As you may recall, day one was in the books and we had yet to utter anything to the effect of “what did we get ourselves into” so we were in good shape! We managed to find a delicious Japanese restaurant and sushi bar for dinner on the evening of day one, and we went to bed well fed and ready to tackle the next day.
May 31- Day Two
We began the second day where we left off on the first day, with our official chalk line on the road to mark our “start”. As you recall, we finished up the day before in a nicely shaded park, so we began in that same wooded area. The brief bit of shade was nice, and the temps hadn’t yet climbed all that high, but the humidity was already out in full force so we knew we were going to be in for another steamy day. The day’s route took us through Fredericksburg, across the Rappahannock River, and back out along lightly traveled country roads, ending just north of a small town called Tacketts Mill.
As luck would have it, Stefan and I began day two running with another amazing member of the core team of runners. Rob Young actually began running a marathon a day or more prior to the start of the Race Across the USA, and was running this event as part of a set of larger goals. He was attempting to set a world record for the most marathons run in a year, and was doing it all to raise money and awareness for vulnerable children. He would go on to win the overall Race Across the USA, and ultimately run 370 marathons in the span of 365 days. On this particular day, Stefan and I had a nice leisurely chat with him about his running experiences, his background in various other sports, including professional cycling, and his plans to break future world records as well. It was clear within 5 minutes just how passionate he is for the sport and the level of commitment and dedication he has to what he is doing, and it was amazing to be a part of that with him. We stuck with him for 5 or 6 miles before we once again realized we were going faster than planned, and we made the decision to pull back and slow our pace. It would appear that we learned our lesson, as it didn’t take us 18 miles to slow down this time around!
For the most part, the rest of the day involved a nice pleasant run through the country in semi-rural Virginia. Once again, the temps rose and our sweat levels increased, but Jamile was right there to offer us the additional ice and water that we needed to keep moving forward and enjoying the opportunity to be out there running a second marathon in as many days. There was no shortage of hills, and we ended the day with over 2,700 feet of elevation gain and a hair over a marathon in distance. Overall, it was a great day and we even managed to splurge on slurpees when we were done, which obviously made it all worth it!
June 1- Day Three
“Good morning!”
“Good morning, ready to go run another marathon?”
“Nah, why don’t we shoot for closer to a 50K? You know, to challenge ourselves! :) ”
“Ok, sounds like a plan. Now hurry up and get your shoes on!”
Our legs were feeling really good after the past two days. We had been rolling them out pretty consistently, and even doing a bit of icing to be on the safe side. That, combined with some good refueling, left us in good shape for the longest of the four days. The day’s route, and the second to the last day of the entire event, was set at a bit over 33 miles. There’s probably a joke in there somewhere considering the timing of this distance, but everyone was tired enough when we started and even more tired when we finished that we no doubt missed it.
The theme for the entire day was heat and hills, and there were copious amounts of both as the miles ticked by and the sun got higher in the sky. However, the first 18 miles or so flew by pretty quickly and we were both rather surprised at how smoothly the morning had been going, and how well our legs were still holding up. We were moving at a good clip, enjoying the views, and even stopping to take pictures along the way. This was probably the first time that I felt like I could simply keep going indefinitely, and it was a pretty amazing feeling. I’ve indicated before that I’d love to attempt my own trans-continental run at some point in the future, and it was encouraging to get just a small glimmer of the possibility while tackling this experience.
We were now getting closer to the outskirts of D.C. so we were in more populated areas, and were able to take refuge on some sidewalks along busier roads, which was nice. We managed to find some of the biggest hills we had yet to encounter. It had also been more than a day since we had gotten off course, so we were due for a bit of creative route adjustment, and we found it near some road construction. We knew the construction was coming and thought we had the directions correct but we made the mistake of stopping to ask a construction worker, who sent us in the completely wrong direction, and we tacked on about a mile before we found our way back to the course. For some reason, this extra distance, combined with the heat and no doubt a bit of dehydration, hit me really hard and I hit a very hard wall. We only had 5 or 6 miles left, but I was hating life. Luckily, Stefan offered me a flavor of honey stinger gel that I hadn’t had before. For whatever reason, the new flavor rejuvenated me and I was back on track for the remainder of the day. We finished the day by cresting the biggest hill we had yet to find, and the sight of everyone up at the top waiting for us was a welcome relief after 34 miles!
Once we finished for the day, we actually headed back to Alexandria and Stefan & Jamile’s house, where we would stay the final night since we were so close. We got cleaned up and then hopped in the car to head over to the Pentagon for a tour. As it happens, Stefan works for the National Guard, at the Pentagon, so I had the privilege of receiving a personal tour of this icon fixture of American politics and military influence around the world. It was fascinating to learn more about the history behind the building’s construction, as well as the overall layout and the various offices and personnel housed within those 5 walls. Seeing the 9/11 Memorial was particularly sobering, and an important reminder of how all of the pieces of life fit together.
After the tour, we headed to another D.C. neighborhood to join the rest of the RAUSA team for a celebratory dinner in honor of the final official race the following day. It was an opportunity to get to know folks a bit better and enjoy a nice meal and fuel up for the final run to D.C. and along the National Mall. It was hard to believe that we had already conquered three days and were now gearing up for our final marathon and we were equal parts excited and tired. Luckily, there was rain and cooler temperatures in the forecast for the last day, so we were excited to end on a more comfortable note.
Stay tuned next time for the exciting conclusion of Stefan and Adam’s Quadzilla adventures! #chasing42 #chasing42reports
