Mile 1 - 11:15 start time. Same as yesterday. 75 degrees with a high of 75! Partly sunny with not much wind at the moment...
Mile 2 - 11:28 - Heading straight to the north today...
Mile 3 - 11:41 - Starting off on the sidewalks of the city streets...
Mile 4 - 11:54 - Working my way through the residential areas so I can find more shade until I get into the marsh...
Mile 5 - 12:07 - Heading into the peace and tranquility of the marsh...
Mile 6 - 12:20 - I am including the start time of each mile once again just to keep me moving...
Mile 7 - 12:33 - More tree lined trails through the marsh...
Mile 8 - 12:46 - When running alone I do not have the benefit of someone to keep me moving. And that is where the clock can be a tool...
Mile 9 - 12:59 - I just have to be careful not to push myself to go faster than is comfortable...
Mile 10 - 1:12 - Last convenience store I will see for the next fourteen miles as I am headed toward a prairie trail...
Mile 11 - 1:25 - With my i-phone in my right hand and a banana in my left. Tools of the trade...
Mile 12 - 1:38 - The trail runs alongside a large lake before leading into the prairie...
Mile 13 - 1:51 - And it's been so many years since I ran up here I forgot how many trees were along this trail...
Mile 14 - 2:04 - In the shade the temperature is absolutely perfect! Unfortunately, the closer I get to the prairie, the less shade I find...
Mile 15 - 2:17 - Re-fueling every hour (raw almonds, banana and gatorade) being rationed out to last as long as possible...
Mile 16 - 2:30 - The prairie land has become farmland...
Mile 17 - 2:43 - And just when I thought I had run out of tree cover, I find yet more trees. This is turning out to be a great route...
Mile 18 - 2:56 - The clouds are finally rolling in and should help cool things off a bit...
Mile 19 - 3:09 - Crossed over the Black River and now running through the wetlands...
Mile 20 - 3:22 - This is a heavily wooded national wildlife refuge. Very peaceful (with the exception of the mosquitoes!)...
Mile 21 - 3:35 - And I have discovered that I the mosquitoes and horse flies are much faster than I am...
Mile 22 - 3:48 - Almost to Trempealeau, the first town in the last fourteen miles, my next pit stop...
Mile 23 - 4:01 - I did not want to say anything early and jinx myself, but it is safe to say that I am feeling much stronger today than I felt all of last week...
Mile 24 - 4:14 - And that is really saying a lot considering I am starting my 24th mile and it is 79 degrees with very high humidity!...
Mile 25 - 4:27 - Re-fueled in Trempealeau. Just in time. I was getting parched...
Mile 26 - 4:40 - Heading East on hwy K and still feeling better than I have all week...
5 pm - 26.2 miles completed again for the 81st day in a row!
I have completed a full marathon seven days a week, whether I felt like it or not, as a platform for a book that I spent 9 years working on.
The message of the book is that we can do pretty much anything ONE DAY AT A TIME. The book is not about running, it is about improving. It is about getting better at anything we want to improve at by making small incremental improvements that make the difficult things not only achievable, but relatively easy.
This book was written for anyone who desires to get motivated and more importantly discover how easy it can be to STAY motivated.
Anyone can get motivated, very few can stay motivated. I am giving this book the epic platform that it deserves because I believe that staying motivating is the bridge between dreams and reality.
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