Notes
Ow, dammit! The first 20-ish miles were mostly good. Then I changed shoes (2nd time), and discovered that the hot-spot on the back/bottom of my right heel was painful for a reason. A nice gummi bear sized blister had appeared, and it hurt like hell. I liberally applied Body Glide and ended up pounding out 7 more miles until I realized that I had run/walked the last three with a completely changed gait to avoid any heel-striking (which is incredibly difficult while walking). I was still feeling the heat in my feet, and I was limping to boot. Event over. Live to fight another day. "Be smart" someone told me earlier in the week. As much as it hurt my pride to throw in the towel, I feel it was the smart thing to do.
Seven hours, 27.25 miles. Not the 18 and 72 I was hoping for. I raised a lot of money for the American Cancer Society and I'm very proud of that, but I wish I could have done more. The only thing I'm even slightly disappointed in is feeling like maybe I let down the people who pledged money to our team. But knowing the contributors, they would have donated if I did one mile let alone 27+.
All the teams participating in the event raised over $36,000 for cancer awareness and research. That is a great success, I'd say. :)