Final 230am alarm.  Last quiet-stepping thru my CT family’s home using iPhone screen light.  Time to hit the highway & get my 50K obligations done.  Notta lotta sleep nite prior. Mexican fiesta probably not recommended pre-marathon prep.  LOL>  Quick preview to SUMMER FAMILY FUN — ready ready to jump aboard that train.  Whoop whoop!

Two-hour commute to Mainly’s third New England locale, Massachusetts.  14 laps, mostly trail, turnaround stretch on bike-path cement.  Started NE Day 3 slow, two passes by a scenic lake.  No trail falls.  Geese, goslings.  Duck, ducklings.  That time o’ year.  Putting in liquids, nothing coming out.  Couple burning drops released mile 18.  Two miles later grabbed a Styrofoam cup to porta-potty confirm my colour.  Yep, brother’s seeing RED.  Doctors talked blood during my cancer bouts.  Never saw red, was always just talk.

Mentally freaked.  Physically good (‘xcept for the burning).  Paced-up next 6 miles & told the RD: just a marathon today.  Are you sure?  Barely 5 hours.  Without getting into details… yep, I’m done.  Walk-in clinic bound before travelling north to rural Vermont. Not gonna die.  Week of meds would cure the infection.  3 run days more then find a physician.  Moving forward.  Two-nite stay at a swanky red-brick hotel: ‘the Common Man’.

While other runners struggled to locate lodging in VT/NH, my (sold-out) digs included a spa & restaurant.  Couldn’t have come at a better time.  Easy 30-minute drive to Vermont (Day 4); short mile-half to (Day 5) course in Claremont.  Location, location, location!

Back on pavement, alongside VT’s scenic Black River in Springfield.  Just BEAUTIFUL! ❤️  Two low-impact laps, early miles easing thru my hip injury.  Paced up before the Half, another good day.  New Hampshire & Maine — just 2 states to go! #50K every day

New England Series – MA & VT