Day 88: Running in memory of Ray Lockhart.

Day 87: Scared.

Well, I guess it was bound to happen at some point on this trip. I just flat ran out of gas. Completely. Yesterday was so hard on me, and I don't think I was even close to recovered today. I tried to beat the heat by starting my run at 7:30am. Didn't work. I was drenched in sweat a mile in, and my legs were giving out on me by mile 2. It was all I could do to complete the first 5 miles today. Then, I had to do what I never dreamed I'd let myself do out here. I quit. I had officially used up everything my body could give, and I couldn't take another step. These last 2 days have been very unnerving, and scary, not because I am worried about my physical state. The scary part is that this is coming just as I realize that I need to pick up the pace to get home on time. Today was quite counteractive to that mission. I spent the majority of the day lying in the back of the van, trying to recover. I figured I'd wait until sundown and see if I could squeeze out 5 or 10 more miles. 10 was preferred, because it would have at least kept me on the pace of 20 miles a day. As my sister reminded me, I am incredibly OCD about things like that. Unfortunately, all I could muster this evening was another 5 miles, bringing my grand total for the day to 10 miles. That's right, only 10 miles. Now, on a day I was expecting to be 15 miles ahead of the regular course, I'm 5 miles behind it!! Thus, the scared feeling in my mind. The heat and humidity show no signs of letting up anytime soon, so I am gonna try to get up and start running by about 6:30 tomorrow. I am going to have to adjust my schedule for good if the weather keeps up like this, because I just cannot physically handle 20-25 miles a day in this heat and humidity. Gonna try to hit the hay now. Wish me luck for tomorrow. Thanks to Abby Wisdom-Williams at Cheney State Park, whose son has served two tours in Afghanistan, for supporting the Wounded Warrior Project (Good luck with the raccoons). Thanks to everyone at Creations Restaurant in Mount Vernon, KS, for feeding me (after closing time) and for the positive feedback. Subway coming in to Wichita on route 54, ditto. Gotta send out a huge thank you to Holly Paugh for hooking us up with your friend, Jim McAnarney. And thanks to Jim for letting us stay at your lakehouse for the next couple of nights. Yeah, that's right, we are staying at a lakehouse!! Beats the heck out of the back of the van in the humid weather, haha. Hoping for 20 miles tomorrow, then awesome dinner with Holly and Timmy at the Texas Roadhouse tomorrow night. Finally, a rest day on Tuesday!!

Day 87: Running for my friends, Jessica and Jennifer Nichols.

Day 86: Very Bad Day.

This will be short tonight because I am not feeling well, and I am doing this from my phone. The heat and humidity got me today. I was worn out by 3 miles in. At one point, it was 109 degrees. I struggled so hard just to get miles finished. I took extended breaks in between sets to try and recover, but it was just too hot and humid. I only completed 14 miles in the morning, and tried waiting until 6:30 to start the evening set to ease the heat. Didn't work at all. I was just too exhausted. I barely finished 20 miles before nearly passing out. So, I failed miserably today on the 25 mile attempt. I am going to try to get to sleep quickly, and I'm going to try to get up early and start running by 7am. Otherwise, I will never be able to finish. Today was very scary for me. Got me very worried about being able to finish this run in such extreme temperatures. Oh well, gonna rest, recover, and regroup for tomorrow. Hopefully it goes better than today.

Day 86: Running for my good friend, Jack Nostrand.

Day 85: Wow!! That was Hard!

I thought a lot about, and worried a lot about my friend, Toby Ford today. This was his scheduled day for surgery to replace his aortic valve in his heart. I tried to check on his status before writing this, but it hadn't been updated. If anyone has any info, please shoot me an email at dmrun2hot@gmail.com and let me know if things went well. I hope and pray that everything went as well as could be expected, and that Toby recovers quickly, and is back on his feet soon. He is such a great friend and I hope he and his family are doing well throughout this trying time.

First 25 mile run is now a thing of the past, but it sure left scars, haha. I don't think it was the distance that bothered me as much as the humidity that sucked the energy right out of me. All I know is that I am completely exhausted, both mentally and physically. Very excited that I finished though, now the trick is doing it 39 more times in the next 50 days, haha. It is supposed to be just as hot, or hotter, and just as humid tomorrow. Maybe I can start a bit earlier, although it may be tough to pry me out of this extremely comfortable bed at the Copa Motel in Kingman. Since we didn't do a hotel last night, and it was blistering hot today, Mom treated me to a hotel room and some nice AC for the night. Two really cool things came out of the tough run today. One, I got a voicemail from the Governer of Kansas wishing me well on my journey and thanking me for my support of the Wounded Warrior Project. Secondly, at lunch, we drove into Kingman to pick up a care package that Bret Powell and his family had sent for us. I was feeling pretty rough at lunch due to the heat, but got a huge lift from the package. Inside, some students from Bret's class had hand-made some greeting cards for me, encouraging me along on the trip. What an incredibly sweet gesture. Thank you very much Bret!! Well, I'm gonna leave it short and not very eloquent tonight. My body is shot, and so is my mind. Gonna try to rest up and do it all again tomorrow.

Mom's View of Pratt, Kansas

Evergreen RV Park in Pratt, doors of supervan open and mosquito net up cooling things off.

Talk about cooling things off, the pool was great!

New-found friends Toaster, Jennifer, Butter and Whit; they fed and entertained us the evening before they moved to Iowa!

Just one of the many charming spots in a chain of parks running through Pratt.

Andrew in control of Butter and Toaster so I can get a photo of them?

Now you can get a good look at this adorable pair; they stole my heart the minute I saw them sitting in the big front window of the motorhome parked in front of us.

Construction can complicate the run logistics but is interesting to watch at a five mile stop. 

Drew is rather serious about his first 25 mile day, especially since heat and humidity are both very high