Day 30: "How far are you running? ... Well shit..."

February 8th: Five days left!!

This past Saturday I went on my 20-mile run! It was pretty tough -- especially the last five miles -- but more than anything else, it was so so boring! Twenty miles is somewhere around three hours. That's a long time to go without talking.

It turns out I can occupy myself with stimulating thought for about 50 minutes. After that, I'm not very interesting!

Fortunately, I had one conversation with a guy on a bicycle. I saw him near the end of my first mile and then caught back up to him at about Mile 4. We were going in the same direction and, when I ran back into him, he was coming out of a gas station with snacks.

Him: "You're the guy I saw back in the Bywater??"

Me: "Yup, that's me! How's it going?"

Him: "Man! Where are you going???"

Me: "Past the lake and back."

Him: "How far are you running????"

Me: "It's 20 miles total."

Him: "...Well shit."


First five miles felt great. Miles six through 10 made me realize I need to stock up on band-aids for my nipples and gold bond for my...for the places where gold bond is typically applied.

Miles 11 through 15, I was dealing with a lot of wind, but I felt pretty good. And, finally, miles 16 through 20 were where my ankles started to feel weak and my legs got heavy-heavy.

So, besides the realization of what I need to stock up on, I also learned that Sunday will be painful. :-) Particularly miles 17 through 26.

Fortunately, I feel confident that it's a pain I'm going to be able to handle -- especially when I am thinking about who I'm running in memory of, when I am thinking about the 104 (and growing) people who have supported me, and when I am thinking about the students who are going to benefit from our joint effort!

It will be pain well worth it!