Day 3

Posted by posted by Eric Charette

Today was the most difficult thing I have ever done in running.  I started off the day with 100 miles in two days with Rob and had another 48+ miles planned going on 10 hours rest.  The very first steps I took in the morning were painful and by mile 8 I was down to pure walking.  The pain in my right forefoot was so intense that I could not put any pressure on it.  I altered my gate and that gave me a horrific blister on my right outer heal.  Luckily I had David Riddle, Kathy Yougren, Blake Thompson and Sarah Bowden there to keep me going.  I walked with pacers for 6-8 more miles before going it solo with crew support.  I had some resurgence in the late afternoon when I was able to medicate enough to take the edge off, but that faded toward the end.  All day long my mind was strong, I stayed hydrated, properly fueled and mostly sharp as I gutted out 37 of the planned 48 miles.  It was through shear will and crew support that I made it.

Our crew chief Josh Kennedy worked on my feet tonight after icing.  As of right now, I can not apply any pressure on them while standing.  But this is too important for me to give up, despite being several hours behind Rob.  Eric Fritz and I will start out on Dugger Mountain in the morning and see how my feet respond.