“Pull over to the side of your journey and look how far
you’ve come.”
This is a quote that a Racelab teammate sent me this
morning, before I started my 6th day. It was the perfect thing to
send me because I did take a moment to look back at the last six days and
consider what I’ve done. I am still having some trouble wrapping my mind around
the fact that in 6 days, I have covered 180 miles on foot. That is a little
less than the distance from Chandler to Yuma, Arizona or a little less than the
distance between Ventura and San Diego, California. I still can’t believe that.
I had a good "herd" with me on Loop 1!
But the truth is that I feel decent. I’m not
incapacitated and if anything, I feel strong. I had no idea that I would be
feeling this way. I thought that, by now, I would be suffering and struggling
to get up every morning and do it again. But I feel good… Maybe I’m not getting
the challenge that I was hoping for, but I am definitely coming to the
realization that we are all capable of much more than we think. There’s nothing
that makes me physically different from any other dude. I don’t have some
genetic advantage that allows me to handle more than anyone else. All I had was
time to train, the right mentality, and an amazing group of family members and
friends that support my craziness.
Today was a bit of a blur, though. It was the 6th
day and although it lasted 7 hours and 4 minutes, it felt like it went by
quickly so I won’t go into great details of how each loop felt. What I can say
is that I felt mentally strong and physically sore. I got through it with a
smile on my face for most of the way and I am happily able to say that I only
have 1 more day left.
I want to thank today’s crew, especially my girlfriend,
Katlyn, who surprised me this morning (I didn’t know she was going to be
there!). Without people to help me stay distracted during the loops and help me
refill and resupply at my aid station, this would be much more difficult and
borderline impossible. So thank you to my crew.
My partner-in-crime and best friend, Katlyn Evans
Tomorrow is the last day. I am revisiting the first
venue, South Mountain, and hopefully spending the day with as many friends as
possible. It’s the last day and it will be a celebration of the end of the
journey. I look forward to it and I hope you all will stick with me for the
next few weeks as I organize my thoughts and describe in better detail what I’ve
learned about myself throughout this week, and what it takes to do something
like this. This is much more than a big running week. It is a journey of
discovery and learning what I am capable of and what it takes to continue
pushing the bar higher, and higher.
Just finished Day 6, 180 miles.
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