Epilogue

7/30/2011

Nine pair of New Balance shoes, four hundred bottles of Powerade, two jugs of whey protein, three bottles of glucosamine, two bottles of multivitamins, a couple shirts, a bunch of socks, six tubes of sports cream, thirty pounds of epsom salt (lavendar and eucalyptus scented), one roadrunner hat, two armbands, two ipods, too many hotel breakfasts, fifteen states, several bridges, sixteen stops by the cops, three thousand two hundred and eighty-one miles, and couple thousand books. These are some of the stats and numbers of what I consumed on the trip.

Life changes after certain milestones. Often times we reach a destination only to find ourselves lost and disoriented. I try not to let that happen so I’m constantly planning my next step. But even the best laid plans have a tendency to go awry. The advice from my dearest friends and loved ones is to take time and decompress. Since you all know me so well, how likely do you think it is for me to sit still? I’m on day three of my holiday and I’m completely stir crazy. The nights following my arrival in Coney Island were sleepless. Perhaps it was the excitement of completing my mission. I think it’s because I can’t wait to begin putting together my next event. See, one of the objectives I set was to collect data and to see first hand what works. I wanted to see with my own eyes what America needs. I knew I would stumble and fall along the way but I was even more certain that I would get up stronger and wiser.

While I find myself planning grand things for the future, the mundane everyday chores decided to slap me in the face. The first of those chores was washing a super sized black trashbag full of dirty laundry. To be honest with you, it smelled putrid. It wasn’t as bad as the smell of rotting road kill but it certainly didn’t smell like roses. I put on a pair of jeans while doing the wash. I was suddenly hit by the fact that I didn’t need to put on my sports clothing. In fact, I didn’t soak my body in a hot tub to start the day. Alrealdy my routine is changing. I’m starting to realize just how abnormal my journey was. I guess I’m slowly waking from a dream. I can’t wait to get back to sleep!