We actually did start pretty much on time yesterday in Connecticut for the Mystic Places marathon course. It began in a small park where there were swarms of terrible biting flies like the black flies I remember from Maine on the App. Trail. Friends from Rhodes John and Erin Goss were there to meet us, and John rode his bike with me the entire way! It was so great to see them both, and wonderful to have the company. The run went well, though I felt the toll the heat from yesterday had taken on me, so I went a bit slower. We bumped into another nice fellow on a bike who happened to know the course really well, so he guided us for a while, which was great. Unfortunately there was a very thick fog, so there weren't really any awesome beach views, but I knew the sea was right next to us much of the time, so the sea breeze was nice. It was basically an out and back course, and those terrible flies started swarming me again the minute I set foot back into the park where I started! Amazing that they were only there in the park, but finished up there, spoke with a really nice reporter from the local paper who had just completed an Ironman race a few weeks ago, said goodbye to John, and we were off again. We went through our post-run routine and were on the road to New Jersey. Unfortunately that meant one more trip through NYC- my dad was getting all too familiar with traffic there in the city. We got stuck right in rush hour and added a solid 3 hours onto the trip, but eventually got through and made it down to just outside Atlantic City, NJ fairly late. We had had quite a time nailing down a course in NJ, so were glad to have this one finally locked in.
After a short sleep, I met up with Carl from Omaha, who is now back again for another leg of the adventure! After running in Omaha with me, then again in St. Louis, he flew into Philadelphia last night and drove in to NJ late as well. It was great to reconnect with him, and we all crammed into the Durango and were off to the start. Almost the entire course was on the Boardwalk, which was very very very flat. It was a fun run, and would've been tough mentally without Carl along for the ride. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sun was already out when we started just after 6am. It never got too terribly hot, but it wasn't exactly frigid either. Fun to see all the bustle of people on the Boardwalk as we ran- almost like being in a raceday race in some ways. We ran conservatively, and finished up without much fanfare. Back to the hotel for icebath fun, and we were off to Delaware. I napped hard during the short drive to Wilmington, and we've taken it easy this evening here. A nice dinner of Italian takeout here in the hotel with Carl, and now we're all off to bed. Looking forward to running with Carl again tomorrow morning- his first back to back marathon attempt! Seems like the crazy high temperatures are subsiding slightly, but we'll still start at 6, and should be a great day! Thank you all for your amazing support!