Day 13 - Concord and Environs

-


Total mileage: 25 Miles
Today I was supposed to run out to Gold Hill, but for many complicated logistics and family reasons, I decided to run around the Concord downtown and Greenway, which was a pleasant surprise. Daniel had a stomach flu last night and another child needed transportation today. Things just got very complicated at home so it was best for all if I spent this last day helping out here. In any case I started the run at my home gym 300, all of the guys are seen above. I love this place and I love my comrade-in-arms.

I set out for downtown, planning on making a huge loop, and was absolutely delighted to find my friend Claudia coming around the corner at Old Airport Road. She pulled over and we chatted for about 10 minutes, it really warmed my heart to see such a dear friend, we've known her and her husband Mark for 25 years.
 I set off to Ruck The Greenway and the downtown area and got in 19 miles total before the sun just dried me up.  It was in the mid 80s today, and I had no support so I probably wasn't hydrating as much as I should have, although I did stop for a coke at CVS.  In any case I got back to the 300 gym after just over 4 hours. My pace was really sloe and I was pretty spent the whole time. I had some potato chips and fig newtons at the gym, talked to Crutch, and headed back. It was great that Daniel, Claire, and Grandma Linda were home.  I wanted to stay there before heading off for the hotel tonight. So I did my last six miles on the treadmill and am looking forward to truly setting off tommorow for parts east.

I could stay at the house tonight, but last night was really a bad night for me tossing and turning and being a neurotic pain in the butt to Cheryl and the kids. I did not get much sleep and really felt it today. As Charlie E. told me earlier, it is so important to stay focused, otherwise it's impossible to achieve the task ahead.  It sounds selfish just writing that, but I don't want to let anyone down, my family included.

My toes are trashed and my back is starting to hurt (go figure!) but tomorrow is another day, bright and shiny and new.  All things are possible.

Godspeed, 

R.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 0: The Night Before

-
Image
We are hunkered down her in Murphy ready for the big day tomorrow. Cheryl and I drove on Route 19 on our way out here from Asheville, and it was extremely treacherous so we made a few major last minute changes to the routing. We will still get the full mileage in but it may be a little bit of hopping around from point to point, but this way we'll fit some nice Trail runs on the Blue Ridge Parkway as well as a few local Trails. Had a great dinner with Becky, Mike, Matt and Cheryl and am anxious to get started tomorrow. I'm very thankful for an uplifting and encouraging phone call from my friend Charlie Engle, and of course so appreciative of all of the donations and messages of support from you all. Godspeed,  R.
Read more

Day 19 - Around Fayetteville

-
Image
Total Mileage: 25.5 Total Fish: 1 That is Monty with his prize fish, caught at Carver's Creek State Park and immediately released on it's own recognizance.  I split most of my rucking today between the Mendoza Municipal Park in Spring Lake, where I met Monty, the beautiful Carver's Creek State Park, also in Spring Lake (which was a total surprise) and the Cape Fear River Greenway in Fayetteville, also a wonderful spot. I had very low energy today because of driving back and forth to Concord, sitting down for a 3-hour recital, and not enough sleep. I wouldn't change a thing of course.  Wild horses couldn't keep me from Amelia and Claire's dance recital, and  Claire's Senior Solo dance. I also wanted to see Daniel and of course Cheryl again. But it is difficult being home, and that was my last visit before pushing on with this third and final leg of the Carolinas CAN Ruck for Autism. An old trestle spanning the Cape Fear River, with the...
Read more

Day 28 - Sunset Beach

-
Image
Total Mileage: 25 Total Years Married: 25 Total Years Before Cheryl Ever Lets Me Do Anything Like This Again: 25 After yesterday's butt-whooping, the word for today was moderation.  Cheryl and I got up at 5 a.m. and by 6 a.m. we set off for a fast walk, aiming to get in our distance before the end of the day. I'll get to the details in a minute, but the long and short of it is that we were out for almost 10 hours, walking for 8 and 1/2 hours, to get in the full 25 miles. Cheryl got in 18 miles and I'm so proud of her because she hasn't done that distance since the infamous West Palm Beach Marathon 2 years ago. Another story. But it was a luxury to have the whole day to ourselves. Matt and Hunter stopped by early in the morning to take some pictures and walk around the neighborhood with us, but for the rest of the day was just Cheryl and I (and Slappy of course), walking around Sunset Beach and seeking out shade wherever we could find it.  While w...
Read more