Tough day, but that probably should not be a surprise.  Everyone saying that today would be an easy day….yah right.  20 miles of endless roads, ups and downs, and a long train track with a walk over a river on some sparsely spaced train tracks.  Grit is the word and as you steel down you feel your body adapting – or perhaps catching up with your brain.  I mean what else are you going to do?  I’m reminded of Spurlock’s SUPER SIZE ME, where the final horror of it all is that your body adapts to eating McDonald’s 3 times a day.  Here’s a great flip side, supported by so many alums that I speak to, who say the same in this extreme.  Today I felt some of those as new surges of energy came forth.  Part of that was the ongoing link-up with people ahead and people behind.  Thank you, Michelle from the Berkshires, Desyree from Johannesburg, Sandra from London, Catherine from Copenhagen, Lynne from Hong Kong, and Kelsey from Dallas.  The list goes on and on…..but it’s that linking up and pulling each other through that is so amazingly powerful.  I could write on and on but typing on a rugged keyboard is like pounding the table with a hammer to get thoughts on the page!

Moments:

Every few miles yesterday I would bend at the waist to stretch and release the pressure of my heavy backpack.  Of course, I was more worried about mooning someone on the trail behind me…..when all of a sudden, a truck full of Argentinian farmers pulled up beside me and quickly unrolled their windows to ask if I was in distress.  My Spanish does not go so far as to explain stretching, but my big smile and thumbs-up conveyed the message.  They looked disappointed.  I think that they were hoping to have stories of rescuing a New Yorker who would share tales of Nathan’s hot dogs, the Mets, and Coney Island.

At one point on the trail a big family at a farm came running up with shouts of HOLA and a huge basket of homemade empanadas.  I mean – wow!  They looked so happy to see us go by…..

And lastly, on a group girl’s pee break on the side of the road, we all burst out laughing because at that exact moment, the race truck with all of the porta potties loaded up on the flatbed went tooling by us on the road…..if only that picture could have been captured!

Hey R – nutrition and training going well and supporting me.  This is probably the toughest course I’ve ever done.  Taking it slow, and breaking it all into chapters, most especially the days.  Thank you for the awesome training, babe.

Hey G – shoot me an email would ya?  I want to hear what you are up to.  Thinking of you as I see some amazing rocks around here….love you!