Day 2: The Ice Man Cometh

I’d love to claim my absence was an effort to build anticipation for my Day 2 summary, but it wasn’t. Just pure laziness!

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I immediately knew that sagging on Day 1 was a great choice. Day 2 was just as daunting as Day 1 (another 21+ miles) and the heat and miles were just as intense. But a solid regimen of icing, awesome teammates and a truly shocking surprise kept me going all day long.

First the icing: I have yet to find a solution for my arches. Day 1 this year, was like Day 3 agony last year. It seems like the extra support in my shoe solved some of my shin/hip pain, but after the first 16 miles on Friday, I felt like I was walking with a golf ball in my shoe. The pain is hard to explain, but it hurts just take my word for it. Last year, Nancy and Amy recommended icing throughout the day, and I implemented the strategy on Day 3 with great results. You would have thought it would have occurred to me to do it from the beginning this year, but I was confident I could at least get through Day 1 without the hassle. So much for confidence. Day 2 I got wiser. I packed my own ziplocks in my camel-back, and made ice packs at several stops during the day (including lunch where the ice man was soooooooooooo cute). The difference is amazing. Don’t get me wrong…my arches still hurt, but at least its not incapacitating.

Ice, Ice Baby

Next the surprise: Around mile 16 my parents were trying to get to the cheer station, but we missed each other. I was disappointed, but also exhausted and didn’t feel like I could hold the team up to wait. So we pressed on. Mom and Dad were (at the time) unexpectedly determined to see me that afternoon though. As we approached their ad hoc cheer station down the road, I was mortified that it appeared they had recruited a stranger to cheer with them. From a distance (and through the heat/exhaustion haze) all I could see was a girl with longer hair than either Mom or her friend Karen had. As I got closer though, a tall guy with an adorable baby stepped from behind the tree. That was when I promptly lost it. I crumpled into pile of tears and sobs and tried to dodge traffic Frogger style to run over to grab my God Daughter/Niece who surprised me from Norfolk Virginia. A word about surprises and my family: they never seem to work! Good news just does not hold in my family. But this was a total and utter shock. Seeing Mike Erin and Ella made the weekend. It was such a delightful surprise and Ella’s pictures don’t lie…she is truly getting cuter Every. Single. Day.
Lastly: My teammates! What a group of girls! Everyone was really so supportive. A wimp like me really needs some help to get 60 miles down the road, and without these girls, I wouldn’t have made it! On Saturday Nancy proved to be the super hero. She stayed with me those last 5 miles on Day 2 and kept me chatting the whole way, taking my mind off the fact that those last miles were ALL up hill. I clearly would have sagged, if I weren’t talking so much that I kept missing the sag wagons! Also, I had a small incident at the shower line where I was too stubborn to get out of line (its LONG people) despite the fact that I was clearly overheated/dehydrated. This resulted in feeling like I might pass out after I got out. The girls and the Half Street Boyfriend graciously got me liquids, ice, and offered to carry my stuff to dinner. They were the best, and I’m really so very thankful we did it together.

37 miles is a looong way, but it felt great to have it under my belt at the end of Day 2.