Day 6 Vol State Race

Big sigh. Day 5 was a bit of a beating and Day 6 was my reprieve. I needed this. I ran/walked between 25-30 miles today and it was do-able, and probably one of the lower milage days I'll have. Things are not fast-moving anymore in regards to my legs, and most folks are fast-walking or just plain walking at this point. Whatever it takes to get to the finish line at Castle Rock, GA is what people do, and that's perfect. 

David drew this at one of the downtown areas
near the courthouse as he was waiting for
me to go by. The town square had a courtyard
with caulk and encourages art on the concrete.
I love these little towns.

I wanted to start today's blog with a tribute to David, my crew. For 6 days now, he's had everything I might need, did need, wanted, and things that I didn't even know I needed. He makes sure I have 3 good meals a day, and he knows exactly what I like - and the snacks between the meals are always delicious. Side note: I don't take supplements for races like this (ex: salt, electrolytes, etc) as I just eat food, and many times, salty foods on purpose - or sugary foods (Hostess cupcakes from a convenience store) for quick energy. I eat depending on how I feel. 

While I'm out the door and hitting the road, David is either loading or unloading the truck depending on if I'm coming in town or leaving town.

He has his system down of getting things back and forth from the truck, what needs to go in the motel room, and where something particular would be. The other day when I showered in my running clothes to wash them, he's the one to hang up "the laundry" on-the-go, and usually in the truck window.

Hanging the laundry out to dry.

He always has the charger station set up to charge all the things we need charging (lights, phones, watch, etc). And I appreciate all his crewing because he's the one who makes the magic happen all while I'm trying to get down the road. I'm so fortunate that he takes time to support me in this way. I know I'm a lucky girl, and when he's ready for me to crew him in a race, I'm his girl! 

I wasn't so sure about this text when I got it,
but realized he probably just wanted to have the 
food relatively hot when I got there.

Our conversations via text are quite often in order keep up with each other. We deal with the stress of a race like this, much of the time, with humor. It gets us through. 

He's great at drawing me a map of an upcoming turn(s). 

I love the little maps he draws, then takes a photo 
of them and text them to me, so I don't miss
a turn and makes sure I get by the courthouse.

He makes sure I know which motel he's at once he's finally decided I'm okay out on the road and goes back to await my arrival. 

This was by far the nicest place we will stay 
on this trip.

He spends his majority of his time in the truck during the day driving back and forth on the route to update me of road conditions or milage. 

His life right now

Love the little blue book. It's a Vol State 
book written by John Price with lots of 
good information re: route/directions.

I get full-service all the time. How do you repay someone for assisting like this? I'm not sure, but one thing about our marriage is that we support each other. We lift each other up. He's my rock.

Here on Day 6, the route was a small 2 lane highway with no shoulder. It had trees overgrown over it to provide shade and protection from the rain. 

This is my favorite portion of the course,
except for the no-shoulder part.

It rained off and on most all day today. The irony in this is that I slept in (I was so tired) at the Richland Inn and then left just in time to get a couple of miles down the route before it begin the first downpour of the day. I would not ever change my wet shoes or socks during the day, there was no need. When David showed up along a portion of the route that had the trees overgrown together with Arby's, we sat on the tailgate of the truck that he pulled over in a vacant driveway, and allowed the rain to gently sprinkle over us, as the trees caught much of it for us. 

Always there for me 💜

It was such beautiful countryside today moving down the road from Columbia to Wartrace, then onto Manchester. Just gorgeous. The smaller highway was nice too. I did have the bigger highways getting out of Columbia and then again coming into Manchester, but in between was where the magic of this race is found. Simply breathtaking. 

Shade and rain today. Not a bad deal.

At one point along my miles today, a truck pulled over and out jumped a man. He comes over to me and places his hand out to shake mine, saying, "Hello! I'm Terry, what's your name?" I tell him my name and he can tell I'm a little confused about what is happening. He then tells me he is a Road Angel and wanted to give me something. He goes to the backseat of his truck, where he has 2 coolers whereby he reaches in one cooler and pulls out a small plastic cup of peaches. The kind that are sealed and sold in 4 packs at the store. He tells me he is known as The Peach Guy because he goes up and down the Vol State route handing out super-cold peach cups. I thank him, and he jumps back in his truck to go find the next race participant. He had said he does this most every year (even though I've not seen him before) and I know the Screwed racers appreciate such a treat, as I know I did. Esp out in the middle of nowhere. Turns out, after he got in his truck, another downpour of rain hit. I was glad he was off to find someone else who needed an angel.

Terry the Road Angel and The Peach Guy

It was so cold and refreshing.
Yes, I ate them.

The day was good, and the fact that David got us a room at the Holiday Inn Express in Manchester which is on the route was my icing on the cake today. He had dinner ready in the hotel room, and we shared our day's events together in a very nice hotel. I never want to leave here. But I know I have to in the morning. Early for that matter, as it's another higher milage day tomorrow. I'm at mile 252 (around there) today, and know that within a couple of days, I'll be getting to The Rock, as they call it. Castle Rock.

Happy Tuesday (I had to think about what day it actually is),

Cyndi

Excuse the janky video of the video but this blog site makes me do that.