Today was great! We got started early, though not quite as early as planned, and Carl and I were off in Wilmington, DE just as the sun was rising. This was Carl's first attempt at 2 marathons in a row and he did amazingly well! The course was essentially 4 loops that were 6.3 miles long, plus one other mile loop, which made for a fun run. I'm actually getting very accustomed to these loop courses, and don't really mind them much at all. I had some minor pain in my upper calf yesterday, but was feeling good today and had no pain. Kirten's best friend's dad-Mark- joined in on the 2nd loop and cruised through the middle 2 loops with us. He kept us on task, and was a lot of fun to run with, and definitely gave Carl and I a mental break. Carl and I finished up the last loop without too much chitchat as the cloud cover broke and the sun came through. The temperature actually was great though. We finished up strong and Carl and I ran even faster today than we did when we ran together in St. Louis- a new PR for Carl, and on his 2nd marathon in as many days no less. He is a true maniac! We got back to the hotel and went throug the routine, then we all went out for a quick lunch, and we were on the road again. Carl was flying out of Philadelphia a bit later to get back to Omaha, so we said goodbye, but are hoping to connect again for a few more marathons at the end of the 50!
We've now made it in to Frederick, MD, and a night full of running is set to begin. As I'm actually running 51 marathon distances in 50 days, tomorrow's the day for 2! I wanted to fit D.C. in also, but 50 in 50 in 50 was too convenient to throw in an extra day; hence this solution. So tonight at midnight I begin the Frederick Marathon, and should finish up around 4am. Believe it or not, the race director has been incredibly supportive and will be out there to lead me through the course on bicycle. There are even a few other folks planning to come out! After that one, we'll come back to the hotel for a quick icedown, etc., then on the road to D.C. for a 7am start at the White House. I'll run loops around the National Mall until I hit 26.2 miles and finish up in front of the Capitol around 11am. We are now off to D.C. (hour or so drive) to have dinner with my brother and his wife who are the proud new parents of quadruplets (and I'm the proud new Uncle Sam)! Then we'll shoot back here for hopefully a few hours of napping before the midnight start tonight. Oh, and I'll also be in studio at CNN tomorrow afternoon about 3pm EST should you be around a television. It's going to be a long long night and day, but should be a lot of fun. Hope you all are well, and thank you especially now for your continued support and prayers!