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

Two days in New England, 2 more medals.  Crowded courses, faster times, bigger smiles. Light on hydration, off any set-menu, post-race prep hit or miss.  Not perfect but…

SUMMER fun has BEGUN.  Two days with FAMILY.  No hotels, no post-race runner tales.  Early morning starts, Cumberland Farm coffee & afternoons with the cutest/brightest 2-year-old on Earth.  Commute time within 2.5 hours from Connecticut, Rhode Island & Massachusetts race locales.  When does that ever happen?  Seeing an annual New England run tradition in my Mainly future.  Chicken soup for the marathon soul ❤️

Cool morning temps.  Both days started steady & negative-split finished the 2nd Half.  BOTH days.  Mentally STRONG.  Easier to push-thru the physical knowing there’s not another hotel check-in post-race.  For a guy who’s targeting 100 marathons… travel’s been a factor.  Brother’s an introvert, a Colorado home-body.  Thus far, have kept multi-day marathoning compartmentalized.  Run life.  Family/friends.  Rare the 2 should mix.

Day 1’s CT course [was] laps in a city park, however…. HUGE shout-out to Rhode Island.  Tree-cover & a MASSIVE half-mile grind UP UP UP.  Blackstone River State Park, 2nd fave Mainly course-to-date (after Bristol TN).  2 down, 4 ‘tiny’ states to go.  #50K every day

But first... Mexican nite with the family.  Chips, salsa & tequila.  Cha cha cha 💃

New England Series – CT & RI

Adage is… you learn as much/more from fails as your success.  Maybe.  Even my recap video… whole lotta talk.  Physicality fail, mental break & year’s first injury.  Mix in East Coast humidity — brother hit a speed bump in his 100-100 quest.

Zanesville OH.  Last 7-hour drive to complete my cross-country trek from Colorado.  Multiple days of long-haul did the body no good.  Tank empty.  Right hip sore.  In/out of truck.  Walking.  Never solid sleep — flipping side-to-side every other hour.  Always sore.

Bear DE.  2am Day 1 start.  4 hours sleep.  Moved Ro’s carrier/foods/treats from truck to transport’s car.  Fed/walked pup, said our goodbyes.  I’d see him again in 11 days, after marathoning in Maine.  Big storm rolled thru overnight.  THICK steamy humid.  Race-start drive… A/C blowing, windows down, defogger on High.  Good news.  Next span of runs with the Mainly family.

Sharp hip pain.  Walked.  Added couple feet of jog.  Alternated-in walk again.  3 miles, adrenaline flowing, steady easy pace.  I’ve got this.  Don’t overthink it.  Just get it done. Same hotel for Day 2’s run in nearby Maryland.  Will allow for extra recovery hours.  One day at a time.  Good sleep but missed my meals.  Stomach wonky, no food interest.

Elkton MD.  Day 2.  HUMID, temp up 5 degrees.  Struggled to locate start.  Missed announcements; joined moments after headlamp of last runners lit the trail.  Went down hard early.  Positive: focused now on minor scrapes, less on the heat.  Steady easy pace.

Lack of calories, whole lotta puking.  Whole lotta reassuring folks I’m ok.  Puking is visceral/super visual, upsets well-meaning folks.  Best to push on, pop-in the earbuds (music).  Sympathy only feeds the monster.  8+ hours, collected another state medal.

And then… the wheels came off.  Multiple attempts to take-in calories.  Not happening. Early to bed, stayed in bed.  Severe dehydration/down 9 lbs.  Walk-in clinic.  2 bags of IV fluid; meds for nausea.  Chicken noodle soup at the Sit N Stay Diner.  Sleeps.

No 50K every day.  No Series finish.  No 50 State finish this year — Pennsylvania (Day 3) was one I needed.  Just ‘things’ but also mileposts for the bigger challenge.  One success builds upon another.  DISAPPOINTED.

Day 4.  What goes in, still going out.  Texted folks that I’d miss day’s race then unexpectedly… changed clothes, drove to the Start.

Cool weather, whole lotta HILLS.  High Point State Park NJ.  Walked a Half; then jogged/ran… UP hill.  No nausea.  Downed a bag of chips.  Insta-energy.  Marathon distance completed.  And I continued.  50K this day… and Day 5 as well, in New York.  Another cool one.  15 miles of rain, fastest finish of the Series.  End of a weird wonky couple days.  I’ll be back next year — finish what I started 🙂

But first… 3-hour commute to see CT family — & tomorrow, start of Mainly’s 6-state New England series.  Whoop whoop!

Independence Series 2024