Today was hard.

I'm gonna go ahead and say it. Today was hard. Today it was suggested we walk 17. Because of where we met, we either had to do 18, or less than 17. I feel like once you get that high in numbers, why not walk 18?? We did.

It was tough.

I hurt.

Something's going on with my toe. It's like a callous over a blister. After the walk tomorrow (13), I'll work on doctoring it up. Maria gave me a pumice-pop-vinegar-Neosporin trick to try. It's mainly bothersome right now.

10 people and 1 dog started the walk. The dog wasn't going to go the whole walk (which I'm glad that poor thing didn't have to!) and his owner and her friend stopped at some point.

It was a good group. There was awhile that I was the slowest one in the gang. There were times, fairly early on in our 6 hour walk that I didn't know how the hell my body was going to go on.

There were times I was closer to the front--never as far up as the power-walkers Karla and Barb, but they had stuff to do. There were times that I felt pretty good.

There were times it was super hot, sun beating down.

Today was the first day in a while that I really felt like I was training on a different level. Even when I bumped up to 11 or 12 miles, that didn't feel awful. It was tougher, yes, but not like this. This really felt like something different.

But, if I've done this, I can do it all. During The Walk, we may or may not walk 20 in a particular day. Eighteen is the highest we go during training. I can't go back now. I've done it all.

Course the trick now is doing this three days in a row.

Not that that will be a problem.

Today was hard, but I'm proud. I'm proud that the 8 of us did it, all at our own paces. We cheered each other on, we encouraged each other, we walked side by side.

And the migas tacos and black beans and avocado and fruit and coffee and hibiscus mint tea sure were delicious. Thank you, Kerbey. I ate every single bite.