Sumner's Transcon for PD 2025

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Welcome, and thank you for being here!Whether you know me or just stumbled onto this page, I’m glad we’ve crossed paths. My name is Sumner Jones, and this summer I’m running 3,000 miles across the United States, from Seattle to New York City. I’m raising money for the Davis Phinney Foundation, a wonderful organization that supports people living with Parkinson’s disease through education, tools, and community programs.Over the past year, I’ve worked in the Jay Alberts lab at the Cleveland Clinic focusing on movement disorders and fall risk in Parkinson’s disease, and it has shaped how I think about mobility, health, and connection. This run is a way to carry that work forward in a different form, one step at a time, across the country.I am so grateful for your time and attention, and hope you enjoy my documentation of my journey. Thank you!

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Journey Progress!

Sumner's Transcon for PD 2025

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Endurance running has always been a central passion in my life. One of my biggest dreams has always been to complete a coast-to-coast run across the United States. Having had the incredible opportunity to work in Dr. Jay Alberts' movement disorders research lab at Cleveland Clinic during my med school gap year, I have been deeply inspired by the groundbreaking work we do and the remarkable patients I have met along the way.Through our research on cognitive-motor interactions in Parkinson's disease and our collaboration with the Davis Phinney Foundation's "Pedal for PD" programs, I've witnessed firsthand how movement-based interventions can transform lives. The patients who participate in our studies have shown me the profound impact that staying active can have on maintaining independence and quality of life, even in the face of progressive neurological conditions.This research experience sparked the idea to combine my personal passion for endurance running with meaningful advocacy for the Parkinson's community. My coast-to-coast journey represents the convergence of doing what I love while raising money and awareness for a cause that has become deeply important to me. By connecting "Pedal for PD" locations across the country, I hope to demonstrate that movement, whether cycling, running, or any form of physical activity, remains not only possible but beneficial throughout the Parkinson's journey.To me, this run is more than just a personal challenge; it's an opportunity to bridge the gap between laboratory research and community impact by bringing our research findings directly to the communities we serve. At each Pedal for PD location, I'll share insights from our latest studies while learning from patients and families about their real-world experiences with Parkinson's.I am thrilled to have your attention and time on this website, and I hope you enjoy the journey!Thank you so much,Sumner Jones

email: [email protected]

Sumner's Transcon for PD 2025

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There's an unparalleled freedom that comes with moving under your own power across vast distances. Running offers a pure form of independence where your body becomes both the vehicle and the engine, carrying you forward through landscapes that change with each passing mile. This freedom is something I've come to treasure deeply, and one part of my life I am most grateful for.The 3,000-mile journey from Seattle to New York represents the ultimate expression of this freedom. Across mountains, plains, and cities, I'll experience the country's incredible diversity while demonstrating that the human body, when properly trained and cared for, is capable of extraordinary things. This route will showcase not just the beauty of America's landscapes, but the remarkable capacity we all possess for movement and endurance.Each day's route will roughly follow the plan below, but will be subject to whatever challenges the journey may present! Please navigate back to the journal entries tab to see specific day-by-day routing.

Sumner's Transcon for PD 2025

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Sumner's Transcon for PD 2025

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The Davis Phinney Foundation emerged from former professional cyclist Davis Phinney's personal journey with Parkinson's disease after his diagnosis at age 40. Rather than accepting a diminished future, Davis and his family established an organization focused on empowering people with Parkinson's to live well today. Their philosophy centers on the belief that every small victory matters in the ongoing battle against this progressive condition, emphasizing what people can still do rather than what they've lost.Our research lab at Cleveland Clinic has fostered a meaningful partnership with the Davis Phinney Foundation that goes beyond traditional academic collaboration. Dr. Jay Alberts, who serves as my mentor and Vice Chair of Innovation at the Neurological Institute, has pioneered research showing that specific types of forced exercise can meaningfully reduce Parkinson's symptoms. His work provided the scientific foundation for what became the "Pedal for PD" program, transforming laboratory findings into accessible community interventions.This partnership allows us to conduct research directly within "Pedal for PD" locations in Cleveland and Utah, where we study how exercise interventions perform in real-world community settings. Working alongside the foundation has taught me how scientific discoveries can be translated into programs that serve both research goals and patient needs. These community programs create supportive environments where people with Parkinson's can access evidence-based interventions while building connections with others facing similar challenges. Through this collaboration, I've witnessed how research can extend beyond academic publications to create tangible resources that bring hope and practical benefits to patients and families navigating life with Parkinson's disease.

Sumner's Transcon for PD 2025

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To my parents, who have shown me what it means to dedicate your life to serving others and pursuing meaningful work. You have guided my understanding of what it means to find purpose in life and have inspired my own journey. This would simply not be possible without you both. Thank you so so so muchTo Danya, for your endless support (and hours spent watching me run in literal circles...) and unwavering belief in me. You helped me become the person I am today, and I could not express more gratitude to you. You've been my anchor through every challenge and celebration to get here ._.To Clayton, for your friendship and brotherhood throughout this endeavor and in my life. You gave me the gift of questioning why things work and the beautiful world around us. I will always be grateful for your kindness and love.To Dr. Jay Alberts, for being an exceptional mentor who inspires me to chase the physician-scientist I aspire to become. Your guidance has shaped not only my research skills but my understanding of how important it is to bridge the gap between research and the communities it impacts.To Colin W., for your support and guidance that has grounded me through the ups and downs of research and beyond. Your encouragement has meant more than you know.To my lab members in the Alberts lab, for creating a collaborative environment where ideas flourish and supporting me through the research we have done. Your expertise and generosity have made this work possible.To the Davis Phinney Foundation, for transforming hope into action and showing me how research can directly impact lives. Your mission of empowering people with Parkinson's to live well today has inspired both this run and my career aspirations.To my teachers and mentors who have helped me reach this point, thank you for believing in my potential and providing the foundation for everything I've accomplished. Education has been the greatest gift I have ever been given, and I am forever grateful for your investment in me.

Today is the day! Alarm clock was set for 8:15am after getting in very late last night, but woke up at 7:15am because of the jet lag. Hotel coffee to start the day, slight differential in quality compared to some of Cleveland’s finest! But hit the spot. The next hour was mainly a scramble to just get everything ready and put together on the bed. To bring an extra battery pack for one appliance versus another. To bring 11L of water versus 10L. The choices can sometimes feel paralyzing, but onward we must go at some point!

One of the mindsets I adopted going into this endeavor is to expect, and embrace, the unexpected. Route detours, gear malfunction, water emergency. Though the probability of serious situations is low, they are still greater than zero, and I hope that with everything I considered going into this, they will remain low.Drive to the start was uneventful and beautiful! Seattle is an interesting city with a lot of character, and lots of interesting characters too… By 9:15am, I was standing touching the water at one of the wharfs near the downtown area. I scooped up about 10cc’s of water that I will carry with me and dump into the atlantic in new york city, a nice reminder of the journey.By 9:20am, I was off! Starting with a brisk walk dawned with athletic gear was slightly weird going in between those wearing suits, but eventually I caught my groove and started making it out of Seattle proper.

Excitement is the best word to describe the first few hours. The sights, the sounds, the smells… I was really taking it all in and thinking of the journey ahead. When my watched buzzed with mile one in about 15 minutes, I thought… “huh, only 2999 miles to go.” Somewhat weird thought, but exciting nonetheless.15 miles in, I took my first official stop of the journey. Starbucks! 4 egg bites, 1 coffee, 1 cookie. All down the hatch, and stayed down.Things were rolling well at this point. 20 miles, 25 miles, 30 miles. Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix riffs went on as the scenery slowly changed from concrete cityscape to densely wooded outskirts.Finally, mile 40! Done for the day! My body was feeling pretty good. The only thing was some sore feet, but what does one expect when you ask the body to do something like this.For dinner, we had a lovely meal at a thai restaurant where I had dessert, two entrees, and an appetizer, along with copious amounts of Sprite (my absolute favorite). I limbered up the steps to the airbnb and promptly conked out immediately. Day 1, feeling good and feeling tremendously grateful. Stay tuned for more!

Woke up at 5:45am along the riverfront in North Bend, WA. A nice and cool morning, excellent running (or fast walking…) weather. Loaded up the stroller for the 51 mile day planned and drove back to where I ended yesterday. Loaded the cart with about 5000 calories of food. While that usually sounds like a good plan, I go into food plans knowing I will probably hit 2000 calories while running and then feel sick of whatever I am eating. In this case, my arch nemesis has become trail mix. Without going into too much detail, after 2000 calories of eating trail mix while running, I had to start swigigng water to turn it into a slurry that could be easily swallowed. Yeah… pretty disgusting, and as bad as it sounds.One of the parts of Washington State I was looking forward to most was the Snoqualmie tunnel. Created in the early 1900s, it was originally designed for a railroad that went through a series of owners and consecutive bankruptcies. Well…. Good for tourists and locals over a hundred years later because it has now turned into a top outdoor attraction. The best part is there is zero light in the tunnel. The strangest part is that the tunnel is 2.5 miles long and entirely straight. So long that the light at the end of the tunnel cannot be scene. Not sure what that could mean in relation to the common saying, not to be too ominous… But perhaps it is appropriate, that sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is indeed not visible, and one step in front of the other will get you there. Much better.

After the tunnel, the mist and rain started to set in. Busted out the rain tarp for the stroller and jacket for myself. The mist was magical. The tree branches slowly started to droop downward into the trail, and I found it to be quite refreshing to tap one of the low hanging branches to get a nice dose of pine rain water. As good as it sounds. Certainly no trail mix slurry.

The calories were coming in and staying down today which was excellent. After the trail mix debacle, I switched over to uncrustables (thanks Ryan!), lemonade, and dried mango strips. Was moving well with a great mix of running half a mile then walking. That usually would yield about an 11-12 minute mile, which is pretty good for a 10 ish hour 50 mile day.

Wrapped up the day in Cle Elum, WA. Pretty strange name I found out i was pronouncing incorrectly by the locals. Sun came out for the last 10 miles and had a lovely time rolling into town! It got pretty chilly by the time I arrived, and I quickly threw on nearly every layer I brought along with me.Refueled with a burrito, some brownies, and more sprite. While I have had some people ask “you must have a crazy healthy diet right?” Nope. In fact, quite the opposite. While endless amounts of salad and tofu would be great, sometimes you just have to put and keep the calories down. I suppose that is a great excuse to just eat like an unsupervised toddler in a grocery store.

Up and at em slightly later today. About 30 miles on the to-do list. It is really really weird when that starts to feel “shorter”. Though I had a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, I had something else that sparked my energy… cold water! On the Palhouse to Cascades rail trail, there was a section that had some spots flooded out. Too deep for my already tall shoes, I decided I must just take them off and go through it. It was about 45 degrees outside, and dang… cold water. Some of the small stones got to take a 30 mile journey in my shoe after I put them back on.

After that, I was off! The trail was a continuation of the previous two days and just as stunning. What was interesting was the evidence of “others”. And by “others” I don’t mean humans… Bear scat through this one section was about every half mile. It made me think, should you be more worried about animals or humans when you’re in the middle of nowhere. To be honest, I don’t know if I have a good answer! Both can present their own very very unique challenges (no bad encounters with either so far).

Rolling out of Cle Elum I started looking forward to this big fruit stand and rest stop that was adjacent to the I-90. Called “Shree’s”. The stop did not disappoint. Had a 48oz root beer, chocolate milk, nuts, coffee, and crackers. Got a few interesting glances of people as I was rolling into the store with my stroller, I wonder what they were thinking.

A nice and quick 8 miles afterwards to get to Ellensburg. It went by pretty quickly and kept progressing through Cosmos by Carl Sagan on audiobook. Really cool stuff to think about how we came to be. Made me think of another question, slightly different from the ‘animals vs. humans’ one posed earlier: is nature more symmetrical or asymmetrical. When you look at humans, well… we are pretty symmetrical besides some organ exceptions. Same thing with most animals, plants, etc. If not symmetrical, there tend to be obvious patterns. But within the macro, the symmetry dissolves. Mountain ranges are known for their unique vistas that can be found nowhere else, certainly asymmetrical. It seems that there is symmetry, encased by asymmetry, encased by larger symmetry, so on and so forth. Well that thought carried me through the destination.Nice dinner of thai food then promptly to bed. A ‘lighter’ day tomorrow to get to Vantage, WA. 30 miles.

Wow… what a day. Put up 56.5 miles. Bit of a long entry just as a warning!Many detours and missed turns made it 6 miles longer than planned. While 6 miles is a drop in the bucket relative to the whole 3000, one cannot help but think “I should have been there by now…” 12 hours before this all happened though, it was up and at em at around 5:00am at the Day’s Inn in Ellensburg, WA. I slept so so well the previous night. Though I was tired, I can’t say that is entirely the reason for my deep slumber. It was a concoction at 8pm the night before of chocolate milk, electrolyte powder, tums, vitamins, ibuprofen, and nyquil. This is obviously very stupid if done everyday, but once in a while you have to “use the right tool for the right job.” I’m highly doubtful this situation remotely applies to it, but slept great nonetheless.

Originally, I planned on taking a popular cycling road in the area called Vantage road to Vantage, WA. Sounds good, no problem… Well there was actually a big problem. The night before, pulling into the Day’s Inn, I noticed a sizeable crowd in the front parking lot. Dawned in glitter and neon apparel, there was a group getting ready for a 2 day rave that Vantage road happens to be a fast detour for… So my options were: (1) run on a road with drivers headed to a 2 day rave (on who knows what…) or (2) keep to the Palouse to Cascades trail, but turning the day into 50 miles instead of 30. Hopefully you can guess which option I chose (option two).So slight modification to the routing and some research on the route and I was on my way to Royal City, WA. The day started off easy, I was surprised my feet were not sore anymore, along with my body (that has changed now as I write this). Suburb paved streets allowed me to clip off some “fast” miles at around 9:30 pace.

7 miles later, I arrived in Kittitas, a very small town just East of Ellensburg. In the only open food place at that hour, a small cafe, I made a new friend. Ron was a native of Kittitas and has been there his whole life farming. He took great interest in the American flag I have attached to my stroller, and after some talking we shared a breakfast together. Cortado and giant burrito. We shook hands and I took off, one arm with my trekking pole, the other with my coffee.For the next 10 miles, everything was coming along well. Finally, I arrived at the John Wayne Trailhead. If the tone at this point seems like it is building up to something and slightly ominous, good… Because for the next 16 miles, I would be pulling my stroller through sand. To many, sand is great. Sand means beaches. Sand means resorts. Sand means restaurant on the water. Well I got a new glimpse of sand: absolute frustration. When I started walking, I could immediately tell drag resistance was about three to four times more than pavement. I was happy to expend some effort if it meant the trail would be smooth later, but it wasn’t. Pretty soon, I was sweating profusely just barely making 4mph, with no running incorporated. 16 miles doesn’t “seem” that “far” in the context of 3000, but doing it on sand, well yes, it is far as heck! I started rewarding myself by taking small sit breaks under the large sage brush each mile, indulging in some chocolate milk.

I had 12 liters of fluid in my stroller, enough for about 30 miles at the most aggressive intake rates. But given the extra work to pull the cart through the sand, I was going through it quickly, and had to be very conservative. In the back of my mind, I’m thinking “yes… I need water, but I am also in the middle of absolutely nowhere with next gas station 30 miles from here, if there is gear breakdown I will need more water to possibly spend the night etc… better be conservative then.”I was ready for a long period without water, until what became an oasis (really just a water pump…) popped out 200m off tral. I saw it totally by accident, and wandered over to it, a tall looking crane structure. The sign: POTABLE WATER. Now was the time to just go through all my water. I went past that though, I decided to more or less shower down with it. A jet stream of water that filled my 1.5L bottles in under 1 second became the best faucet I have ever used.

Spirits were high after this, with only 22 miles to Royal City. I kept going with the audiobook and made it safely after many detours. Safety above all else, even though those 6 extra miles were brutal.“Lighter day” tomorrow.

Woke up hobbling to the bathroom to get myself ready. Was so tired last night that I barely finished half of dinner which was a large pizza, mac and cheese, large salad, and lava cake. So… first thing on to-do list was to play catch up on calories, and I had dinner for breakfast, followed by… real breakfast! I walked to a subway nearby and had coffee and a footlong egg and cheese (mixed reviews on that). By 8:00am, I was about 3000 calories in and feeling ready to go. Rolling out of Royal City was very peaceful. Country roads and the occasional nod from a distant farmer. No music or audiobooks for the first few hours just to take it all in, and it was great! A much hotter day relative to the dense forests outside Seattle.

To prepare for the hot day and 36 miles of running, I had 10L of water, 2L of coke (cocacola), .5L red bull, 2L of vitamin water, and 1.5L of chocolate/protein mix. The objective for the day was to put all of it down (came quite close). The really strange thing I have noticed about human instincts are the tendancies to sometimes push away the things you desperately need. When sweating profusely under the hot sun, sometimes the effort to drink water seems to outweigh the necessity of the act itself. I try to be so cautious about being on top of these things because emergencies 30 miles away from civilization can end very differently than an emergency in a metropolitan area.10 miles in, a glorious structure presented itself slowly over the distant horizon. Each step I could start making out the sign from top to bottom. It read “PEACHES”! I was surprised because I did not see the establishment on google maps, so I prepared for the entire day to go without stops. The pleasant surprise turned into a massive surprised when I walked in. In the corner, there was a cooler with a label overhead: “homemade peach popsicles”. Wow… Some sort of heaven on Earth to be in a farm house with peach popsicles on a hot day. After finishing the popsicle, I was off toward the frontage road paralleling the I-90. Used for service vehicles and local traffic, these are great roads to run on (the only con being the noise from the highway). I only saw about 4-5 cars the entire time while on a 18 mile straight shot.

I arrived at Moses Lake (need to look up where this name comes from) around 5:30 and had a burrito, quesadilla, chips, cake, and coke. Trying to find vegetables out here is incredibly challenging, but hopefully the burrito will suffice.In about 2 days it will be back in the forests surrounding Idaho and Spokane. So excited for the nice tree cover out there. An amazing journey so far and I am incredibly thankful for the support from friends, families, and kind strangers. To those of you who keep updated on the journal, thank you very much for your attention!

Woke up around 5:00am to get started a little earlier to beat the heat. The weather forecast called for a high of 88 degrees. When it is that hot in general, running can be risky, and even riskier when in the middle of nowhere (common theme here…). So I prepped stroller with more water and fluids than normal. Probably about 20L total with 2L on my pack.The entire day plan was to stay on the frontage road that parallels the I-90. So easy and ‘fast’ kind of route, though the sound of the interstate a few hundred feet away is still irritating. The miles were coming down easily and I tried to make an effort to take it ‘easy’ today to really try to recover more. Eating more, drinking more, stretching more — all these things help out so much. Though running 44 miles might cancel out those efforts just a little.

Today was pretty tough just due to the heat. The asphalt just radiates the sun right back up and I found that running on the white line helped with the deterioration of the bottom of my shoes (need a new pair in a few days).The best part would be when a lonely cloud would cover the sun for a few glorious minutes. The shade was very much welcomed! Each 8-10 miles there would be a small underpass that the interstate would go over. At each, I would sit for about 10 minutes and try to force lots of fluids and food down. I got a very strange look when a farming truck drove under and saw me there. I wonder what they thought the situation was.

Finished the day by making it to Ritzville, a quaint town with some character. More burritos, salad, and chocolate milk for dinner! Longer day to Cheney, WA tomorrow. Will be back on the old rail trail which are my favorites!

Phew! That was a super super long day. Wanted to beat the mid 80s heat so got started around 5:15 ish. The first 20 miles were on back farm roads and saw about one car the entire time. Things were going very well and had a few nice stops sitting on some hay bales. No music, no audiobooks, just taking it in for the first few hours until lunch.

Solid foods have been becoming more and more unappetizing during running, so I have been incorporating significantly more liquid calories. Chocolate milk. Strawberry milk. Vanilla milk. Banana milk. You would be surprised how many different kinds of “milks” there are at these gas stations in the middle of nowhere. Easy to put down and quite yummy! Though I might be singing a different tune soon about liquids. Most likely, things will come full circle and solids will become more appealing.The temperature was rising and all of my water soon equilibrated with the ambient air temp, about 85 degrees. It is quite shocking how unappealing warm water is on a hot day. Perhaps it is a natural equilibrating mechanism crafted by mother nature, where fluid temperatures that come closer to core body temp become unappealing, so as to seek cooler fluids to hopefully facilitate the cooling mechanism. The other mistake I made was putting electrolyte powder in all of my bottles. I am nearly certain that watermelon salt electrolyte powder will become a conditioned taste aversion once I finish this adventure.

Things were getting pretty hot and hard out there by the late afternoon. With 16 miles to go for a 50 mile day, each mile felt like running 5. I would look at my watch, 15.9 to go. What felt like 25 minutes later, 15.82 to go, then somehow go back up to 16.2. To get over the mental hump, I would just reward myself: get to 14.00 to go then you can have a redbull, then a chocolate milk with 10.00 to go, etc. The saving grace was a sign next to the road that said “Self-Serve Farm Stand”! Excellent, surely, that means fruits, water, other treats… wrong! It meant books for sale and farming equipment. I can’t say I have been to a farm stand before that had those offerings. Turning around with slight disappointment, a red truck came rolling down the dirt driveway. The farm owner stopped his truck and asked if I bought anything, I explained to him my situation and jokingly said I was not in the market for farming equipment at the moment, and that I had a few more miles to run. He told me to wait for a second, as he quickly got out of his truck and ran to a fridge near the barn. 4 cold bottles of water. “These are on the house, keep up the good work son.” Wow… it is hard to express how amazing the cold water was. I thanked him profusely and we said goodbye with a handshake. 8 miles to go, no problem now with high spirits and cold water!I arrived in downtown Cheney and had 3 miles to arrive at the hotel. My tendinitis started to flare up pretty badly at this point, and I decided to walk it in. At the hotel, I was in a comatose state trying to stretch and shovel food to feed a small family in my mouth. The first week is done! 310 miles. The body is holding up well considering that fact, and it feels weird to have gone that far powered only by my two feet.I can’t wait to take first rest day tomorrow to make sure things are settling in okay. Essay writing, eating, sleeping, and drinking (water) are on the agenda for the entire day. I think it will be pretty enjoyable.

Rest day! The journey is well underway. Not much on the agenda besides resting, getting the legs elevated, stretching, eating, and writing endless essays. “Fun” in its own special way, I would say.The body is feeling about right for going a touch over 300 miles: chronic tendinitis, muscle tightness, and general fatigue healed only marginally by copious amounts of food and drink. I am enjoying every aspect of it though. There is no doubt that doing this to the body is quite extreme, but I do believe that humans have some sort of predilection for transporting themselves across great distances.Tomorrow will be navigating the paths and streets of Spokane, which I am particularly excited about. While the vast corn and wheat fields have their own beauty, growing up in the midwest has probably conditioned me to perceive it as rather ordinary. On the other hand, the tall pines, rugged mountains, and rock faces will certainly be welcomed (possibly later tomorrow in Idaho!).Excited for what’s to come. The rest has certainly been welcomed and I am sure my body will appreciate it going forward from here.

Up at 4:45am. Oh man… the tendonitis is just on fire. Bilateral in ankles. Had to clutch the wall to make it to the bathroom. Then decided crawling would be quicker and less painful. The plush carpet made it much easier to move across the floor. This has happened in the past before, and over time, I have developed some tools to navigate it. The first is just motion to get the blood flowing. 30 minutes of shuffling around can get things to a manageable level. Compression with some ace bandages and quick 10 minutes of legs up the wall will get things even slightly better. Then, as one ex-professional runner told me, the best cure for tendonitis is to “suck it up, buttercup.” For those with some medical background reading this, sorry in advance, I am sure this is nails on a chalkboard. Sometimes it’s about managing everything as best one can given all the context and facts of the situation.

After 15 miles, the tendons were feeling so much better, pretty typical. I was rolling through downtown Spokane at this point when the country’s largest 3 on 3 basketball tournament was getting put together. Definitely not the most fun to be dodging tents, basketball hoops, and vendors. Thankfully it was early enough that no games were actually going on. The power of the river flowing right through Spokane was spectacular. It’s amazing how currents are so much stronger than they appear. I tossed a small stick off the bridge and it was flying down the river as soon as it hit.Today I had the privilege to meet up with a wonderful family thanks to a connection through the Davis Phinney Foundation. When I finished, CA kindly picked me up at a mostly empty trailhead. Tea mixed with equal parts lemonade and ice cubes totally hit the spot. Such a contrast from hot water with electrolyte mix. Better than the drink was some real human connection for the first time in a week! It’s the one thing I have noticed the most, that humans are social creatures. Now… does it really take running across the nation to arrive at that realization? No… but it helps. Besides talking to desk assistants at some motels and gas station clerks, it felt strange to talk significantly more again. The weather, the vistas, the culture of Spokane became so enthralling and interesting.

At the home of CA and GA, I had some of the best spaghetti I have ever had. In the theme of taking a break for the summer from being vegetarian to make sure I am getting all the nutrients I need, I shoveled meat sauce, spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and cookies down the hatch. So good, I could almost visualize my capillaries rushing all the broken down components to all corners of the body. After some lovely time chatting, it was off to a deep in a great bed.
A few times a year, I will have some nights of sleep that are tremendously deep. It’s the kind of sleep where you almost close your eyes and open them 5 minutes later and it’s the morning. The very best kind of sleep.

Woke up feeling great! An amazing breakfast of eggs, toast, fruit, and coffee thanks to CA and GA who kindly took care of my last night. Such a contrast from Red Bull and Clif Bars, in the best kind of way. Tendons feeling much better and no crawling to the bathroom or clutching the wall or wishing for a walker/cane. Must be a sign for a great day (it was!).Decided to do a slight route change instead of starting where I ended yesterday. Not to worry, all distance is still accounted for even with the switch. I made the switch to get onto the coeur d'alene trail, which is about 70 miles of smooth bike path, nice and fast. This means I could avoid a 10 mile section in the relatively remote wilderness — it’s harder to take the risk of having the stroller break down in the worst possible places. The move was smart. After 10 miles starting in Rockford, WA, I finally made it to Idaho! The first official state crossing. I don’t think I expected anything dramatic, but it was me running on a dirt road surrounded by wheat, approaching a road aptly named “Idaho” road, one that runs right along the border. I had a small celebration by cracking open some strawberry milk (fancy). After that little scene, it was onward to the East!

I stopped in Worley for a moment to grab a coffee which was honestly fantastic. I had to pull my stroller through the drive through, which was a little awkward, but the attendant was very nice about it. After finishing ¾ of the coffee and spilling the rest on myself when trying to secure the cup to my pack, I was off to the coeur d’alene trail. I made it finally to the trailhead, which was at the base of a large decline and sitting on a stunning lake. For the next 70 ish miles, this will be my home, which I love.

The bike trails and dirt farm roads allow one to just turn off your brain and run. When running on the roads, even if there is a very wide shoulder, you just have to be so hypervigilant about cars. I run with the assumption that every car is a distracted driver and cannot see me. This attention can be completely draining and feels similar to taking a very very long test. Thankfully, for a good portion of the next 1000 miles, I will be on bike trails and plenty of I-90 frontage roads (which have very little, if any, traffic).10 miles after being on the trail, I made it to Harrison, ID, and a few thousand steps closer to a new time zone in the next few days. So far so good, back to some pretty long days soon headed to MT. Thank you for tuning it and all of the support and messages, they mean so much to me.

Up at 4:30am and back on the trail at 5:15 ish. Such a stunning morning with the sunrise over the lake directly next to the bike trail. I will be on this trail for 65 more miles which is so nice. More turning off the brain and taking it all in.

For the first 3 hours and about 15 miles, there were no other people. The animals in the marshes and river next to the trail were incredibly vocal though. Colorful birds, spikey caterpillars, deer that somehow were jumping through the cakey mud in the bogs, the works… Around one of the corners though, I heard a noise. It sounded like continuous snorts, very similar to our dogs at home when chowing through their food. It immediately caught my complete attention and I slowed down to a walk. The brush was so thick next to the trail that I could only hear, not see. As I continued to get closer, whatever was producing the noise began to run away in the opposite direction, making thumping sounds through the muddy plateau. Certainly no deer, these steps were too strong for that. I wonder if it was a bear, that would be pretty cool…

The day was going pretty well. Around mile 30, my achilles started to act up a bit, just as my tendonitis flare up was calming down, how it usually goes… Achilles are the one thing I believe you can’t really mess with. So I immediately just started to walk the rest in. I arrived at Wallace, ID around 4:30pm. The house is a beautiful old home made in the year 1910 when the silver boom in Idaho was well underway. More chocolate milk and some greens for dinner (had some real food as well). Icing the achilles, up the wall, cold compress, warm compress, gentle ankle exercises, etc.Everything is going well, and working through each problem as it comes along. All of the unexpected that I expected is basically revealing itself more and more each day. Looking forward to the big vistas in Montana. Incredibly grateful for it all.

Up at 5:30am today, a slightly ‘later’ start. A quick breakfast of a delicious breakfast burrito made kindly by the owner of the air bnb I stayed at. Each day, I am struck by the generosity of strangers and those who I knew only over the phone. It is both refreshing and a reminder of the humanity that most people want to help others.The morning started out nice and slowly, walking for the first 5 miles to make sure my tendons and now chronically swollen feet remembered they were owned by me. Once they started to wake up, about 10 miles later, the pins and needles I have been feeling on the bottom started to subside. I rolled up to Mullan, ID, where I again had to walk through a coffee drive-through only, with a care behind me, very awkward… again… The owner, however, was incredibly nice. She told me she had a rare neurological condition herself and has always wanted to cross the state of Washington on her own to raise awareness. We exchange information and a hug. Very nice lady.

The coeur d'alene trail ended, sadly, in Mullan. For the next 50 miles I will be switching over to a combination of forest service roads and some other “rails to trails.” Leaving Mullan, I hopped on the “NorPac” trail, which was a windy dirt road through the dense pine forest next to the I-90. Simply stunning. Around one turn I heard a symphony of chainsaws. Rounding the corner, I saw a group of logging guys who were doing some forestry on the pines. The smell right there is one I hope to remember forever. The best I can do is describe it as “the most aggressive Christmas smell you have ever experienced.” All the compounds in the sawdust seemed to settle in the very back of my nose and create such a colorful aroma. Christmas, nature, rustic, warmth, fresh, spicy. Some mixture of all those. Well worth whatever particles made it past and down into the lower lungs.A few miles later I finally made it to the pass in the mountains I was going through called Lookout Pass. The ID-MT border is right along here, so I decided to have yet another strawberry milk to celebrate. Delicious! The next big crossing is into the mountain time zone! Though the time change does not favor me this time heading East. After Lookout Pass, everything was downhill and I was rolling. I think one of the miles was in the lower 10 minute range, which I consider pretty fast for hauling a 40 pound jogging stroller.

I kept going on the windy dirt roads for another 10 miles then finally got onto the Olympian Trail, another trail created from the old railroad systems that used to spring up when silver boom towns would blossom in this part of the state. I finally made it to Haugan, MT, a very small town that has a gas station, small motel, and a fireworks store. There was some firework testing near the trail as I was coming in, and I will say that fireworks going off close to you are a very different experience… In bed after some writing and reading, ready to keep making the push to Missoula tomorrow.

Up around 4:45 to hit the road. The gas station outside was busy as ever when I went in there to fill all of my waters. Today is a pretty straight shot to Superior, MT. I hopped back onto the Olympian Trail where I stayed for about 10 miles.Everything was rolling along very well and the cool weather was greatly appreciated. The sun began to poke out above the mountains around 11am. It’s pretty cool how fast the temperature rises with sun exposure. In 15 minutes, you can go from chilly with visible breath to sweaty.

I started a new audiobook on the original fur trappers in this part of the country back in the 1800s. It certainly puts ‘tough’ into a whole new perspective. Though I haven’t seen any beavers in the creeks by the rail trails, I have seen plenty of signs of other animals like deer, bears, birds, etc.On the trail, as the sun was coming out, I noticed dozens of snakes in this one mile section. At first, I thought they were dead, which would have been strange given how many of them were there. I nudged one very slightly and it inched just to the side. Same for the one next to it. They must be ‘waiting’ for the sun to warm their blood enough to move. Such a fascinating situation.The miles in the early afternoon passed by relatively quickly and by 3pm I wrapped up about 35 miles and arrived in Superior, MT. I stopped at a sandwich shack and ate about 2 feet of sandwich, totally delicious. Onward to Missoula and beyond tomorrow! Everything is going well, thank you very much for tuning in!

Up and at em a little later today, about 8:00am I was on the road. Was having tremendous trouble getting all of my gear and stroller down the tight staircase at the motel. Considered disassembling, which I should have done, but managed to make it work. While ground level motels that are right up to the street aren’t generally the most desirable, I find them to be incredibly convenient. They really make it easy to just roll out the door and hit the ground running. Plus, no strange looks by rolling a kid stroller through a lobby with a bunch of equipment in it.

The start of the day was gorgeous. Great cloud coverage, even a few raindrops. I continued on with my audiobook about the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Some of the scenes were set not too far from where I was running, so I figured it would be interesting to see what life was like back then. Some of the anecdotes were unbelievable. One chapter examined the journal of a fur trapper in 1820 who described the difference between hunger and thirst. Hunger, was easy. A week with no food in the frontier was doable, especially when you could ‘sleep it off.’ But thirst, a different ballgame. One day at max and things start to go downhill. In a gruesome example, a group of fur trappers found a dead buffalo and drank the stomach innards to survive after having no water for 3 days. Pretty remarkable.

Things started to get very warm outside around noon, roughly 88/90 degrees. A group of high schoolers in a Jeep pulled over and tossed me a cold Arnold Palmer and kept driving. The gesture was more than welcome, and I spent more time rubbing the cold can on my face than drinking it.I made it to Alberton around 3pm and spent the night in Missoula. A full meal and real bed were completely healing. All is going very well, and I am so grateful for this opportunity.

Rest day! Enjoying my time resting and recharging today. Everything feels about how it should for 500 miles into a journey like this. Catching up on plenty of essay writing, eating, and drinking. I have been finding that on days like this, it seems like 2 weeks worth of hunger will come in one moment, and then subside, to then come back raging again in an hour or two. Totally bizarre.Missoula is incredibly beautiful and the river that flows right through downtown has been perfect to get cold water on the legs. Excited to keep going towards the East tomorrow, plenty more running to do, and plenty more things to see! I feel grateful and blessed everyday for this opportunity and so thankful to those of you who continue to check in. Thank you so much.

Woke up a few times throughout the night due to hunger. This has been a recent problem with getting more quality sleep. Thankfully I still had some nuts and bars from the previous day that I ate while sitting in the dark at 3am. Started back running at Alberton a bit later around 9am and got going headed toward souther Missoula. A gorgeous road to start the day. Dirt and graded, perfect for some quicker miles.Today is the first day of the transcon so far that it will be properly raining, which is incredibly exciting! The 90 degree sunny days can be brutal and require a lot of attention for hydration and eating well. With cloud cover and rain, I find it easy (even at home) to go much much longer with much much less attention, for better or for worse.

The dirt road I was on was technically public, but went through lots of private hunting grounds. I don't think I have ever seen that many private property, do not enter, no trespassing, violators will be prosecuted signs in my life. At some points, the signs were so many that I thought the road was surely private and I was bound to run into problems. Thankfully, the 20 mile road finished and dumped back out into suburbia.The rain really started coming down at this point, and I started to get pretty cold, a first this whole journey. Wrapped up the running with a little more than a marathon for the day to have some time to check out the 4th of July festivities in Missoula.

Time for more food and more writing. Some much bigger running days ahead to get over some mountain passes. Excited for the eastern portion of Montana with flatter grades and roads. Thank you again for tuning in and your attention.

Up and rolling around 8 ish. A slightly later start but the sleep was much needed. Going to Hamilton, MT. It is a straight shot from Missoula on a 50 mile long paved bike path, the best! Another day to turn off the brain and just roll.Some aches and pains to get going, but after 10 miles they somewhat went away. Seems like 10 miles is the magic number to properly warm things up. Is it excessive? Yes. Does it make sense? Probably not much, but I guess these things dont have to make sense in these situations.

Things were going very well and I had two great conversations with people biking across the country. One gentleman, a 70 year old, was fulfilling his dream of completing it after having to cut it short due to an accident when he tried 50 years earlier. He was incredibly kind and said he was lonely so he biked next to me while I ran for nearly 10 miles. The company was so welcomed and those miles went by in what felt like a few minutes. Interesting how the mind works like that.I had two nice gas station stops where I could get some cold water and a snack. The air conditioned building always feels so great. More canned coffee and nuts and I was on my way. The tendonitis and foot inflammation has become much more manageable now. No crawling to the bathroom in the evenings, just a hobble and groan. Progress, I suppose. Will take that.

Rolled into Hamilton around 5pm, had some dinner and got to work on some writing. The evenings are plenty busy and seem to go by much quicker than the running earlier in the day. Thanks again for tuning in and supporting me throughout this journey!

Up and at em around 5:15 and on the road by 5:45, pretty nice turnaround time. I treated myself to some hot coffee at the only coffee shack open before 6 in the small town. Spilled plenty, all over, but it was delicious. There really isn’t anything better than a cup of hot coffee when it is needed most.For the first time of journey, I started with a jacket on. A very crisp morning. One thing I find interesting is how the sunrise and sunset times change marginally but noticeable each day as I inch East. While it may be a minute or two, it adds up and I find myself wondering where the light is going in the morning. As a result, I had to bust out the lighting gear, rear and front.

Today’s first 30 miles are entirely uphill to 7250 ft, the highest point of the entire journey! A relatively daunting task, particularly with lugging the stroller. Thankfully, the valley between the mountain range kept the temperature cool enough that I had my jacket on until noon.As I made my way up the pass, there were plenty of cars coming to see an iconic waterfall. The stop is certainly worth it. The powerful falls made a nice mist which felt amazing. An elderly woman who told me she was a farmer said I was a “tough biscuit” for going up the pass on foot. She shook my hand and I noticed she had “working hands,” with vasculature and muscle from years of her labor. Another lovely encounter along this journey.

After making it to the top of the pass, the rest of the day was 15 miles all downhill. I let it roll a bit and was going considerably faster, mostly to finish the miles for the day. Plenty more interactions on the backside of the mountain, with one “interesting” one… I will save that for later.
Early dinner and to bed straight after. All is well as I continue to the East! Thank you again for your time and support, it means a lot and I hope you enjoy some of these entries!

Up at 6:00, very very hard to get up this morning. While I know why, I don’t really know why. Lots of limping and grabbing onto the walls. Left foot really aggravated and puffy today. Had a “heart” breakfast of 4 of those quaker oats porridge packets, and a lot of instant coffee. Was on the road rolling by 7:30 and had a great route ahead of me.

Lots of rolling dirt roads through the farming land. I find that sometimes hilly terrain can be easier on the body. Activating different muscle groups can give some overworked parts a brief rest. A nice net gain in elevation back up to almost 7000 feet again today. At the top, I could certainly feel the altitude. Generally, I feel lethargy and thirst starting around 6000 feet and up while doing physical activity. The amazing thing about being up that high… is that you must come down. And as you have gravity on your side, oxygen saturations continues to go up, nice little twofer. Made clicking off some ‘faster’ miles much easier.

25 miles in some tendonitis started to act up again. To the point where I had to stop, stretch, tape some things up, stretch again, massage, then try to keep going. A lot of that actually does help, to the point I can get a slow jog going. Thankfully, as I was trying to find a place to sit, I saw some shimmering in the distance, water! As I approached it, I noticed it was a public natural spring fountain. How perfect, and how cold! I took both shoes off to try to control some of the inflammation in both feet and wow… that water was cold! Cold to the point you start feeling that discomfort in the back of your throat telling you to pull your feet away. After my feet went numb a few minutes in, I warmed them back up and wrapped up to get a little over 30 miles to Anaconda, MT. Only about 120 miles left to Bozeman! Excited for all of the conveniences of larger cities.

Up around 6:00am, could not sleep well at all because of some pretty nasty ankle/tendonitis pain. Unfortunate but I suppose this is the way it goes. More of the expected unexpected.Took advantage of the lack of sleep to just get started with things and take the day off from running to make sure nothing too serious is going on. Lots of swelling, some pain that subsides slightly with shuffling around, some of the usual. I figure with a day or two of rest this can hopefully sort itself out.Took the opportunity to explore the town of Anaconda today. Lots of interesting local history here. Apparently the town used to be one of Montana’s most prominent and important places! Very fascinating to walk the streets and wonder about all of the old conversations and people who used to roam the place.I spent the day mostly eating, icing my ankle, and route finding for the remainder of the trip. These things can take a shocking amount of time, and the time really does fly by, much faster than running for 10 hours!Hopefully things are better tomorrow, may take one more day to see how things are before giving it another go. All is well.

Up around 7:00, and taking another rest day to let the foot swelling and tendonitis calm down. Pretty nasty stuff, but slowly getting better with some shuffling during the day.Not much besides walking around and exploring Anaconda some more. Making sure to get in lots and lots of food and water. Perhaps this is strange, but far more difficult than the running is the eating. Putting 6000 calories down each day can be quite exhausting, but a ‘good’ problem to have.Ready to get things going tomorrow hopefully with a 30 mile segment to Butte, and then a few more days until Bozeman. While I am going slightly slower than I expected, it is more of the unexpected that was expected. Part of the process and part of the journey.Some very nice folks in the parking lot took interest in my jogging stroller and the journey ahead.

Up around 8:00, a much later start to the day, but had a shorter day of “only” 28 miles on deck. The two rest days made a big difference. Was moving quite well in the morning, swelling was down considerable amounts. Usually I can see quite a few veins running along my feet, but with the swelling that were completely invisible, same with whatever larger tendon there is when you bring your toes upward, totally invisible because of swelling. But not today!Made a few wrong turns getting out of Anaconda which added about an extra mile. Not the biggest deal but can be a little frustrating at the end of the day when it is hot out and you’re thinking “I could be inside sipping cold water right now…”

The miles were clicking along and I was mostly along a low-traveled frontage road. One of the interesting “games” I play while I am out there for hours on end is cataloging the makeup of garbage I see thrown on the side of roads. Now that I am over 700 miles in, I think I have a pretty accurate picture of it. By far the most common item is rope. All colors, lengths, and varieties. I often wonder why it is such a popular item to discard, but perhaps it is commonly used on trucks and falls off when securing gear, a more charitable interpretation than littering. This is easily 50% of the garbage. The next 30% is blown tires on the side of the road. These are probably from large trucks, but it’s incredible to see some of the insides of the larger tires. More complex than I thought. The last 20% is a rather interesting one, but it is without a doubt shell casings. From rifles, shotguns, handguns. I see them everywhere across the side of the road, and particularly on the back dirt roads. On very rural roads, stop signs and other traffic signs will be littered with bullet holes. Not sure what to think about that!

Rolled into Butte, MT around 3pm and was able to eat some food and finish quite a few essays I have been working on during this application process. The evenings seem to go by very very quickly. I try to be extra efficient by packing things the next morning so I can have a “rise to road” time under 45 minutes (with 20 of those minutes shuffling around enough so I can walk normally). All is well and feeling good! Thanks for tuning in, the support and messages mean so much.

Up at 6:00 and had a nice breakfast at the motel. 4 packets of instant oatmeal, yogurt, bagel, juice, a little bit of everything. On the road and rolling while the sun was getting up and warming the air. It is really nice to start with a jacket in the morning, I have always liked running in pretty crisp weather.Today I am off to Whitehall, MT, about 23 miles away by car, but 37 by foot… that discrepancy is because of a tough mountain pass which means no frontage roads. Instead of going on a windy fast mountain road, I chose the forest service roads to the north of I-90, a beautiful dirt one that goes to a lake at the top of the detour.When I was looking at the map last night, I was thinking that the section was rather remote, near water sources, in the mountains, etc. To me, I was thinking now is the time to unpack the bear spray. To my surprise, when I got to the detour section, there was even a sign that warned about bear activity. Nice and prepared I was!

I kept my spray on my pack which could be ready to go at a moments notice. Thankfully, encounters almost always don't amount to much. I have only encountered one bear before in Washington in 2019 and it was more interested in eating berries than humans… Around 15 miles in, I heard a tremendous roar that I could estimate to be around 100-200 yards away. It was pretty amazing to hear. Perhaps it is an ingrained evolutionary mechanism, but my attention and guard was up after that as the only road I could run on approached the noise.

After leaving this dense forest section, it was back to the open air, only about one or two more sets of mountains before the vast nothingness of the Dakotas and eastern Montana. I arrived in Whitehall around 4:00pm and ate plenty of food and wrote more essays. A nice and busy evening. I am definitely looking forward to the big(er) city elements of Bozeman soon! 2 more days and I should be there. Thank you for tuning in and reading this, I am always grateful when people tell me they read these entries.

Up around 6:00 and out the door at 7:00. A nice canned coffee to start the day along with some fruit and oats. The healthier food is always welcome. I have to admit… last night before bed I was so hungry I walked across the street from the motel to a A&W fast food joint and got a large chocolate shake. I basically tried to pick the highest calorie thing on the menu, 1200 calories, excellent. It is such a bizarre state to be in where I will celebrate when i find a small liquid calorie drink that has 800 calories in it.On the road to Three Forks, MT. A small town about 30 miles from Bozeman. Very interesting history too. The namesake is from the three rivers that meet at the town: the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin. Where they all meet is the start of the Missouri River! In my fur trapping audiobook, this location is referenced many times as an incredibly important geographical landmark that trappers would know as a re-supply stop and place to sell.

Today was definitely hot… about 90 degrees by 1pm. Thankfully, the air is incredibly dry, and I find that my sweat dries off almost instantly. As a result, dehydration can be very sneaky and come on quickly. Today was about 37 miles so I just stopped every 5 miles to put down some fluids and nuts/bars.Halfway through, there was a tunnel full of cattle feces. It was definately a mini debate I had in my head: take a break in the first shade of the day and try to eat amongst the smell, or eat in the hot sun. Craving shade, I chose the feces packed tunnel. I thought back to one of our concepts in a principles of physics course. That is the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, which describes how vapor pressure changes with temperature. Vapor pressure is the pressure exerted by a substance’s vapor when it is in equilibrium with its liquid at a given temperature. In this case, feces and air. As temperature increases, so does vapor pressure (the stuff we actually smell). I thought about how much "better" it would smell had it not been 90˚ out. These scientists work tells us it increases exponentially... great... Even going down to 50˚ like it was in the morning would have been more pleasant. But I don't know if I need a physics equation to tell me it was a bad place to eat, but the shade was welcome. I was quickly out of there.

Around mile 20 I was making my way down a dirt road when a dog on a farm ran toward me. A small nice thing, probably harmless. The owner, working on a garden outside, whistled and the dog obediently returned. Can’t say our dogs at home are this well behaved… The farmer waved and asked “what cargo are you carrying?” That initiated a nice conversation which he began with one of the strongest handshakes I have ever been given, another instance of “working hands.” He saw my route which I showed on my phone and immediately told me not to go on this one road. “I wouldn't do it…” He suggested a re-route that would add a few miles but was much safer. Beyond appreciated, and always willing to do the safer route if it means going longer. Another handshake from the nice gentleman and I was off. I am so thankful for the kind individuals along the way who give without expectation and have made my life so much easier.Made it to Three Forks after a battle in the hot sun around 3pm and rolled up to the “Broken Spur Motel,” a nice little place. Anything with a bed and air-conditioning is just splendid out here. Onward to Bozeman and the East tomorrow! Thanks again for checking in, I am so grateful for all the love, support, and messages.

Up at 6:00, oh man the right ankle this time was just on fire this morning. Grappling the wall kind of painful. Not the best sign. Immediately decided to take the day and care for it. Extremely frustrating how things on the left side are really coming around and then all of a sudden they fall out on the other. Another lesson for patience and playing the long game I suppose.Now that I decided to take the day off, I could spent lots of time trying to get things settled. More icing the foot, heating the foot, compressing the foot, elevating the foot, you get the picture…I spent most of my time writing more application essays and eating all sorts of things: nuts, bars, chocolate millk, etc. I will be honest that frustration is an understatement. While this is what needs to be done to make sure I can make it all the way to nyc (and for longevity…), sometimes the short-term lens of “what if I just push through it,” can be incredibly tempting.I was asked a few times “does your body hurt when you run?” Interesting question with a nuanced answer. Yes and no. I find it important to discern the difference between “pain” and “awareness.” Pain, to me, is a sign that something is wrong. Awareness, on the other hand, is a sign that something could go wrong. That might make little sense, so I will give an example.A achilles strain is an obvious, and quite painful, injury to run on. If I recall correctly, 4 times the body weight is absorbed by that little tendon. If that one isn’t functioning properly, forget about running, and possibly walking depending on the severity. That is pain. Time to stop.Awareness could be described by a situation where a patella tendon could be pretty sore in the morning, but shuffling around and walking seem to improve it marginally. As the day goes on, perhaps it gets even better. Something to keep an eye on, but not a show-stopper. Awareness vs pain.In this case, I was dealing with some nice pain, certain to get worse with running, and waking me in my sleep. Though I’m confident that with the right tools and some time, this should sort itself out.

Another forced rest day today due to the right ankle this time. More pain, but slightly better. But I won’t dwell on it this time. I have been thoroughly enjoying the downtime in Three Forks. The rivers are gorgeous here and the weather perfect.There is a historic hotel in the town, The Sacagawea, and they kindly let the public utilize their lobby to sit and have free coffee. As you might guess, I spent quite a bit of time sitting in their wooden parlor with beautiful leather couches and animal hides covering most chairs. Out of respect for high-end hotel, I put on my “nice” clothes, which are my clean rain jacket with rain pants (a clean shave too…).

The coffee was absolutely delicious and it was a nice time to get plenty of more writing done. By the afternoon, the foot was feeling better. I decided to give it a go for the 25ish miles to Bozeman the following morning. I planned to just mostly walk it to not irritate anything more than needed.More food from the gas station and a small cafe and the day came to an end. Got my belongings all set for the trek to Bozeman tomorrow and went right to bed.

Up at 5:00 to have a breakfast of a banana, microwaved oats, and gas station coffee. Delicious. I was on my way after doing some light stretching and walking to get the foot awake. Things were moving decently well in the earl AM. I was mostly on the frontage road all the way from Three Forks to Bozeman. Which is great, since it is pretty low traffic and I can just turn the brain (mostly) off.I saw the current progress of the “Great American Rail-Trail.” It is an organization that has the objective of creating a 3,700 miles continuous bike path from coast to coast. While they are still pretty far from their ultimate goal, there is a fair amount that is already done. I have had the privilege to utilize some of it, and I am always thankful for the smooth bike path sometimes in the middle of nowhere. A great public works project.

At 10am, I was slowly (emphasis on slowly) jogging along the frontage road when I heard what sounded like metal hit the road. I have become very attuned to all sorts of sounds with the running stroller at this point: rattles, dings, scrapes. All have their own significance, and all are worthy of attention. The last thing I would want is to know that some piece of the stroller has been dragging on the road for 10 miles and has been ground to a pulp. Anyways… I looked down and saw a small bolt that I did not recognize. As I bent down to pick it up, the harness portion of the stroller that connects to me started to slip. Then it fully came off, great… While annoying, I knew it wasn’t a big deal, just a bolt. The problem was that I didn’t see that there was this bolt on the stroller. I made it a point to ensure I had a tool for all bolts and screws on the stroller, but missed this one that needed a sized allen key.Not to worry, I whipped out my knife and got it settled so that it was in, but not tight. After a quick phone search, there was an Ace hardware 2 miles away. That could not be more useful. I got there 25 minutes later, got the tool, and fixed the problem. The employees there were beyond nice and sympathetic. One extraordinary kind cashier offered to buy my supplies. Another instance of the heartwarming kindness of people across the country.

I was off towards Bozeman after, and the foot started to act up quite a bit again. More swelling, some limping, etc. The transition from awareness to pain began, which I saw as a big red flag. I cut the day a bit earlier, which I believe to be the smart choice, and walked to the motel.Bozeman is a very energetic, young city with lots of interesting things to see. With the extra time I had from cutting the day early, I explored the town, somewhat limping. Afterwards, it was hours of heat/ice/heat/ice/stretch/heat/ice/ibuprofen/ice/etc…Unfortunate that things are feeling this way, but more of the “expected unexpected” that I have talked about dozens of times. Will have to take a day tomorrow to let this thing heal out and see what I can do. At least it is a nice sized city with some cool things to do/see. My spirits are still very high and I am so grateful for the opportunity to do something like this. The journey is far from over, and I feel ready to tackle this minor challenge of an angry foot. Thanks for tuning in!

Up around 6:00, more microwaved oats and motel coffee, amazing as always! Unfortunately the foot was still pretty angry this morning. Time for some real rest. Will be staying put in Bozeman area for at least a few days to get things under control. I am still confident that this foot issue is resolvable with the right tools and treatment.Spent most of the day icing and heating my foot to get things working. Copious amounts of ibuprofen as well with lots of chocolate milk to not destroy my stomach. By the afternoon, I was able to walk around okay, though it wasn’t the most pleasant feeling.The extra downtime has been quite nice to explore the towns that I am passing through on this journey. Bozeman has done a great job with cool historical plaques all over the city. I have also been impressed with how they have restored some of the structures/buildings to look as original as possible.Lots more essay and application writing for the day along with eating a ridiculous amount of food. I find it very strange tha ton days when I’m not running my hunger levels are magnitudes higher. Perhaps it is the body catching up to its senses and begging for nourishment. I indulged that feeling today with lots and lots of incredibly high calorie foods. The best was a 1500 calorie milkshake from Dairy Queen - as delicious as it sounds.Will be staying put most likely until Saturday/Sunday to make sure the foot does not have a stress fracture or anything like that. Thank you so much for tuning in and catching up on this journey! It is beyond appreciated.

Up around 6:15 today and had a nice coffee at one of the places in downtown Bozeman. Thankfully this motel is within walking distance of all the places on the main strip. I spent most of the day trying to ice and heat my foot. I think I will get it checked out tomorrow. But it continues to be pretty painful. Interfering with sleep kind of pain .I had the opportunity to stop at a little place of Bozeman history. Very cool stuff. Bozeman’s history was rooted mostly in the early days the American frontier expansion. The place was founded in 1860s as an important stop along the Bozeman Trail. Per usual with towns out west, there were brilliant descriptions of gold seekers, homesteaders, and outlaws. The Bozeman Trail itself had a very tumultuous history since it cut through Native lands, fueling tensions and quite often leading to violent clashes.Had another extraordinarily high-caloried shake toward the evening along with some goods from the gas station. A few more days of rest then onward

Up at 6:00 today. Going to get a quick evaluation of the foot to make sure no stress fracture. Other than that, I had plenty of writing and essays on the schedule. Thankfully, this meant grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting in a comfortable chair for 6 hours.It is hard to describe the feeling of how time passes while sitting on a comfortable chair versus running. Hours seem to melt into each other while sitting and sipping a nice light roast coffee. I will glance at my watch and wonder “huh, would be about 20 miles into the day.” Time is still time, but our perception can be so different depending on the situation. On harder days, I try to remind myself about this, finding ways to drop into a “flow” state and just get lost in whatever you’re doing.I saw someone about the foot, got a quick image done, no stress fracture. Excellent news, and largely what I expected. The doc essentially said some of the muscle groups are just cooked and that's the extent of it. Good news! He recommended more of the same stuff: massage, stretch, heat, ice, be gentle with it, etc. I spent the rest fo the day focused largely on that, and walking around downtown Bozeman.One more day to let the foot calm down then will give it a push out to Livingston. I expect things to be just fine. Thanks so much for tuning in!

Up around 7:00. Everything feels like it turned a corner and is feeling much better. Ready to get going again and finally get out of Bozeman. Today I largely spent doing more essay writing, not the most interesting stuff…The weather was actually perfect for running, perhaps good signs for pushing off tomorrow. I have really really enjoyed my time in Bozeman and it’s certainly up there for favorite city along the entire route so far.Assuming everything goes well tomorrow, it will be 3-4 days and then arrive in Billings. The far east stretch of Montana is supposedly “mind numbingly boring” according to a local I spoke with. Excited for what that means when I see it.

Up at 6:30, a quick coffee with a bite to eat and then got everything ready to go. The rest for the past few days has been beyond helpful, and I am really hoping it does the trick. A little test I like to do for any single leg (potential) injuries is if one can jump up and down on the affected leg 20 times and it does not hurt, good to go. Passed that test.It is 33 miles to Livingston, MT today. Getting closer and closer to the center of the state and then onward to North Dakota. The scenery to start was just gorgeous. Almost 75% cloud coverage with beams of sunlight poking through the clouds and illuminating some of the darker storm clouds way out in the distance. The diversity of weather systems is quite remarkable and it is too easy to wonder how all of the different systems can stay in equilibrium. A storm 5 miles away from a sunny rainbow 5 miles away from massive wind gusts. Very interesting.

I started out on a canyon road with pretty nice shoulders so the running was fairly easy. About 1.5k ft of climbing back up to 6,000ft. I passed a place I hoped to stay at, called the “Howler’s Inn.” According to their website, they have a few domesticated wolves that roam around the property. I could barely make them out as I was passing by this place from the road.

Made it back to the frontage roads along the I-90 to finish the last 15 miles to Livingston. As I was refueling my bottles under an overpass, I camper-van stopped and a gentleman got out to chat. We had a lovely conversation about running and ultras, and his wife joined too along with their cute kids. She then mentioned how a family member was greatly affected by Parkinson’s. From there, it was 15 minutes of discussing PD and some current research. It’s conversations like these that are a nice reminder of the greater purpose of a journey like this. Anyone can be affected by this affliction and it is touching to see the emotion and passion others have. They made a very kind gesture for lunch and I was off.

The last 15 miles to Livingston were very flat and easy. I saw some pretty interesting finds along the road. A snake, a complete bird egg (not sure what kind, or how it got there…), and a huge dead deer. The deer had a beautiful example of rigor mortis going on. Truly one of my favorite, and most elegant principles of biochemistry was learning why the deer looked alive and stretching out its limbs. After the deer passes from the collision, ATP production ceases, but calcium continues to leak into the muscle cells, triggering contraction. Without ATP to detach the myosin heads from actin filaments, the cross-bridges formed during contraction remain locked in place. I find that manifestation of the micro in the macro to be the coolest thing. The sight, and smell for that matter… I would not really label “cool.”

Unexpected storm clouds started to move in. While I usually welcome rain, storms out west can be so unpredictable, and dangerous without any sort of coverage if lightning starts to strike. I was pretty lucky… I pulled my stroller under the awning of the motel to grab a room, and 5 minutes later I stepped out and it was a complete deluge.Body held up fairly well, only the expected aches and pains. But hopefully things stay this way for the ~36 miles to Big Timber, MT tomorrow. Thank you so much for tuning in, I hope you enjoyed it!

Up at 5:15. Quickly packed my things and downed some microwave oatmeal and canned coffee. Was ready to get after it at 6:00, and then realized I could not find my poles. After looking around the entire motel property, I saw them through the window of the main office. About 2 feet from the door. I accidentally left them there when I was checking in. Then… I saw a “will be back at 8:00am” sign on the door along with CLOSED staring at me in all caps. This may or may not have triggered an audible sigh with another word under my breath. More of the unexpected…Well, at least I got to explore town for a little bit. I grabbed some coffee and just walked around trying to learn more about the history of Livingston. A fascinating little place. I spent about 90 minutes doing this then sat by the motel office hoping that they might come out earlier than 8:00. Of course that was wishful thinking. At 8:15 someone came out, I collected my poles, and was off.

About 35 miles to Big Timber, MT today. The foot was feeling pretty good overall. I spent the first 20 miles on a beautiful dirt road called “Convict Grade Road.” Quite the name… and that warranted a google search (no pun intended). In the early 1900s there was a program to get convicts to help out with the growing roadway system. According to some searches on the internet, they helped build 500 miles of roadway, including the 20 mile section I was on today. I always find it amazing to think about the stories of the people who walked these roads and paths. What kinds of conversations did they have. What were they eating in this exact location 100 years ago. What worried them most. Same thoughts about abandon cars, homes, and even towns that I have passed by.

Got to Big Timber around 3pm and immediately went to the gas station. Somewhat shockingly (and slightly concerning) they had a 64oz fountain drink option for a dollar. I of course got one of those, filled it with root beer, and kept heading toward town to find a motel. The body is amazing in how it responds to depletion. I could sense my blood sugar was low for the last 10 miles but within 5-10 minutes of having about 100 grams of sugar (I know…) I felt back to normal. Another win for the design of human beings.

Spent the rest of the day planning and writing some more essays. A big storm system is supposed to roll in so will need to figure out how I will proceed from here onward to Billings. Thanks again for tuning in!

Up at 6:00. Some more microwaved oats and a coffee from the shop downstairs. On the road at 8:00. I was monitoring the weather most of the morning since there were some thunder and lightning storms passing through the area. Nothing too bad in Big Timber to start, just a lot of dark clouds.The first 15 miles were nice and easy along the I-90 frontage road. Plenty of rolling hills next to the farms with the occasional dog that would come to investigate. Around 10am it began to drizzle in the area. Thankfully it was the refreshing kind of drizzles. No jacket required, and light enough that it was evaporating fast enough to keep dry. Another pleasant surprise.

Around 11 ish I stopped at an old barn cafe on the side of the I-90. It was an old mill that still has some operating equipment inside. Because of the lightning in the area, I decided to stay closer instead of making it the 40 miles to Columbus, MT. I grabbed a turkey sandwich and some light roast coffee. The perfect lunch.I kept moving toward Reed Point, MT along the Yellowstone River, the same one that Lewis and Clark traveled in the early 1800s. I wonder how much (if at all) the scenery has changed since they first viewed it. I finally reached Reed Point when the rain, thunder, and lightning started to come down. The last few miles I was moving pretty quick as the storm was rolling in. As I got settled in, the storm began to fade and the afternoon turned into hot sunshine. Usually goes like that…

Will be on the outskirts of Billings by tomorrow which is exciting. The last place I will be near the I-90 as I take the 94 north. The foot is feeling better each day and I am super excited to keep moving along! Thanks again for tuning in and all of the messages, they are always appreciated.

Up at 5:15 and out the door by 6:15. The storm from the past 2 days seems to be moving out and giving way to beautiful sunshine. Headed to Park City, MT today. Quite different from the Park City others might be familiar with.Today started out on a gorgeous dirt road for 15 miles near some farms. I began a new audiobook about George Washington today which has been surprisingly dramatic. Around 10 am I made it to Columbus, MT. At the gas station I had a lovely 20 minute conversation with a gentleman who was very interested in the running. He told me how he used to bike the same roads many years ago and how special of a place it is, I completely agree!

In the afternoon a few clouds were in the sky and provided lovely shade along the I-90 frontage road. Very few drivers out today which has been great. It can get slightly exhausting to be on high alert looking at each driver through their windshield for the entire day.I have been surprised at the number of dogs that seem to randomly appear on the bigger properties. Most of the time the dogs are fine and more or less just curious. But there have been a few instances with aggressive dogs where it is hard to discern play and aggression.

Around 2pm I realized I got a flat tire! I did not hear it happen, but I noticed a slight sag. I was slightly worried since I had purposely put in “tire armor,” which is incredibly thick foam designed to eat most sharp objects. Since it clearly got through that, I knew it must have been pretty big/sharp. Added it to the to-do list for the evening. Thankfully I came prepared and brought 3 extra inner tubes.

Rolled into Park City around 3pm and headed to one of their only restaurants which was a bar. I had a delicious burger and tried to get as many extra vegetables as possible, which is surprisingly hard to do. I tried to get to bed slightly earlier today around 8:00pm after some more writing and walking around the small town. Excited to move through Billings tomorrow and for everything to come! Thanks again for tuning in and all of the messages. They are the highlight of my day and I love to see them pop up.

Up at 5:00 and out the door by 6:00. Everything feeling great and was moving well after some coffee and oats! Headed through Billings to the outside of the city limits. It was a beautiful sunrise along the I-90 frontage road this morning. I have been essentially tied to the I-90 since the very start in Seattle and will be departing it soon to join the 94 through North Dakota (then rejoining the 90!).Foot felt great today and was definitely enjoying the constant stream of gas stations almost every 5 miles throughout the city. Probably one of the most exciting parts of the day is to talk to a clerk inside and grab a 40oz soda for a dollar.

Around mile 15 I was able to join up to the Jim Dutcher trail which took me through the entire city of Billings. I have not been on a bike path like that since Idaho so it was really nice to just turn the brain off and move easily. Some very nice interactions today with very kind individuals who were interested in why I was outside running in the heat. One gentleman found me 15 minutes later after he grabbed me a cold water bottle. They say don’t accept candy from strangers, but nothing about cold water on a hot day (it was delicious).Made it to my destination about 8 miles outside Billings around 2pm. It was great to have the rest of the day to get some more essay writing done and relaxing. Everything is going very well and I feel that my foot is finally taking a positive turn! Headed to Custer, MT tomorrow, about 45 miles away. More heat is supposed to be coming so packing plenty of fluids with me.

Woke up around 4:45am for a nice rest day in Billings. Got ready and had some breakfast of oats and coffee. I was staying about 10 miles outside of town so ubered into the downtown area to a small cafe. I had plenty of more work to do for application related items so got right to it. The cafe I was at had unlimited refills of coffee that I indulged in over the morning.It was a very very hot day in Billings today, around 95 degrees. I still prefer that over 80 degrees in Cleveland. There is something about humidity that makes running so much harder (thanks to basic fluid dynamics).Around 4pm I left town to head back to Billings Heights where I was staying. A very early bedtime around 7:30pm while the sun was still up. Heading to Custer, MT tomorrow about 40 miles away. My father is coming to join me for the weekend which is very exciting! The company is always more than appreciated, particularly on some of the more barren parts of the landscape.

Up at 4:15 to hit the road a bit earlier to beat the temperatures. It was still pretty dark when I started so I had all of the reflective gear and headlamp on. My dad landed last night in Billings very late and will be joining me around 10am, so I was hoping to get a pretty big section of miles done by then.The sunrise around 5:45 was gorgeous and filled the entire sky with a deep blood orange color. I will certainly miss those vistas over the farmlands when this is over. The next few hours were very easy on some quiet roads which makes the running very easy.Around 10 am I reconnected with my dad and had some great time chatting with a local who happened to be coming outside as we were standing on the side of her property. In addition to the company, another great thing about having family here is the ability to travel super light without hauling all of my gear on the stroller. After some chatting and hot chocolate, my dad drove to the next town over while I finished the last few miles of the day.

After, we went to see Pompeys Pillar, where William Clark signed in stone his signature back in 1806. It is the coolest thing to be traveling on foot the same paths that great explorers like Clark did. I believe that seeing the land at the pace of walking/running makes one interact and appreciate it differently than at the pace of a car or an airplane. The intimacy of feeling each step connects one with the place and its significance. Another reason why seeing Pompeys Pillar was special.

When I went back to the car, I opened one of my 1.5L bottles that has had gatorade in it for 2 days that I did not bother to clean. I opened it and immediately heard a gas releasing. Interesting… didn’t recall putting soda in there. Given my copious soda consumption, I brushed it aside and tasted it… bitter…Well at least I can say I made my own alcohol on this journey. I never would have imagined that 2 days was enough to ferment gatorade. But then I realized that hot bottles in a dark bag would probably be ideal for whatever bacteria decided to claim residence in there. Beautiful in its own kind of way.Onward to Forsyth tomorrow! About 40 more miles and some navigation of a hard section that I have been scouting for months on google. Issues with private property and abandon roads can be tricky, so I am hoping that is is all cleared and squared away. Thanks so much for tuning in and all of the messages!

Up at 4:15 and on the road in the darkness by 5:00. Probably the earliest start of the whole journey so far. Everything was feeling amazing this morning after some more motel coffee and oats. Very easy running planned for the day along the yellowstone river next to the I-90.

Having my dad out here has been great. I saw him around 10am and had some real coffee and other cold things to drink. Running without the stroller has also made things incredibly fast and efficient! By 11am I had bagged about 28 miles and only had a little bit more to go for Miles City.

When we got there, we were able to explore the area and check out some old railways lines and a museum dedicated to the frontier’s history. A fascinating little place that did a wonderful job of painting the colorful, sad, and rich parts of history for this specific geography.

For dinner, we went to a small steakhouse in town which was delicious. It was great to have a really nice meal for the first time in a while. I’m sure the body appreciated all of the nutrients too. A little more walking around before heading to bed very early for tomorrow.

Up at 4:30 and out the door by 5:15. There is a massive weather system originating in Montana and sweeping to the east. And by massive, I mean massive…I saw the start of it when heading out of town early in the morning. Probably some of the darkest clouds I have ever seen in my life, almost purple!

At the beginning, I did not make much of the clouds. The forecast called for some thunder and lightning later in the morning, but of course that proved to be wrong. I began to hear deep thunder, see hail accumulate on the ground, and wonder whether I should just wait it out under a tree. Because the storm was forming and moving so quickly though, it was on its way to the east in the next hour, heading swiftly to the Dakotas.

I was able to see my dad again around 9 before he heads out back to Cleveland later in the afternoon. The company certainly helps a lot on some of the more isolating stretches of road. I probably saw 2-3 cars the entire morning.I wrapped up and we grabbed some breakfast in town and explored an old railroad line that recently had some fixes which opened it to the public again. The railroad history in this part of the nation is littered all over the place. Not only are the physical artifacts still found near every road, but the impact on the social structure and fabric of these small towns remains to this day.

My dad departed around 5 and I got settled in a few days I will finally be in North Dakota! I am thrilled about that and excited to see some new geography and cities. Thanks so much for tuning in!

Up around 5:00 and taking the day to avoid some of the bad storms ahead of the road. I had a few hours to explore around town before things started to wake up in town. Had some coffee at the hotel I am staying at and chatted more with the owners.Today was mostly finishing up the last few essays I have to complete along with some reading. Around the afternoon I went for a nice long walk to explore the area and plan the rest of the route to NYC.The storms in town today were pretty amazing. Incredibly dark clouds and some nice thunder. I was definitely enjoying them from the comfort of the indoors.

Up at 4:45, taking one more day before the push up to Glendive tomorrow. A rare chilly morning in Montana so far! I had to throw on hat, jacket, and glove. Spent the morning walking around town and then a half mile down the road to a small diner. Had a great breakfast there then explored around town some more listening to my audiobook.Not much to report from today, primarily just writing more and filling out more applications. All the fun stuff. Will be in Glendive tomorrow which is exciting, slightly bigger than Terry and a change of scenery. Excited for what’s to come.

Up at 3:50 and quickly made some coffee and oats. Also had about a quarter gallon of chocolate milk left from last night. Had everything packed and ready to go so was able to hit the road around 4:45. It was still essentially pitch black out, so I had the headlamp and stroller tail light on. Very cool to pass through a town when it is in a state of rest and silence.

I began on old highway 10 out of Terry and headed out 10 miles before I moved over to some of the dirt roads. It was probably the quietest morning on the entire journey in terms of cars. I counted three cars by mile 15, amazing!Around 10am, I met a new friend, a gentleman who stopped his pickup and wanted to chat. We had a great discussion for a few minutes, and he kindly gave me some of his water since the temperature was rising quickly. We shook hands then I was off toward Glendive, about 15 more miles away.

The clouds were amazing today. No thunder or storms, but clouds across every inch of the sky. Some big, some small, some thin, some wispy, some heavy. Makes me wonder how so many different kinds of clouds can exist near eachother.Made it to Glendive around 1pm which was nice to have an early finish. 42 miles for the day. Grabbed a pizza on my way into town to wolf down.

Up at 4:45 and out the door by 5:30. Today I am traveling form Glendive to Wibaux. The first 20 miles were primarily on rolling county roads. From the very beginning, the hills presented a lot of challenges. By pulling a stroller, not only are the inclines hard, but so are the steep downhills. The pitch can be hard to control, particularly on tired legs. I persisted nonetheless and was back on the relatively smooth frontage roads by mile 25.

Today was perhaps the windiest day of the entire journey. Normally I wouldn’t mind the wind as it has mostly been West to East, but today it was a forceful headwind. Having spent 4 years in Boston for undergrad, I have had my fair share of wind. But today… was completely different. The only word to describe the wind is frustrating. It is incessant and strong. I find that the best course of action is to accept and ignore. Though sometimes you feel like cursing and giving into the frustration.

I made it closer to Wibaux and by 1pm I had a few miles left into town. I rolled up to a motel, grabbed a room, and took care of myself. The town of Wibaux was very small but had a lot of character (not to mention some rich history related to the railroads).

Up at 4:15 and on the road at 5:00. Gorgeous morning coming out of Wibaux. Today is a particularly exciting day as I cross into North Dakota! I had a great time in Montana but certainly spent way more time than expected.The North Dakota border was about 15 miles from Wibaux, some slow rolling dirt roads to get there. The sun began to pop out around 6am and I could finally turn off my headlamp and tail light.

When I got to the border, I had a celebratory strawberry milk and took some photos. The scene was particularly anti-climactic. The normal “Welcome to North Dakota” signs are generally all along the interstate, and I was about 3 miles from that on the county roads. The one sign of the new state was a small atv path that cut evenly right down the border. I stepped over the line proudly then continued on through Beech, ND.

I was back on old highway 10 and the first thing I noticed was how much slower the speed limit was. Only 55 mph out here. The nice additional surprise was the lack of cars on the road. I probably saw only 6 cars for the first 25 miles. That made for an amazing morning.Around 10am I made it to Sentinel Butte, ND, about 15 miles from Medora. I stepped into their only service station which was a gas station with the owner sitting outside. He welcomed me in and we chatted for 20 minutes as I sat and had almost a liter of orange juice and some chocolate. It is amazing how much better one can feel when blood sugar is low. The converstion certainly helped too.

The last 15 miles into Medora were particularly easy and very few cars again. I arrived in Medora around 1pm and grabbed a motel. The town was vibrant and very packed. Quite different from the small town energy for the past 10 days. Off to Dickinson tomorrow! Making great progress for the 350 miles section across ND. Thanks for tuning in!

Up at 5:15 and had quick breakfast of half a liter of chocolate milk. I ran out of oats and the gas station did not have any. Unfortunately it was a horrendous night of sleep. I picked the cheapest motel I could find in town and paid dearly for it. The walls were almost paper thin where I could hear actual conversations spoken at normal volume. As a result, trying to go to bed at 8:00pm was remarkably difficult. People were drinking, yelling, laughing, and snoring until 2 in the morning. Usually noise doesnt bother me too much, but that is only to a certain point. I put on some white noise on my computer to try and drown it out, but that did not do much. Tried tying a pillow case around my ears which was more uncomfortable than helpful. Around midnight I gave up and tossed and turned until I fell asleep around 2. The morning was a little but of a rough wakeup.

I got on the road pretty early to beat the high heat of the day. The running was very easy on a nice dirt road passing through the surrounding Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Beautiful scenery. Another very low traffic day which was welcomed, only 2 cars passed me on the dirt road, one stopping to say hello.

I made it to Belfield around 1pm, a town about 20 miles from Dickinson. I was low on water and the humidity/heat got to a point where I decided to stay put in Belfield instead of making the next 4 hours to Dickinson. Smart decision I think.I found the Cowboy Motel in Belfield, which was a very quaint and nice place owned by a local family. They were incredibly kind and gave me a free Coca-Cola because it was so hot, awesome!

I explored the town in the afternoon and completed the remaining of some applications. A quick dinner then to bed before pushing onward to Dickinson tomorrow.

Up at 6:00, nice to sleep in a bit because of the ‘shorter’ day to Dickinson. Had some oats, caffeinated water, and chocolate milk before heading out. Chatted with the owners briefly who sent me off with best wishes.To my surprise, there was a remarkable fog that covered the entire town in the morning. I would estimate the visibility around 200 feet, not the greatest news when you’re running on the road. So grabbed all my hi-vis gear, headlamp, and tail light before I took off. Thankfully it was another very very low traffic day. About 5 cars in the first few hours. I am still very grateful for the much slower speed limits here in North Dakota. It eases a lot of anxiety and concern about crazy drivers, though my guard is still always up…

A nice 20 ish mile day to Dickinson. I would normally want to do more but there really wasn’t any place to stay that was reasonably far after. Made it into town around noon and had some time to walk around. A very nice small city with all the normal amenities. I am at the point where having a gas station, grocery store, and motel all within a few blocks are a trifecta to die for.I wrapped up all of my applications to medical school finally in the afternoon. An amazing feeling! This will allow me to put up some bigger mileage in the afternoons over the coming weeks. Had a very early bedtime. Thank you so much for all of the messages and support! They always make my day.

Up at 4:45. I knew a storm system would be rolling in, but I did not expect it to be this bad. Torrential downpour, thunder so loud it almost shook my room, and lightning illuminating the walls every minute. It was an easy back to sleep since the weather radar said it might clear up around 10 am.I spent the morning wandering around and doing some reading, in addition to compulsively checking the radar to see if my planned route was going to be affected. I am trying to make the push to Bismark in about 3 days of stops. There really isn't much at all between the town which makes it slightly difficult. Today I was planning on making it to Hebron.

I left around noon to go to Richardton instead of Hebron, slightly closer, and actually had a place to stay instead of at a public park. The weather turned from storm to beautiful all within an hour around 11am. Truly amazing. The running out of town was a little busy but not too bad. Once I was past the interstate I was back on old highway 10 which was a very very low traffic and quiet road. Nice and big shoulders too with a lower speed limit, all amazing things!I had a great afternoon taking in the scenery and enjoying some podcasts. The humidity really made it quite hot today, and I found that I was almost soaking my shirt through to my pack. As a result I was forcing myself to stop every 5 miles to make sure I was taking in a liter per hour (at least!).

I made it to Richardton around 5pm, had dinner at a very small bar, and packed my things for a bigger 50 mile day to New Salem tomorrow. The weather is looking good for the next few days which I am very excited about!

Up at 4:00 and a very quick breakfast of some coffee and oats. Was on the road by 5:00 after fixing a few things on my stroller. A loose screw, low tire pressure, split seam. The morning was gorgeous! Pretty cool and breezy. The forecast called for almost 90 degree weather so I tried to get as many miles done early as possible.Around 10 am I rolled into Hebron, ND where I stumbled upon an awesome coffee shop that was Pink Floyd themed and played all of their greatest hits, called “Dark Side of the Brew,” clever… I got some coffee for the road and was able to walk for the next 30 minutes enjoying it.

So far Old Highway 10 has been a blessing in ND. The fairly wide shoulder, low speed limit, and kind drivers make the day much much easier. I ran into a few locals along the way who stopped to ask what I was doing. We exchanged some words and they wished me well.Shortly after, I officially crossed into a new time zone! Central! I viewed it as a sign of monumental progress, particularly after spending so much time in Montana. I had a small celebration with more strawberry milk (as usual…). I told a cashier how excited I was about that when she asked me how my day was going. “I haven’t heard anyone so excited about a time zone before.” Yeah, neither have I until now…

Rolled into New Salem around 3:30 and met some lovely hotel owners. I had a great meal and went to bed fairly early. Some more storm are expected in the morning so will have to figure that out in the am.

Up around 4:55, a little later because today is a “lighter” 30 mile day into Bismark. I was not surprised at all when I checked the weather: more lightning… Instead of starting at 6:00 I decided to wait it out for an hour and eat some more cereal.4 bowls of cheerios later (with lots of coffee!), I was off to Bismark. The remnants of the storm were slowly dissipating, but I would occasionally be doused by what seemed like a 5x5ft sheet of water. Totally bizarre, totally cool.3 hours after leaving New Salem the sun really started to come out. The temperature also started to rise rapidly. 65, 70, 75, 85, 86… All they way to almost 90. The humidity was also fairly strong after the rainstorm. I tried to put as many fluids down as possible.

12 miles out from Bismark I could tell I was getting close to real civilization. More traffic, more establishments, more people. Incredibly exciting! I met a wonderful gentleman who pulled over his truck to ask what I was doing. We had a lovely conversation and I was promptly off to downtown Bismark, about 5 more miles.I ran into a fair amount of construction on one of the roads which proved to be slightly challenging with no sidewalks… but I am very grateful to the kind drivers who seemed to be sympathetic. It was either that or they confused me for a construction worker with my all neon green hi-vis hoodie. I’d like to think it was the former.Got to Bismark, grabbed some water, and immediately went to an Indian restaurant that I have had my eye on for the past 3 weeks. It is the first time I have had the opportunity to eat somewhere else besides a bar. And the food… surpassed my wildest expectations. The waiter was surprised when I didn’t need a to-go box. I slowly made my way back to get to bed pretty early. It looks like there will be storms tomorrow so will have to navigate my way to Steele carefully. Thanks so much for tuning in!

Up at 5:00 and checked the weather. More and more storms today. Usually I really don’t mind the rain, but the lightning with the lack of coverage makes for a risky trek. I decided to wait it off until things started to clear out. Looked like it wouldn’t be until later in the afternoon. Okay… some night running on deck!The afternoon began to creep up and things were still fairly bad out. Around 3pm I decided to stay put in Bismark for the day and not make my way to Steele about 40 miles away. Since I was going to stay put in Bismark for the remainder of the day, I got ahead on some route planning for the remainder of the trip.Route planning can be quite challenging. I was asked a few times how I do it, and it’s a process that I say comes in 4 layers.For the first layer (the outer most), it is really about choosing a start and end destination. In this case Seattle and NYC. I did this months and months ago, not much changing here!For the second layer, this is state-by-state and finding the major roads to travel along. Is there a continuous bike path? Is there a long county road that can connect to another? This was also planned months ago, but sometimes subject to change with weeks notice.Where it gets interesting is this third layer, which is day-by-day “what roads am I going to travel” kind of planning. This is where I gather my notes from my research about half a year ago and reference the safest and most popular routes. From there, I check on google maps, apple maps, strava, and gaia for private property and road closures. I was totally screwed over once by not checking for private property! Will not make that mistake again… and can tell that story in person some day. After checking that, I route the daily map on Google and then send the file to my watch.The final and fourth layer is the moment-by-moment. This layer cannot be planned for, and of course can make things very challenging and tremendously frustrating. This is usually dealing with things like police blocking off a road completely for a traffic accident, or a construction crew redoing a road with no easy bypass. While most days don’t require these fourth layer navigational challenges, they do happen. It can be a little anxiety provoking to see one of these closures from afar, but I found it is necessary to just take a deep breath and know it will be okay.Had a nice evening in the motel and got to bed early. No storms tomorrow I think! Off to Steele tomorrow.

Up at 6:00, some storms breaking in the early morning, but made for a glorious sunrise! Had some coffee and oats and got out on the road pretty quickly. The town of Bismarck was more or less still asleep and was interesting to see it so quiet.Getting out of town was mainly on a poorly surfaced sidewalk so I got on the main road. Thankfully there were no cars out… Made it about 3 miles before the city limits ended and I was on the road that would take me all the way to Steele.

About 10 miles in I saw a giant orange warning sign about road work ahead. These always scare me from afar because it sometimes can mean road closure or the use of a guide car. Thankfully it just meant what it said… road work. The gentleman holding the caution flag greeted me and we had a nice conversation. He said no english so I busted out my spanish from high school. Nice guy and he wished me well.The annoying thing about this road work is that they were putting down fresh gravel and oil on the road for the re-surfacing. For cars, this is the precursor to great news! To me… this meant tiny pieces of gravel being shot at me as cars passed by at 55mph. Every time a car would pass, I would turn my head and prepare for the dose of flying pieces of rock. While most of them did not hurt and were mostly just bothersome, some hurt quite a lot. When a big semi truck passed, there were two or three pieces of gravel that felt like a plastic bb gun. Left marks for a few days!

After 20 miles the road work ended and I was on my way to Steele. I stopped for a frozen coffee (tasted more like a dessert than coffee…) and water. Some cool storm clouds started to roll in with the occasional thunder. I kept making my way towards town and stumbled on a county park right off the side of the road near some farm lands. There was a fascinating plaque (picture below) that had some interesting information about the geography’s place in history.

Sandwich for dinner and to bed pretty early, more heading east tomorrow! Thanks for tuning in and all of the messages.

Up at 4:50 and out the door by 5:40 ish. Heading to Jamestown, ND today. Very exciting to be approaching some larger and larger cities with the normal amenities (and gas stations galore!). Today started out super easy. Dirt roads along the I-94 and then diverting to go through the farmland.

10 miles in I stopped at a small gas station that happened to also be selling breakfast sandwiches! I had 2 and sat down for a chat with the store owner. A local of this town with a population 200 for his whole life. I asked him how much it has changed, “not much,” he replied. I got some chocolate and gatorade and kept moving forward.The sky was performing all sorts of interesting visual shows with the clouds today. A mixture of fat clouds, dark clouds, wispy clouds, and thin clouds spread across the scenery. I always love seeing the diversity and shapes of clouds. It’s amazing how different they can be but so close too!

Around the early afternoon I was getting closer to my destination and stopped for some lunch and soda. The humidity is getting noticeably higher each day as I get closer to the Atlantic. I do fine in the heat generally, but the humidity can be an issue. But I have found that it usually only takes a few weeks and one can “adapt” for the most part.

Up at 6:45 to begin making my way to Valley City. Things have been going very well and I am feeling stronger day by day. It is pretty remarkable how running 30 miles feels ‘shorter’ than usual. Had a small breakfast of a few chocolate milks and started on my way toward the road.The morning began with a beautiful dirt road (again!) and progressed to the old US highway 10 which was showing its years and years of wear. I have been on the old US-10 for over 500 miles now and it has been just lovely. Though the shoulder can sometimes be smaller on this road, it is so lightly traveled that it doesn't really come to mind.

Around 10am I had some caffeinated sparkling water and more chocolate milk. For the past month I really haven’t had any solid foods while running, only liquids. The primary reason being that liquid calories seem much easier to put down in one large bolus than munching on gold fish. But perhaps this will change when (if!) I get sick of chocolate milk and all of its other lovely siblings (strawberry, vanilla, banana, strawberry-banana… I could go on).

Around noon I arrived in Cleveland! Cleveland is off the I-94 and has a population of 70. The best part about Cleveland, North Dakota is that it is named after… Cleveland, OH! I can’t say there is much resemblance, but my excitement for the place is the exact same. To see a small sign that says Cleveland brought a sense of home, which was very much welcome.Had a lovely dinner and got to bed fairly early. North Dakota has been an absolute pleasure so far and looking forward to the little distance I have left until Minnesota!

Up around 6:45. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires has been horrendous the past few days. I noticed it while running yesterday, but paid dearly for it afterwards… I had a pretty consistent and annoying cough going through the remainder of the evening and night. I guessed it may have been unwise to run in the smoke, but continued on against my better judgement.

Things seemed to be relatively fine in the morning, though the air quality still suggested staying inside. I got my things packed and started making my way into Minnesota! Today I am headed to Barnesville, a small town outside of Fargo.Staying in Fargo was just incredible. A pretty big city that had everything that makes traveling on foot significantly easier: bike paths, gas stations galore, and… indian food! Last night I was able to eat to my heart’s content plenty of various indian dishes. It was fantastic. Quiet the respite from bar cheeseburgers (don’t get me wrong, those are still great…).

The smoke really began to break around the afternoon. The reports online said that they were most likely going away for good, or until there is another fire. Today was primarily on a quiet paved county road. Made for some nice faster running. I have been feeling pretty strong lately and all of the minor setbacks with my lower extremities have completely healed. “Motion is lotion,” one of my favorite dictums!

Up around 7:30, a little bit later of a start. Had some nice breakfast and packed my things to hit the road. Today I am making it to Fergus Falls, a moderately sized city along the way to Minneapolis. There is an incredibly exciting things that awaits me in Fergus Falls. Something I have been looking forward to for weeks… a bike path! Not only is this just a paved and wide bike path, but it is over 150 miles long! This path will essentially bring me all the way to Minneapolis.

The last bike path I was on was all the way back in western Montana. Quite a while ago… Since then there have been a variety of roads: fast, slow, wide, skinny, safe, slightly dangerous… But now, I will be able to have the peace of mind that no distracted drivers will be present (hopefully). The other great things about the bike routes is seeing other people (mostly cyclists, sometimes runners). The chance to have a 5 minute conversation with another person during what can be pretty isolating and lonely days are sometimes highlights of the trip.

I kept making my way down the old county roads to Fergus Falls. There were a few ‘road closed’ signs that I saw from a distance when I was 5 miles out. Ughf… stress levels somewhat spike when I see that. I looked at my phone and saw a detour would add about 5 more miles, or one hour to the day’s mileage. I decided to just gamble it and go around the road closed sign since the sign did not block nor cover the entirety of the road. This was in fact a big gamble because I was potentially looking at 10 extra miles of distance if it did not work out. Thankfully, it did! Toward the end there was only a small road closed sign. Not sure why it was closed, nothing seemed to be the matter.I pulled into Fergus Falls around 5pm and found a motel to stay at. The town’s claim ot fame is a giant otter statute. His name is apparently Otto. He was about 2 miles south of town, and I plan to run into him in the morning on my way out of the city. Otters also supposedly like the many lake environments near the city, so that is fascinating and cute too!

Up around 5:15 to the roar of thunder outside. I was monitoring the weather radar in the evening, but did not expect the system to be there still in the morning. Things seemed like they might clear out around 10am, so that gave me some time to hang out in the McDonalds directly adjacent to the motel.At 10, the storm gave way to a beautiful sunny and cloudless day! Quite the pleasant surprise. Today is the day I get on the bike path which is incredibly exciting! It took about 5 miles to get there from the edge of the city limits, but I was on it and ready to roll at 11am. I originally planned to do a much bigger day to Alexandria, but with the late start and weather coming in in the afternoon I figured I could make it the 30 miles to Ashby.

The bike path was as amazing as I had imagined, and I met quite a few people who were interested in the stroller/trailer setup. This made the 30 miles go by quite fast actually. There were also a few towns along the path that had more gas stations which made for a nice coke break.I have been perfecting my run .5 mile and walk .5 mile to the point where some mile splits will be within a second or two of each other. Doing this also breaks up some of the monotony of being on your feet for that long. Each .5 mile segment becomes something ‘new’ to look forward to every 5 ish minutes. Never thought running a .5 mile segment would be so exciting.

I started to approach Ashby around 4pm and had to make a stop in the very very small town before heading 3 miles more to the cabin I found a stay at. I grabbed some chocolate milk for dinner since there was no place to grab food (or anything at the gas station). Dinner was sitting on a lawn chair having about a gallon of it. Not sure how many calories it was, but it certainly was filling, and mildly gross after about half of it. But calories are the most important thing, even above taste or appearance when doing something like this, so I chugged on.Some pretty violent storms and lightning started to come in around 7 and continued almost through the whole night. There is something quite comforting about being inside during a great storm. They are beautiful in their own way.

Up at 5:00, checked the weather, and… storms…again….It has been pretty tough to gauge the weather, even the night before. Some days the report will say violent storms in one hour, and then beautiful sunshine will break out. On others, sunshine is in the forecast and then everything will turn into a deluge coupled with lightning strikes.Around 11am I was able to get out of the motel next to the lake in Ashby. I was not ready for the humidity that came pouring in after the storms started to clear. It was as thick as a blanket. Even just stepping outside I could feel a wet veneer of moisture mixed with sweat. The kind of humidity where running hard feels like you’re sucking out of a straw. Even the ground was sweating! Hard to believe some of this stuff.

It was a 30 miles day to get to Alexandria, MN today. All on the bike path which has been such a blessing. For the first time in a few weeks I have been able to totally turn off my brain and not think about cars at all. The path follows what used to be an old railway system. As a result, there are some small incorporated towns about every 10 miles. This is an added bonus as it means gas stations stops every 2 hours, a true luxury! This came in handy when the temperatures started to creep into the high 80s and low 90s. At one of them I had a make-it-yourself oreo milkshake and some coke. Totally Delicious.Got into Alexandria a bit later around 4:30pm and grabbed some food and a place to stay. I am noticing the sun starting to set earlier and earlier. After some dinner it was ready for bed. Making my way to Sauk Center tomorrow. Closer and closer to the Mississippi every day! Exciting stuff. Thanks so much for tuning in!

Up around 5:30 to the roar of thunder outside. I am genuinely shocked at how frequent storms are in this part of the country. It is incessant! The forecast showed things clearing up around 11:00am.By 10, it was still pretty bad outside but I just decided to start making my way out. A few hours later things started to look gorgeous out! Bright and sunny, not too humid. Amazing running weather.

I am still on the very long bike path which will take me most of the way to Minneapolis. I am starting to see more and more people which has been quite fun. Quite the contrast from central and eastern Montana!As the storm was clearing, one thing I noticed was how slippery some of the fallen leaves could be! I almost took a few falls on some of the patches I would expect to be fine to run on. Who knew.Had a great dinner and went to bed. Closer and closer to Minneapolis everyday which is incredibly exciting. I have been looking forward to crossing the Mississippi since Seattle!

Up at 7:15 and out the door by 8:30. Perfect weather outside today. Nice and cloudy and pretty cool. Almost to the point where I put on my jacket. Thankfully I got moving and was warm within a few minutes.Today was a mix of roads and bike paths. I am now off the main bike path that I got on around Fergus Falls. A few people outside but the city was mostly dead. The traffic was also fairly low in the morning too which was very nice. Not too much to worry about at all, just running!

I saw, for the third time, something quite interesting: turtle roadkill. It is as bizarre (and gross) as you would expect. But the most interesting part about it is how their shells succumb to the force of a moving vehicle. If you were to ask me if a shell could protect against a few tons of pressure, I might say yes. But evidently that is not the case. I suppose they were not designed with cars in mind. Poor little guy.Wrapped up around lunch and ate well. Weather continued to be some nice cooler overcast which was very welcomed. Such a contrast from some of the brutal heat back in Washington!

Up at 7:00. Today is the day! Minneapolis! Since day 1 I have been telling myself over and over “just get to Minneapolis.” Excited for the run today. Thankfully no storms, just great running weather.The thing I immediately noticed today though were the hills! I haven't been up or down a hill in weeks! The change in terrain was actually quite welcomed. I find that it allows you to use some different muscle groups which might not be taxed as much during flat, level running.The other thing I definitely noticed was the increased traffic… Though the road I was on had fairly wide shoulders, there were plenty of cars to keep my attention. No crazy drivers today though.I am flying out to nyc tomorrow to visit my girlfriend for a few days and returning to hopefully do the last final push with a strong effort. Excited to take a break though and get back to things with a fresh mindset.Had a great last dinner before flight and evening, then straight to bed. Thanks so much for tuning in!

Up at 5:00, but out the door around 9. Had some things to take care of on computer in the morning, but stepped outside to what was a gorgeous day! I had a great time in New York City. Lots of good food, good times, and rest. Ready to push this final segment and make it back to NYC (but this time on foot…)Heading out of downtown airport area was actually pretty easy. There are bike paths galore here, so nothing too worrying about the navigation. There were two awesome bridges I crossed today that used to be for trains and were turned into pedestrian only paths. Pretty cool!

There was a fair amount of clouds today, and the temperature hovered around 65 ish for a good portion of the morning. It has not been this cool in quite a while! Feels like the Cascades area. I won’t complain about 65 and cloudy for running ever…15 miles in, I got on a pretty long continuous bike path that follows roughly along the Mississippi. There were many cyclists out today, a good portion of them stopping to ask what I was doing.

There was strangely not a gas station close by last night when I went to bed, so I relied on some of the food that has been sitting in my bag for a while. Mostly (heavily) neglected clif bars. These bars have been so neglected they have started to take shape of the bag holding them. They also felt much harder. Oh well, they will warm up. Since Washington State I have not had the stomach to put those down again. I have mainly just been consuming different types of milk. But to my surprise, I think my taste aversion to them dissipated. Not too bad. Had to soften them up with a bit of water but they went down well.Made it to Prescott, WI which is a very cute and small town right near the Mississippi. Excited to make my way closer and closer to lake Michigan! Thanks so much for tuning in as always.

Up at 4:10 and made some coffee. Slept pretty poorly last night. It was extremely stuffy and hot where I was sleeping. Opening the windows let mosquitoes in so I decided to keep them closed. Knew it would be a long day. Had some chocolate milk and caffeinated water with my coffee. You’ll note a theme of a lot of caffeine.Out the door right around 5. It was a beautiful morning with plenty of stars still out! I could see some marvelous constellations. After a few turns through the town of Prescott, my watch prompted me with the next direction by saying “in 43.2 miles, turn left then arrive at destination.” Underneath the map projected on the watch shows the distance remaining for the current directions, so I knew it might be tough to just stare at that number slow ticking down, 43…42…41…41…41….

To my pleasant surprise though, the road I was on was just fantastic! There was about a 10 foot shoulder nearly the entire way and about 4 small towns I would pass through with gas stations / coffee shops. Additionally, the road had plenty of cyclists! Some very talented (and very fast!) riders, and others almost going walking speed which made for some awkward / funny interactions when I kept seeing a few of the same people over and over and over.One rather gross and annoying part of the route was the amount of grasshoppers next to the road. In some instances, a cloud of grasshoppers would try to land on my legs. I had to whack some of them off because it felt like they were biting! I am not sure if they actually bite though, or it was my annoyance driving my perceived bites.

Stopped for some chocolate milk about 3 times throughout the day. Every 10 miles. I think that must be a record low for stops. My watch will report both “activity” and “total” time after each run. Activity time only includes the time the watch is un-paused. Total time is from start to finish (including pauses). So I was pretty happy about today’s efficiency of going 44 miles with about 10-15 minutes being paused.Arrived in Pepin and headed straight to the bar. Grabbed a solid sandwich and quesadilla. Have to do some route planning this evening. Thanks so much for tuning in and your continued messages!

Up at 5:15 and out the door just after 7. The motel I was staying at had quite the breakfast selection so I decided to capitalize on that opportunity and stuff myself. Cereal, toast, waffles… the works.I am still on what has become my favorite road of the whole journey so far - highway 35! Highway seems like a misnomer given the pretty low traffic speed. There is still a giant shoulder which has been pretty calming for the nerves, though I still keep a tremendous guard for the occasional distracted driver.

Coming out of Pepin was gorgeous! The Mississippi almost looked orange with the rising sun and light cloud coverage. A few cyclists whipped by me on the other side of the road early on. They looked like pretty fit guys, and I was genuinely shocked at how fast they were going!Today’s navigation was thankfully very easy again, just stay on the 35 for 35 miles… all the way to Fountain City. On the map the night before I saw there would be about 5-6 towns of population ~500 along the way. It seems like most of them cater to tourists, so they are well equipped with all the lovely amenities that I desperately missed in the huge stretches in Montana: good coffee, cold water, a sandwich…

A few of them actually had some fascinating history that was largely driven by the proximity of the Mississippi as a foundational trading route “back in the day.” Who knows what kind of people, stories, conversations happened along the same route I just traveled on. And I always wonder if in a hundred years people will think back to today.The rest of the way into Fountain City was super easy. Nice and relatively flat with the occasional hill to break things up. I feel my shoes getting a little worn. Hopefully I can find some replacements once I get to Michigan in about 300 miles. Thanks so much for tuning in

Up at 5:15 and out the door a little after 7. The gas station actually had some pretty decent coffee this am! I made my way back onto highway 35 to enjoy another day of huge shoulders and a new 100 mile bike path.The difference is really night and day, and quite hard to explain, for how much easier running is when you’re not worrying about cars every second. I admire cyclists who have the guts to have their backs to the traffic, at least I could jump need be, scary stuff I try not to think about!

The morning was fairly foggy on the road so I took out my headlamp and turned up the brightness of my taillight on the trailer. Around 8 miles in, to my (extreme) pleasant surprise, I stumbled upon a freshly installed bike path! Must have been a few days old since I could still see the mud marks of the construction equipment that put it down. This would connect me to the Great River State Trail, which I will follow toward Madison, WI.

The rest of the day was fairly easy running. Around noon I met another cyclist who was crossing the country on e-bike going toward the Pacific! We exchange a very brief hello and where we were headed. That gave me a slight energy boost (on top of the 2 redbulls I had for ‘lunch’) and I soon found myself on the outskirts of Onalaska.

This is where I finally reunited with the I-90! I followed the 90 out of Seattle all the way to Billings, then took the 94 which got me back to MN/WI. It has been many hundreds of miles since seeing it go, but I was thrilled to see the cars rushing from a distance! The other significance is that the 90 goes by my home in Cleveland (about 5-6 miles I believe). Can’t wait to run past the house soon!Had some dinner then got ready for early bed (again). Making my way entirely on the bike path tomorrow. Super super excited for that. Thank you for tuning in and all of the messages and emails! They are more than appreciated.

Up at 6:00, a little slow to the road today, the motel had a waffle maker… I made pretty good use of that, evident also by a construction worker’s remark “I wish I could eat three waffles for breakfast!”Today I expected to be one of the ‘easiest’ yet. The bike path was right outside where I was staying and it was 100% on the path for the whole day. No cars, very few crossings, nice and shady. Doesn’t get better than that. I tried to enjoy it as much as possible by doing mostly speed walking for the morning. If I can hit a 13:30 mile speed walking, I am pretty pleased with that, though the running strangely makes my feet less sore than the walking.

Around noon I made it to Sparta, WI. Sparta is where the HQ of the Sparta-Elroy trail is. I went inside to see if they had anything cold to drink, and got a Klondike bar and a coke. Both were incredibly delicious. I met a lady who was operating the place for the day and we had a great time chatting for 20 minutes. She told me about her family’s struggles with her father’s Parkinson’s and how her life has changed since then. We took a nice photo, and she kindly gifted me a new hat (my current camo one from a North Dakota sporting goods store is getting pretty crusty…)!

It was off toward Norwalk after that and I anxiously awaited the first of three long tunnels on this trail that will take me to outside of Madison. I have not been through a long tunnel since day 2 in Washington, and desperately missed them! They are fascinating, spooky, and chilly all at the same time. As I approached the first tunnel, I threw on my headlamp to the max setting since the footing was very unstable (no thank you to any possible ankle sprains…). I then heard water rushing about .5 miles into the tunnel. Almost the sound of a waterfall…which there was! Upon exciting the tunnel, I read the plaque which discussed how during its creation, the workers struck a spring, and since then water has continuously flowed into the tunnel. I will say though, cold tunnel water on a hot day hits differently.

I made it out of the 1 mile long tunnel and finished the last few miles into Norwalk. Tomorrow I will be getting to Reedsburg, about 45 miles away. Early dinner and bed for today! Thanks so much for tuning in.

Up at 4:00 and out the door to start basically at 5 on the dot. It was pretty chilly out! About 50 degrees. I think it’s because I haven’t felt true cold in many months but I had to throw on a jacket. There was also a fairly dense fog to start the day. It made seeing in front of me incredibly hard with the headlamp on.

Made it back onto the bike trail with great excitement about the 2 long tunnels that were about 4 and 10 miles ahead! The long tunnel yesterday was great (and very dark), but it was also during the day when I passed through. This morning, the sun did not rise until about 6:30, so this would be pitch black tunnels, awesome!I rolled up to the first one, took a look at the historical plaque detailing the creation and significance. I wonder of all the people who have passed through this tunnel by train since the year 1870. All of the famous movie stars, politicians, and normal working Americans have had their own stories and yet one can stand where they may have all converged at the same point over a century. I find that to be the most interesting part about these tunnels.

Walking in, I felt a huge rush of continuous breeze coming throughout. I am completely unaware of the open end-to-end aerodynamics of tunnels, but the stream was one-way and powerful! Not sure what explains that. The ground was also fairly rough, and muddy… At the center point, I turned off my headlamp to take in what the darkness might be like. Well, it was… dark. But it was a darkness that does not really match other types of darkness. True darkness, where you start to loose a sense of direction and where you’re standing. Spooky… but also cool!

Made it out and the sun started to rise so my next tunnel crossing was not as dramatic. After that, I had a few small towns to look forward to during the 45 mile trek to Reedburg. I made 1 stop at a small gas station to buy a coke and a popsicle. There were not many people out today, but I made a few friends with those who were on bikes!

Around 2pm I made it to Reedsburg town and had a few more miles to find a place to stay. Early dinner and bed (as usual…). One thing I am looking forward to once this journey ends is the ability to enjoy the hours of 7pm-10pm instead of trying to get to sleep!