I’m back on the white line. Safe at home there is comfort, routine, and complacency. But out here, that’s all replaced by the unknown and surprise. Your best laid plans fall completely apart. That thing you’ve been dreaming of for hours is nowhere to be found when you finally reach the store. Or worse yet, the store is closed altogether.
But out here there is also adaptation, flexibility, and lessons in patience. There is great discomfort, but in that discomfort there is also growth. There is the waitress at the Linwood Cabin who greeted me enthusiastically when I walked in the door; “Is it today?!? I knew it had to be coming up soon! How many are running this year?!? Is anyone else close?!?”.
There is the UPS driver who’s route includes a long section of M13. He honks like crazy each time he passes one of us in support.
There is the chocolate milkshake that is waiting for me at Rita’s Twisty Freeze; my reward for reaching the point where the white line finally ends in Standish.
But just a few hundred yards up the road it begins again. The white line never really ends. It just keeps going and going, leading you to nothing. And at the same time, it leads me to everything I need.
Day 1 – 42.13 Miles
11:06:51
❤