This week I made it over the Continental Divide going over rabbit ears pass from Steamboat Springs. I ended up on the course of the divide 135 ultra and met the runners and crew. I climbed over Cameron pass but still had several feet of snow while the temps shot up into the high 70’s. I encountered mule deer, moose, Fox, and coyotes. Going down through Poudre Canyon was a wild trip. Switch back roads ,mountain tunnels, falling rocks, avalanche areas. But it was by far the most beautiful and spectacular Road I have been on yet. The weather is still giving me trouble. I only got to run a few hours this morning and needed to go back to shelter because we are under a tornado watch and surrounding areas are getting golf ball sized hail. It will be a difficult week getting across the rest of Colorado and Nebraska as almost every day is forecasting severe thunderstorms hail and potential tornadoes. But it is hard to be discouraged when I am meeting the most amazing and incredible people along the way in this journey.

Rocky road

It’s been a wild ride. I am behind schedule because

I had to stall myself in Utah as winter storm Zephyr came through Colorado. I had incredible 30 to 40 mile an hour headwinds for days. I am now working my way through Colorado I am due to be in Steamboat Springs by tonight and hopefully crossing the Continental Divide tomorrow very steep up and down and the weather is crazy I go from frigid temps in snow to being in shorts and a t-shirt within a a day. If you’re able to follow my facebook page Jessica goldman forward motion that is where I am posting daily pictures and videos. Thank you for following my adventure.

Extremes

What an incredible week. A 60 mile run over 2 mountain passes to reach a casino in the middle of the desert. Then a2 day stretch with absolutely no services through the salt flats in Blazing heat. And climbing up parleys pass and Daniels pass where I am trapped by a snow and rain storm. Part of me is very frustrated that my hard work is defeated by weather and logistics as far as the record goes. But it is very hard to be unhappy because I am meeting the most incredible people along my journey. I have had people welcome me into their homes buy me new shoes pull over to give me drinks and one guy even pulled over to give me a tiny statue of Buddha. I also have a few classrooms of students following my story. So rather than feeling defeated I will keep my chin up and continue to take this one day at a time and I’ll do my best with whatever comes my way.

It’s a Breeze

And when I say breeze I mean wind strong enough to blow off my sunglasses and visor I am strategically planning my route out of Nevada. I am hoping to make the 50 mile stretch from Elko to Wells tomorrow. I should be able to do it as long as the headwinds let up. After that I would really like to make it to Wendover but it is 60 miles with no water or services in between and there are two mountain passes and a tunnel. If I can’t make it I will have to camp. But I would like to make it to Wendover so that the next day I can make the long stretch through the Great Salt Lake desert. It is difficult for me to use WordPress from my phone. If you would like to see daily pictures and posts of my adventure please follow and like my facebook page called Jessica Goldman forward motion. Thank you so much to everyone who has made donations and supported me. I wish I had the time to thank you individually.

still running!

So today I finished up somewhere between Fernley in Lovelock Nevada. I put in a full day but I felt like I was going slow. I think it was a combination of the Desert Sun, the hills, and some a cumulative fatigue. I started off the morning with a 60 percent grade going up a rumble strip that road was 14 miles long. But it was cool because it was a free range horse area. I have been trying to post pictures and quick statements each day on my Facebook page. I will attempt to maintain this blog but as you can imagine I do not have much time or battery on my phone to put things on the internet. Once again I think everybody so much for all of the support that I am getting. It is very hard to feel down when so many people are cheering for me.

still running!

So today I finished up somewhere between Fernley in Lovelock Nevada. I put in a full day but I felt like I was going slow. I think it was a combination of the Desert Sun, the hills, and some a cumulative fatigue. I started off the morning with a 60 percent grade going up a rumble strip that road was 14 miles long. But it was cool because it was a free range horse area. I have been trying to post pictures and quick statements each day on my Facebook page. I will attempt to maintain this blog but as you can imagine I do not have much time or battery on my phone to put things on the internet. Once again I think everybody so much for all of the support that I am getting. It is very hard to feel down when so many people are cheering for me.

I’m serious

I made it through niles canyon. And alamont pass. Once I came down into Tracy I got caught in a huge wind and dust storm. While this was happening Google took me the wrong way. I was on a dirt road between cow farms and I got stuck because I was trapped bye ferocious dogs. The wind storm actually trashed the cart I lost my front fender and my Garmin navigation device and probably some other stuff. This is a true story as much as I complain about the device I finally figured out how to use it and now I have no way of logging my miles. The pockets and compartment of the cart are all filled with dirt. Somebody had to come with a tractor to fend the pack of dogs are in order for me to get out of that road. Once I got out of that road I was in the beginning of what they call the islands. There wasn’t any solid ground the sides of the road are bubbling up with water. I needed somewhere to stay but every house had angry dogs in the front yard. I knocked on a few doors but people were very hostile and did not want to assist me in getting directions or finding a place to camp. I finally met a really nice guy from Portugal who had a dairy farm and he asked his son to take me into Tracy to a hotel and we put the cart in the back of the truck. So now I am here it is almost 9 o’clock at night and I am still waiting to get food. I haven’t really eaten today because once I started heading up the pass the  no stores gas stations or any restaurants to get something to eat. So tomorrow I will have to try to find someone to bring me and the stroller back to that same intersection so I can continue on my route. I don’t think I made nearly as much miles as I intended to. But it is hard to say because I do not have my mile tracker anymore I will have to try to get online and find the distance. I hope that tomorrow is a better day. The good news is that because I was on TV people have still been recognizing me and yelling my name out when they drive by. But I’m not sure how much longer is that will last as I head towards Nevada . On a good note I had excellent running company 6 miles toda

y and a few people pulled over to take my picture and made donations. Sorry for typos I am using voice text.

video!

http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/san-francisco-new-hampshire-woman-begins-cross/vCXq9w/

TOMORROW!!!!!

As you can imagine I am a little bit wound up right now. Tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. I will be having a send off from San Francisco City Hall. The Mayor will be coming to see me off and the Brain Injury Association of America will be there to speak about my fundraiser. The police dept. is providing me with a motorcade escort to Bryant street and I will be accompanied for the first 2 miles by a group runners from Mercy High School’s cross country team. AMAZING!! Thank you so much Tony Irons for making this all possible. I am sure this will be one of the most memorable days in my life.

My record attempt must start from City Hall but in order to make this a true trans-continental run I made sure to run from the actual west coast to the start point to make it complete. (photos taken by Melissa Sharples)

The first day will be tough. I am aiming to make it to Fremont but with so many stop lights and a late start it might be tough. I have read up on my predecessors and know that the first week is where I should ease in and hold back when necessary. According to USA Crosser’s I will be the 21st female to cross the USA on foot. (records date back to 1909) I will be the second woman to cross solo and self supported. Can I break the record while pushing my gear? I will have to tell you when this is all over. I can promise to give my best effort each day. Once I start I will be limited to communication on my phone. Thank you for all of the overwhelming support and know that I will be reading my messages even if I am unable to reply to them all. You will see a new tab on this blog that will show my tracking map if you would like to view my progress. Love you all!!