Day 10: W Angola to OHIO...We made it!!! 158 and change!

Sitting back last night chatting about our journey we learned that we managed to bend the ear of friend to come out and run this final leg with us. Kearney's pal John.  You may remember John from a week ago when he Melissa and Amy came to run with us last Sunday.  John is just as nutty as us....he drove out with his lovely wife to stay the night and headed out with us in the am.  This was just fine by us all as we each had a running buddy today....and fresh legs to keep us motivated...thanks John!

We dropped off our cars at the finish line aka the OHIO state line and all the way back we just couldn't believe that the time passed and we have all hung in there.  We noted some rolling hills and note worthy signs on the way back indicating how much farther we had left to go.

As we set out this morning it was clear that Milligan and John were going to run a bit together so Kearney hung back with me as my legs were feeling stiff and not warmed up yet.  Today's weather was chiller than it had been...but dry.  Still no sign of snow.  No complaints with us.   As we trudged down Rt 20 we headed into downtown Angola we could see signs of the university presence.  The circle drive was pretty as well-decorated for holidays.  You can see all the cute old building reminiscent of Chesterton or Valpo.

  As we headed out of downtown we knew that we had 9.5 long miles to go.  These did not go without excitement however.  Kearney picked up pace to run with John and Milligan hung back with me.  We all were pushing pace a bit and felt decent despite the long mileage we have traveled.  Unfortunately we happened across several various roadkill fatalities. These ranged from a rather smushed fox to goose to several deer.  Coming across the first deer Milligan failed to tell me it was coming and I looked right at it as he commented it was freshly killed.  I yelp at the sight of the poor thing still frothing at the mouth.... I..the vegetarian am scarred.  I did tort back at Milligan asking if he wanted to stop and pick it up on the way back.  HA!  As we pressed further we saw an over pass.  Now we had passed the last highway road in Indiana...Rt 1...so we knew we were getting close.  Around the over pass Milligan and I caught up with Kearney and John.  We trekked that last half mile or so together to the official- your in OHIO sign.  We found the permanent state line marker and took a few photos before heading our way back home.  

Its still settling in my mind the distance we traveled...but driving back on the toll road gave me some perspective...and some good memories as we passed familiar road names.  

Day 9: LaGrange to the outskirts of Angola- total miles traveled 143

We made it...to day nine that is.  We had a comfy and cozy stay at Carney's Inn last night.  This little B & B is right off Rt 9 in downtown LaGrange.  We have a wonderful host Estelle, whom Milligan has really enjoyed chatting up.  She woke up early to make us breakfast complete with fresh squeezed OJ and farm fresh eggs from down the road.  We enjoyed great food and interesting breakfast conversation.  We got the sense that Estelle has seen a lot in her life as much of her conversation centered around the history of local places in LaGrange.

Estelle also runs a local flower and antique shop. She's a busy lady.

We bid our host goodbye and left to set our vehicles up in position. Milligan even got a little hug out of our host even though she wasn't a hugger.  Upon leaving we had contact with a local ABC station that wanted to follow us today.  This contact continued until we met up with them at the final part of our run.

 PreRun photo....Milligan looks chilly

Today's weather was not as pleasant as yesterdays.  We were grateful for the warm temps, however the dampness in the air was wearing on us mentally.  We passed some beautiful lakes that Milligan wished he had brought a fishing pole to do a little fishing in.  The road was one of the busier roads we had run on, however we had a nice wide burm to run along.  This still didn't stop the gusts of chilly damp wind from the semi's and larger trucks.  Milligan did a little jump and shiver with each passing vehicle. No major injuries to report and I only just sprouted a bruised toe nail (subungual hemotma) recently. Nothing out of the ordinary other than big appetites and tired legs.

We just got interviewed for the news!  Keaney did a great job talking! 

We are thrilled to be nearly done with our goal and Milligan stated-onto the next bucket list item! We are headed out soon for a big pasta dinner.  Our last night on the road is hosted at Hampton Inn buy our wonderfully supportive Superintendent Dr. Pruis.  We are grateful for our community support both near and far.  So if your not doing much we will be finishing tomorrow on US 20 around 1p EST.

Day 8: Middlebury to LaGrange: Happy Running and Happy Cows-almost

Today's run started out with some icy roads on our travels to our meet up spot. Fortunately we all made it safely to downtown LaGrange.  We drove out to our starting point for today's run, making a few wrong turns off of Hwy 20 and we were finally there.  Today's run was going to be a gorgeous day as the sun was already shining and the temps were on their way up.

It didn't take long and horse and buggy were already in sight and a count was promptly started.  Along the run route we sighted 23 horse and buggy, but total for traveling back and forth was upwards of 50.  Their drivers were mostly awake and always friendly.  We even got a few goofy looks from the horses as well as we approached.

  Speaking of which there were so many horses and cows as we passed down the roads they were often interested in us passing by and always a spirit and tempo booster.  In fact I think the cows horses and buggies were in part assisting our running happy today.  

At one point we could see what I thought was a broken down car on the other side of the road. It was in fact not broken down, it was a group of Chestertonians cheering us on.  We jumped across the highway and thanked them for coming out to support us.

After several miles we continued along our route we spotted a sign that said LaGrange 10 (miles); I looked down at my watch tracking our distance and saw it report 10.5 miles or so that we had already gone. Kearney and I looked at each other and you could hear the potential concern in our voices.  Wow had we messed up with our intended mileage today....  As runners go this happens and we knew it.  The good news is if we were mentally and or physically done our ending point was a mile or so past our location we were staying.  As we caught up with speedy Milligan we decided to keep going and press on through.  Milligan was not fully aware of just how far off we were.  Together as one group we pushed up the hill on that last mile and enjoyed the down hill the last half mile as we spotted my car.  20.5 (21) miles we had traveled running today.  Not the intended distance but it sure makes the last two days easier!  In my head I was thinking I knew this was going to happen at some point...darn you Keaney!!!

We rushed to get our cars and meet up at Carney's Inn to shower and then head out to feed our bodies from this long run.  We stopped at Chicago Joe's in downtown LaGrange to get some immediate nourishment in our systems.
This place was AWESOME!!!!  If you head that way the owner is straight out of Chi-town and it's a great atmosphere and super friendly.  We even got him to take a photo with us.  Thanks JOE!

We then headed out to one of our colleagues homes where we had another round of great food and great company.  Extra special thanks to Linda and Jim Curry for hosting us this evening.  It was great to sit and relax in your home. We even had the pleasure of meeting their friend Trent. 

Day 7: Elkhart to Middlebury- Merry Christmas Eve!!!!

This morning I was awoken by a phone call by my Milligan.  I could hear in his voice that he was excited to get today's run finished so he could get home to Dallas and Abby.  The past few days he's been stressing over smoking this turkey.  So I woke myself up and got dressed enough to go get some coffee down stairs. Milligan had already eaten and was well on his way to entertaining the Holiday Inn staff.  He'd gotten online to show them about our adventure thus far.  As I gradually woke up I chimed in a bit as well.  We had some time to spar as we were waiting on that call from Kearney that he was on his way.  I went about my usual morning routine getting dressed then headed back down for my feast of a breakfast.  As I was eating I learned that one of the ladies' name was Susan...my mom's name.....it was a sign to me that today was going to be a good day....despite the rain.

We all had new head wear today due to the rain.  I just wanted to be festive!

We eventually got that call from Kearney and then headed out to drop off my car at our day's destination. Upon our arrival back Kearney was waiting on us.  So off we set out on 19 and headed up Hively.  This was a tough mental run for a while because not only did not really have turns to make...but it was RAINING.  40 degrees and a steady drizzle to rain.  Somewhere around when Hively existed Elkhart and turned in to CR 18 the rain just seemed to stop.  We could just run.  I was running with classic Christmas music today....and Kearney and Milligan had each other.... I was about half mile behind them today.  Nope not injured..but the miles taking their toll on my tired legs.  They couldn't leave without me today....the car we left was mine and the key safe in MY pocket.  We are only as strong as our weakest...or slowest runner.  That's ME!  Around 6.5 miles I spotted some more appealing blow up yard decorations.... I told them I'd only stop for penguins...and boy this house did not disappoint!  Whoooo hooo!

So excited so many penguins!!!

The next few miles were a touch rolling testing the endurance we had left in us...but we all tackled them successfully.  Lots of smiles, waves and few honks to encourage us along the way. You could certainly tell we were getting closer to amish co.....   a few Yoder mailboxes...and several horses along the route.  I even had sighting of one buggie being pulled along by one horse.  I wonder if I'll get to race one later this week. Even so...as I neared our destination I could see Milligan and Kearney heading back to bring me the last half mile or so in.... We ended today just a touch over 15 miles on the day...bringing our total to around 106.  I will calculate out our totals on rest day tomorrow.

From all of us Merry Christmas and THANK YOU for all of your support and encouragement.  We very much appreciate it all.

Day 6: South Bend to Elkhart-You are my Sunshine....

Preparing for today's section last night we were unsure of the weather.  We thought it might be somewhat rainy weather. Boy were we surprised.  It was just before dawn and we were enjoying breakfast in the lobby of the Comfort Suites.  The manager Kayla that helped us to get our rooms comped with the hotel manager was working this morning and it was nice to thank her for her assistance in person.

A few St. Joe Co. officers were hanging out as well this morning and chatted us up as we saw the sun breaking out of the overcast sky just as we were about to head out.  They wished us safe running.  Today's route was fairly straight forward... 11.5 miles down Killer Kern Rd. then a few turns past Jimtown and then our next stopping point.  Heading out Kern Rd was fairly uneventful in sights to report other than another possum playing possum and a few squished squirrels.  It was nice to get lost in my head as the road pulled us along.  If you talk to runners...notable distance runners, there is always a wall that we push through before we find our love of the long run.  Some don't or won't push to that wall and some leap on over it.  Given my relatively new affinity for distance running my memory of this is a little fresher than my two comrades.  I have recently enjoyed listening to podcast as I run as opposed to music.  Today's long stretch without turns was a nice time to catch up on a couple episodes.

It was such a lovely run today just to be comfortable and enjoy the little bit of a breeze pulling across the fields to cool us.  I was getting warm and after shedding a layer the sun was just perfect.  Days like today after so many gloomy days I cant help but believe its my parents smiling down on me and letting me know that they are still with me.  I thought about the Schultz family and hoped that they too were able to enjoy this sunny day with Rusty and Rylee enjoying the sunshine.

As I turned off of Killer Kern Rd for the last time-finally-greetings by a few horses enjoying the day helped us up the slope in the road.  A few quick turns later and we were in front of one of the smallest schools in Indiana-yet with a HUGE state finals tradition.

Soon after the Jimtown Jimmies was our destination for the day.  We said goodbye to Kearney so he could rush home to celebrate his wedding anniversary with the lovely Martha!  I hope he and Martha had a great evening together.

 Milligan and I cleaned up and headed a few miles through town to a little place with a long time family tradition- The Miles Lab Burger.  The server Nick was super fun and made some great recommendations.  He made my night when he told me they indeed had black bean burgers as I was hankering for one around mile 7 today!

So refueling completed...one more run before rest day!

Day 5: West Laporte to South Bend-75 miles...Halfway folks!!!!

Today's run report is coming to you from the Comfort Suites in South Bend were upon returning from our run today we all 'showered' and took advantage of the hot whirlpool to help our tired legs recover.  Thank you to Comfort Suites for donating our rooms for the night.... super nice staff and welcoming looking lobby.

When I arrived at our meeting point today I found that we had a few visitors today.  Melissa and Amy from Crown Point area and John from Chesterton.  We made our way to our starting location-50 W and a big ole red barn (our friend from yesterday-Dennis).  

There was a nice chill in the air and our goal today was to make it in before the rain approached.  We didn't have many turns to take.  The front half of this mileage was mostly flat and along farm fields.  In several of the open fields we could see a number of the popular red barns and we were also greeted with some head wind.  Even though the terrain was fairly flat here...the wind does take a toll on you while pressing forward.  Forward is still momentum...so we pressed on.  By now we had two distinct paces going....Kearney, John, Milligan and Melissa were making impressive time.  I pressed on with Amy (THANK YOU for hanging with me) as I was not feeling as well recovered as I had been on previous days and my pace was lagging a bit.

As we turned onto Peach Rd Milligan found his future retirement home in shambles..... haha... It really looked like a white trailer that might have been used to make Meth in at some point.... not picture worthy.

As we crossed SR 23 on Peach I stopped to take a picture of this sign...   Syd..here ya go girl!

Upon turning onto Kern road... we noticed some really awesome looking hens and unique roosters hanging out in someones yard.  They were having a great time eating their breakfast.  If you take a look at a zoomed in view of the course you'll see roads that we passed such as Strawberry, above mentioned Peach, Peppermint and Orange.  I'm curious as to the history of the street names in this area. We also passed a really cool turn of the century cemetery as well.  Found some headstones with births in the late 1800's.... I would have taken a picture except I thought it would be rude.  They were all in fairly good shape and still able to be read which was really neat.  After this Kern road will now be referred to as Killer Kern Rd as we started up long steady hills with short decline.   The only positive by now was the wind was barely noticeable.  So for about 2 miles we spent most of the time climbing a hill.  Nearing the end of our mileage for the day Amy and I spotted an Indiana iconic site- basketball hoop on a barn.  Because we were short on time we didn't play a whole game of HORSE- so we played PAFF-haha.  I won!

A few minutes behind the front group when Amy and I arrived back at Comfort Suites we were greeted by them and the very friendly staff working here.  We even got one of them to take a few photos of us in the lobby.  As we wandered back out to go retrieve the vehicles at the starting point it was drizzling.  We had beaten the rain!  What a great feeling.

We are halfway in and we are still moving pretty well.  No injuries to mention and no blisters or chaffing.

We are still in the 219 in spirit at least. 

Heading off to dinner and a giant bowl of well earned pasta..... check back with you all tomorrow!!!!

Day 4: East LaPorte to W. Laporte.... AKA red barn to red barn

End of Day 4...we are feeling good!

Today's run brought all three of us meeting at Family Express off of Rt 2 just outside of LaPorte proper and taking a bit of time to drop a car on the west side of LaPorte. I observed that we were running from one corn field to the next. Kearney's route did a nice job keeping us in a straight line.

Parking my car literally in a corn field...we took off around 11:30 this morning headed east.  We quickly entered into LaPorte and roads that Kearney and I observed we have run races on prior.  After passing Soldiers Memorial Park we wandered through the streets of LaPorte running past some beautiful churches and a family celebrating Christmas early.  It was a relief getting out of the stop and go traffic of LaPorte...and headed out to county roads.  We all have trained on county roads at some sort in our training so it was nice just to go and not worry about cars running stop signs or lights too much.  Much of our conversation today centered around Christmas traditions and what we had left to do for the upcoming holiday. Kearney shared with us his travels on Saturday.... he drove nearly the miles we are running across the state. He reported a lovely holiday with his family he was visiting.

We had some visitors of a different nature today... furry animals.  From the most popular dogs to horses to cows and even a caterpillar still crawling around on the side of the road.  Around mile 6 I found a friend of a different nature.  When Kearney forwards me the picture...you will see why our pause at the mile 6 mark was one of my favorites today.

As I mentioned above dogs were frequent sights in people's yards. Most were restrained by invisible fencing, however we did have a scary occurrence with one pooch.  Thankfully Kearney and Milligan were there and screamed and yelled at the menacing dog that was nearly attacking us.  As we continued down the street I cautiously peered over my shoulder hopeful that he remained in his yard.


The last five miles or so consisted of several long hills.  At one of them was a dairy farm..and boy you sure could smell it.  I wanted to jump over the fence and go pet the cows as they were fairly close.  About a mile down the road Milligan attempted his horse whispering skills and attempted to convinces two horses he would make a great visitor for them....  their food was more appealing.

The  end of our run resulted felt like a blessing from our guardian angels...the overcast sky parted enough to allow the sun to shine down on us today...it was so warm and wonderful to finish with such a sight.  My colleagues decided that looking into the sun and taking our post run photo was a great plan...so ya got the someone passed gas look from me...really.... I'm just trying my best not to squint.

Walking back to the corn field we dropped Kearney's car off...we were greeted by a kind man-Dennis- his two dogs were not shy either coming to check us out.  While we were explaining to our new acquaintances our goal the sheriff pulled up and we realized we might have gotten some vehicles tagged....

Fortunately no worries... both vehicles were A-OK.  We will be parking in front of our new friend's red barn tomorrow.

Stay tuned.... ya never know what kind of trouble the three of us will find tomorrow.....