Day 8 - 28.24 miles (Media day)

Over 200 miles complete (well, more like 228 miles complete!) Today started like most days...4am, breakfast by 4:30am, on the road and ready to start at 5:30am just outside of Osage. Another beautiful sunrise and within the first few minutes I broke through 200 miles!
Shortly after that (and a quick bathroom break (corn field)), my aunt Laurie showed up on her bike. It was nice to get to spend 5 miles with her as we went through my hometown, Osage.
Just outside of Osage at the "Four Mile Corner" we called my Grandma Niess and she brought out some of her cookies (which I ate most of them...THANKS!) The big surprise is that my my uncle Scott and Julie were also at the corner to cheer me on. It's always nice to see family along the way.
About that time Cheryl Jahnel from the Riceville newspaper was there to take pictures for an article that she was writing, right up the road from where I grew up. Very surreal and emotional to be running by where I grew up.
Of course, during all of this, I had been running really strong...beginning back in Osage. I hadn't been taking my walk breaks like I should and started to hit a low. And it was only mile 13. Not good!
The next few miles I seem to just stare down at the road, trying to disconnect my mind with my left foot. It wasn't very happy with all of the fast running I had just done. Don't blame it...it's been going for 200 miles! I pretty much stopped eating and just kept my head down and stayed focused on putting one foot in front of the other.
When we hit Riceville, KIMT Channel 3 (our local CBS station) was out to do an interview. That was a lot of fun. For a few miles beforehand, I had been thinking about what I would say. Of course the number one question is, WHY? There are so many answers to this question.
Because it's there.
It's cheaper and faster than running across the US. If I had it my way, I would be attempting that in the near future, but that's going to take a bit of sponsorship!
Why Not?
It was a lot of fun and I can't to see it.
It can be an emotional rollercoaster, this crazy running thing. I was watching some of the video we took tonight and the last aid station stop with 1.5 miles to go, I'm not there. You can look at my face and you can't see me. These are the times I am especially thankful for everyone that has helped crew me. I can't make decisions, I don't know what to ask for. I am completely mentally and physically drained and for some reason, have been able to find enough power to keep my legs moving forward. And fill up my bottles and somehow I take off for those last 1.5 miles. People ask me how I do it, how can someone run over a marathon a day for 11 days. I really don't know. Sometimes I don't know how I am able to run that last 1.5 miles. Determination. I think if you really want something, you can have it. And that really applies to everything in life.
I finished those last 1.5 miles in the slowest crawl of a walk.
But I finished the day and now, it's time for bed to see what tomorrow brings. Time to gather everything I got because my body is starting to say, Are we there yet?