Back-to-Back

This past weekend was the biggest "Back-to-Back" before the event. Back-to-Backs are 2 long distance walks on consecutive days. Sat I walked 18 miles and 16 miles on Sunday!!! A total of about 14-15 hours of walking in a 30 hour timeframe.

Sat I walked with one other 3-Dayer and really enjoyed it. We walk the same pace, have the same break motto - few & quick breaks - and the 18 miles *flew* by. Not to mention, she pushed me on for the last few miles when my feet were simply hurting! In total we finished in 7 hours 15 minutes. So pretty much close to an entire day of work! Only problem was I got my 1st Blister. It's on my heel, and it's my fault. I used moleskin (an adhesive padding to PREVENT blisters) on my heels for protection. I've been doing this for months w/ great results. Sat I didn't apply it well and the creases I created in the moleskin gave me blisters on my heels. They're pretty mild and should heel soon.

Sunday I walked with another group of 6 which was fun to chat with. It reached 91 degrees in the city. Special thanks to the bank (about mile 12) which had a sprinkler running in their recently paved parking lot to keep it from cracking. We had fun cooling down in the sprinkler for a few minutes! Due to the heat, the rest of the group decided to skip a BIG hill and only walk about 13.5 miles. But not me. I went on my own up Summit Ave (1/2 mile long hill straight up) huffing and puffing the whole way. But what a great sense of accomplishment when I got to the top! Then walked the last few miles solo to hit the 16 mile mark!!! :-)