Sarah,

I am so proud of you!! I hope my experiences helped you a little bit. I _loved_ your report! You're right, they can never be too long!! My favorite parts were "I am so mistaken that it's not funny" which I experienced on my 200k, and the part about the last four hours, where you alternate "okay" and "F@ck!" Don't say I didn't warn you!! I am glad that "it doesn't always get worse" held true for you. Man, it just brings back memories. When I was at my two-day 200 mile ride this weekend, I had this nightmare, Saturday night, about having signed up for another 600k, and I was thinking "It's too soon! What was I thinking! I am not ready for this! I don't want to do this again for another year!" My mom was mysteriously alive again in that dream.

Tell me, does the whole distance seem real to you, or is it all blended together in a series of short (seemingly long) segments, that you will never be able to join together in your mind as a whole?

Well, there's one more innocent victim out there that I know of, just getting ready to start the series...She knows who she is. She'd better be posting some great reports, the kind that you have to print out!

And hey, did you register for Furnace Creek? You will be the Goddess of
Ultramarathon Cycling, in my mind, when you complete that ride. I only wish I could be there...

Nanci

PS- I knew you could do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!