Distance traveled: 126 miles
Personal running distance today: 11 miles
Total personal miles to-date: 132 miles
Today's dedications: Denny Marquart and Kaden Keller
My running buddy: Alison
Weather: Sunny, 70s
Today started off so well. We had a super delicious breakfast spread: bagels, peanut butter, watermelon, hard boiled eggs, fruit, muffins, etc. After we circled up with our gracious host who cooked for us all, we headed out toward Rawlins. I was paired with Alison again today since our pace matched up so well yesterday with our respective injuries. For some reason, right from the start today, she and I were already on another (much weirder) level than everyone else. We were singing and wailing songs and dancing in the vans before we had even run our first chunk of miles. I can't explain our weirdness, but I'm really glad I found someone on the team who matches mine.
We ran our first 3 miles together pretty successfully, even with a huge hill in it. However, in the middle, there was a viciously barking dog that was dragging a metal chain from its collar that it had apparently torn from whatever it was connected to. It chased after us pretty quickly, but luckily a truck drove by on the road and distracted it. That was mildly uncomfortable, but yet, we carried on.
During our second set of 3 miles, we were each hurting a bit, but again, we persevered and made it through without any distractions. However, when we got out of the van to do a 2 mile chunk, disaster struck...
If you've ever wondered what it feels like to be covered in 5-10 mosquitos that are biting you constantly for 15 minutes...you don't want to know. We had evidently stepped out of the van into a mosquito colony that was invading us. It was so bad that we were constantly smacking ourselves to get the mosquitos off. I'm sure the vans driving by thought we looked incredibly strange hitting ourselves so much.
We ran back and forth on the road, even across it and down the middle, trying to escape the devil mosquitos. Once these mosquitos land on you, you immediately feel a pinch and they start sucking your blood. It was painful and also terrifying...I'm pretty sure Alison and I were losing our minds this entire time. Meanwhile, I was attempting to call EVERY PERSON EVER on the team, but very few had service and many couldn't answer. Finally, after about 15 minutes, I got a hold of a van that came to rescue us from our terrible demise. But Alison and I were scarred for the rest of the day. In case you were wondering if I'm telling the truth or not, Alison took a picture of her legs at one point during our panic session...
We arrived at the First United Methodist Church in Rawlins, and many of us got out to finish the last few miles we weren't able to finish in mosquito land. At this point, I was physically exhausted and mentally drained from the morning, so I opted to walk with a group for 4 miles, which ended up giving me 1 extra mile on top of the 10 we were supposed to complete today.
When we returned from the walk, we had a mini jam-session in the church. Haerie and Joe both play the guitar, so we had a fun sing-along in the sanctuary as we waited our turn to go shower. We went to a nearby campground to shower, and to be honest, this is the first shower I've had in 4 days, so it was much-needed and FANTASTIC. However, I must say, it's surprising how easy it is to go without showering for so long. Despite being hot and sweaty each day, you get used to it extremely quickly and it really doesn't bother you anymore.
Our hosts at the church tonight have been absolutely fantastic. They prepared us a high-quality meal that everyone could eat. They made pasta, but they made one with chicken, one for vegetarians, one gluten-free and one lactose-free. They were so great in catering to all our dietary restrictions, plus we had salad, mixed vegetables, garlic bread and cookies for dessert.
The pastor of the church is also a wonderful cook. He spoke to us tonight and really helped put things in perspective about our trip. Then, he let us have a sneak preview of tomorrow's breakfast menu...let's just say that we are going to eat REALLY well in the morning, and we'll hope that we can hold it all in when we have to run shortly after eating!
After dinner, our team had our second pow wow. We circled up to talk about some team business, and we also gave everyone the opportunity to share their recent highs/lows of the trip, give out compliments and also share why they're here doing 4K. It's amazing to hear the stories of my fellow teammates. I have grown to know these 25 people quite well over the past few weeks, some I'm closer to than others, but I always love our pow wows when people open up and are willing to be open and vulnerable by sharing their very personal stories.
After the pow wow, a few of us headed to the local McDonalds because our wifi wouldn't work at the church. I'm here now finishing up this blog and a few other things, but I am so incredibly exhausted from today for some reason. I cannot wait to hop into my sleeping bag shortly.
Tomorrow we head to Laramie, WY, which I'm assuming is yet another small town here in good ol Wyoming. However, each day this week has brought me closer and closer to Boulder on Friday where I get to reunite with two of my very best friends, Caleb and Rachel. I cannot express how excited I am to see them and spend a very fun 4th of July holiday with them!
Run happy,
Natalie