Day 35: Louisville, KY, to Lexington, KY (Saturday, July 19)
Distance traveled: 80 miles
Personal running distance today: 8.5 miles
Total personal miles to-date: 216 miles
Today's dedications: Jacob Boyd and Aunt Paula
My running buddy: Leanne
Weather: Overcast, 70s
Today is the first day on the trip that we have actually gotten a little sprinkle of rain on us while we do our miles during the day! Somehow we have really lucked out and had tons of sunshine and heat on this trip every day. However, today it was overcast all day and it even drizzled a little bit on our last few runners.
We headed out from the YMCA early and both teams drove out about an hour to get to our running route for the day. The two teams ran together again through the beautiful Kentucky countryside.
Distance traveled: 80 miles
Personal running distance today: 8.5 miles
Total personal miles to-date: 216 miles
Today's dedications: Jacob Boyd and Aunt Paula
My running buddy: Leanne
Weather: Overcast, 70s
Today is the first day on the trip that we have actually gotten a little sprinkle of rain on us while we do our miles during the day! Somehow we have really lucked out and had tons of sunshine and heat on this trip every day. However, today it was overcast all day and it even drizzled a little bit on our last few runners.
We headed out from the YMCA early and both teams drove out about an hour to get to our running route for the day. The two teams ran together again through the beautiful Kentucky countryside.
I ran with Leanne today, who I haven't run one-on-one yet, so I was really happy to be with her. We talked the entire time, so it hardly seemed like we were working that hard to run. Leanne is studying broadcast journalism, so we had a lot to "talk shop" about in the journalism world. She's also working on her honors thesis by making a short documentary of our trip this summer. However, she's also going to make an "extended version" for our teammates, which I'm stoked about! I can't to watch it over and over to remember the summer.
The 8 miles seemed to fly by. Perhaps it was because of our great conversations, maybe it was because of the nice overcast weather, who knows. We even managed to somehow accidentally go 0.5 miles over our daily goal, which was fine with me! Once our team finished up, we drove about 50 minutes to our host, an American Cancer Society Hope Lodge in Lexington.
As we drove into Lexington, I was surprised at how beautiful the country around it is. The rolling green hills and pastures for horses were so pretty. Once we got into town, I was really impressed with how cute and quaint it is, too. Upon arrival at the Hope Lodge, some of our teammates whipped up a lunch of mac n cheese, quinoa and cooked squash. Random, but it's what we had in our donated foods box!
After our late lunch, a group of us headed to a super cool local coffee shop. It's called Cup of Common Wealth, and part of what they do there is they allow people to buy a coffee for anyone, write who they want to receive it on a coffee sleeve, then hang it on the wall for someone to find. It might be for a specifically named person, or it might be for a person who shares a common interest, but the whole idea is to pay it forward. I loved it!
We're here right now, so I decided to catch up on blogging really quick. Tonight we have dinner provided by Chipotle at 6 p.m. for everyone. Afterwards, I imagine I will be taking it veeeeery easy. I'll probably write in some more journals, finish up some postcards, and hang out with my teammates. I'm going to go ahead and post this blog now, in the even that I don't have internet later tonight.
It's strange to think that a week from this very moment, we will be DONE. Finished. Over. As exciting as that sounds to my aching body, I can't believe that I'll be away from my teammates after that. It's been so long since I've had alone time that I don't think I actually remember what that's like. But until then, we still have 7 days of fun, including one more rest day in Ohio.
Tomorrow we'll cross into Ohio and get one state closer to the end. It should be another relatively short day, like most of the rest of our last few days of this trip, which is greatly appreciated by many of us who are injured. I'm eager to cross into another state, getting closer and closer to Baltimore.
Run happy,
Natalie
P.S. In order to help out a friend of mine, I wanted to make an addition to this post. Chris Plate, a guy I went to high school with and was in band with, is currently looking for a kidney donor. He has been through a lot in his life in terms of health; most recently, his body rejected his last transplanted kidney, so this time, the Mayo Clinic is helping him to find the perfect match.
Chris put on his Facebook that the donor should be 18-60 years old, healthy, never had cancer and either type A or O blood. If you fit this bill and are interesting in registering to see if you could be his perfect match, I encourage you to check out this website and fill out the form on there.
Needless to say, I've already registered to see if I'm a match, and I am hopeful that many of my friends will join me so that he can get the kidney he needs to be healthy and well again! Thanks everyone for your consideration!
The 8 miles seemed to fly by. Perhaps it was because of our great conversations, maybe it was because of the nice overcast weather, who knows. We even managed to somehow accidentally go 0.5 miles over our daily goal, which was fine with me! Once our team finished up, we drove about 50 minutes to our host, an American Cancer Society Hope Lodge in Lexington.
As we drove into Lexington, I was surprised at how beautiful the country around it is. The rolling green hills and pastures for horses were so pretty. Once we got into town, I was really impressed with how cute and quaint it is, too. Upon arrival at the Hope Lodge, some of our teammates whipped up a lunch of mac n cheese, quinoa and cooked squash. Random, but it's what we had in our donated foods box!
After our late lunch, a group of us headed to a super cool local coffee shop. It's called Cup of Common Wealth, and part of what they do there is they allow people to buy a coffee for anyone, write who they want to receive it on a coffee sleeve, then hang it on the wall for someone to find. It might be for a specifically named person, or it might be for a person who shares a common interest, but the whole idea is to pay it forward. I loved it!
We're here right now, so I decided to catch up on blogging really quick. Tonight we have dinner provided by Chipotle at 6 p.m. for everyone. Afterwards, I imagine I will be taking it veeeeery easy. I'll probably write in some more journals, finish up some postcards, and hang out with my teammates. I'm going to go ahead and post this blog now, in the even that I don't have internet later tonight.
It's strange to think that a week from this very moment, we will be DONE. Finished. Over. As exciting as that sounds to my aching body, I can't believe that I'll be away from my teammates after that. It's been so long since I've had alone time that I don't think I actually remember what that's like. But until then, we still have 7 days of fun, including one more rest day in Ohio.
Tomorrow we'll cross into Ohio and get one state closer to the end. It should be another relatively short day, like most of the rest of our last few days of this trip, which is greatly appreciated by many of us who are injured. I'm eager to cross into another state, getting closer and closer to Baltimore.
Run happy,
Natalie
P.S. In order to help out a friend of mine, I wanted to make an addition to this post. Chris Plate, a guy I went to high school with and was in band with, is currently looking for a kidney donor. He has been through a lot in his life in terms of health; most recently, his body rejected his last transplanted kidney, so this time, the Mayo Clinic is helping him to find the perfect match.
Chris put on his Facebook that the donor should be 18-60 years old, healthy, never had cancer and either type A or O blood. If you fit this bill and are interesting in registering to see if you could be his perfect match, I encourage you to check out this website and fill out the form on there.
Needless to say, I've already registered to see if I'm a match, and I am hopeful that many of my friends will join me so that he can get the kidney he needs to be healthy and well again! Thanks everyone for your consideration!