Planning/ Preparation for the AT Runventure Project

Celia and I have been chomping at the bit for 2021 to come! Now that it's here we're in training season. We knew in October when we wanted to being the Appalachian Trail down in GA (Due to the restrictions and lack of known details, people, comforts, etc...involved in starting up in Maine) and that for us to take on this huge running project that we'd need to spend the end of the year, 2020, taking care of ourselves. For Celia, who was not broken by S.C.A.R she was able to ramp up miles and hold steady getting stronger. For me, however, after running the double S.C.A.R I had developed some achilles bursitis and that required 6 weeks of time off running and then I'd promised myself a solid "off" season. So January 1, 2021 meant "Go Time" finally.

At this point we' decided we'd start in GA and cover the first 85miles to knock out the state and then 6 or so more miles to get to the nearest place a car could pick us up. Beyond that we'd decided on which satellite phone would be most appropriate and that's about it. 
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A few weeks into the new year we set the start date, we've acquired remaining gear needs and talked endlessly about training for running with 10-15bs on our backs for 4-5 days every 3 weeks for the next 8 months. We have both decided we want this to be significantly bigger than ourselves. We want this adventure to reach as many people as possible. We're reaching out to our connections to be able to fundraise for Soles 4 Souls,  an amazing company that collects used and worn shoes/ clothing to support the economy in areas of poverty here in the United States and abroad.  We are working making a Vlog on YouTube to share and eventually when we finally complete this project we'd like this to be a documentary.
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February is half way complete and training is actually just about finished, short and sweet as we work to build our ability to manage long slow back to back to back miles. The whether here in Maryland has not been cooperating with my training plans as much as I'd like, but I feel ready. So does Celia. We are actually putting more energy into building even more connections to ramp up our fundraising game, advance our social media, video and sharing skills so we can get this info out!

I love to write but finding the time and motivation doesn't come easily. I want to get this posted before March gets here:

We'll be hiking the first 8 miles, the Approach trail on Friday evening of March 26, 2021. Celia's family is going feed us and help us to camp out near Springer mtn. In the early hours of March 27, 2021 Celia and I will get up, eat, and head out on the first 85.0 mile section. We'll take some video clips, and we'll be doing some Cartwheels4aCause based on how much we manage to fundraise in the first month of our campaign. We hope to finish nice and early on Sunday and share the details with you all as soon as we can!