Today really tested the limits of my body…and surprisingly, I survived. On no sleep and a little alcohol, I was still able to finish my 10 mile leg in decent time! Wow! I was even impressed. The day started where yesterday left off…in a Baltimore Super 8 Motel with my DC friends, staring at a disgusting, used, hotel room and wondering what to do next. The only thought in our minds was to find an open bar…which we did. Although we only stayed briefly, I had to be up and ready to run by 1:30am, we were still able to get in our standard Jaeger Bomb. Once back in the hotel, my friends and I said our goodbyes (and their good lucks to me on my upcoming run) and then it was off to the start of the day. Will had the unfortunate luck to be running first, playing my hero, and actually swapping with me so I could run with Maureen, an NYU cross country friend, later in the shift. The morning went by in a blur of me dozing off and sleeping, heavily yet unfulfilling, throughout most of the legs. I think there were a couple of guest runners, I know we went through cute Wilmington, DE, but the only clear part begins before my run.

I ran the last leg, going from Delaware into Pennsylvania. As a great surprise, Maureen, a friend of mine from my days on NYU Cross Country, showed up to run with me. It was sooo fun!! It was nice to run with her again…it’s been a while, and we got to catch up and talk and yay! The fact that I was running on no sleep and all, didn’t even seem to make a difference…well not much at least, that’s how much fun it was. We finished into the last exchange, switching the night crew for day crew, and passing off to Team Green. Making it just perfect, Maureen surprised everyone with homemade cupcakes…mmmmmmmmm! =) We all went out to breakfast together, Team Silver, Maureen, and her dad, and it was great fun including them in our day. Thanks Mo for the company and fun!

Things from there started to go downhill though. The lack of sleep and stress caught up to all of us, and tempers and patience grew thin. First, when changing after my run, I noticed that only one flip-flop was available… Yup…again, just like in China, somehow, someone, or something had kicked my flip-flop out of the van. My only hope was that it was the opposite one from last time… The rest of the day I was barefoot and visibly sad…I loved those flip flops. Then…I started to notice my phone was missing. We called and called it, hoping to hear it ring, but it just kept going to voicemail. I tried to retrace my steps, figure out where it was placed last, and my only thought was maybe it got run over by a car. So, I made the team reluctantly return to the last exchange point and search for pieces of broken phone…no luck though. We arrived at the hotel, and after cleaning out the van, the phone was eventually found…in the bottom of our cooler filled with water…dead. =( None of this would seem like that big of a deal in retrospect, but at the time, when we were all so tired and cranky…it did…

Trying to stay proactive and positive, but doing a poor job, I went to a local grocery store, bought a cheap pair of plastic green flip flops, came back to the hotel, laid by the pool for a bit, and then crashed hard in bed. Thank god for some sleep!