Day 329 Wittenberg to Wausau WI. – 30 Miles

8/5/2014

My lifeless body remained unresponsive to my commands. My mind fully conscious mind couldn’t will my muscles to lift a finger. Perhaps the bed at the Best Western was just too comfortable. I felt like I was sleeping on a giant marshmallow. It was Crystal that managed to coax me out of bed. The soft whisper of, “Breakfast is about to end” was like a little charge of electricity that ran through my synapses. It was happy to feed the machine that would carry me 30 miles on the day.

I had good news from an old friend and avid ultrarunner. He was only an hour away from my location. He had just arrived in Wisconsin and was looking to join me on the trails. Unfortunately we were unable to sync our schedules for the day. Perhaps it would happen another time.

I was reluctant to leave the comforts of the hotel and I waited till the last minute to check out. I wore some warm gear to hit the trail. I could feel the tiny pebbles of rock shift under my steps. They made little crunching noises that I tried to conduct into a steady beat. The trail was my orchestra and I would compose my symphony. There were sounds that were constant like locusts but contained the reverberating sound of grass hoppers. The length of the MountainBay trail ran for almost 100 miles. My day was set. Every couple miles the trail would open up to a small town. The places were all quiet and the industry was lumber and farming. The sight of corn fields hidden behind large Christmas trees seemed out of place until I thought about the amount of corn consumed in our country.

A few miles before I reached the halfway point for the day, Crystal prepared me a lunch and I fell to sleep for my customary midday recuperation session. Somehow I dozed off until three thirty. I jumped out of the bed and into my shoes. I was careful not to make any noise so that Crystal would remain undisturbed and I bolted.

The dark clouds threatened rain but nothing fell. It did however keep me running in cool temperatures until the town of Weston. There, I literally hit the end of the road. A couple yards of weeds greeted me at the end of the trail. The gravel connected with the pavement and I was running on streets again. The roads took me into the city of Wausau. I ran over a bridge and I reached my destination for the day. I took a minute to photograph the water with sun in the background. It was time replenish my nutrients, think blank thoughts, and rest so that I could do it all again the next day.