START TIME: 6:15 AM 
END TIME: 9:30 PM
Today, Jen did something no one else on an AT speed record attempt has EVER done before. Not Warren. Not Horton. Not Pete Palmer. Not Andrew Thompson. Not Karl. All of those guys are AMAZING hikers, but none of them has ever . . . ever . . . taken a pregnancy test.
That’s right. Jen woke up at 4:45 this morning and for the 3rd day in a row, she felt queasy. Like “morning sickness” queasy. We went out to the trail a little after 5, but she felt so sick that she decided to go back to the lodge and sleep an extra hour.
I was a little worried. The queasiness could have been from the 5 consecutive 50+ mile days or it could have been from the intense heat two days ago. Or it could have been something we ate. Or from the hotel room itself. Because I felt a little queasy, too. Or it could have been that she was pregnant.
So Horton picked up a kit on the way to the trail and she took it at the second road crossing. You’ll be happy to know (all of you except our parents) that the stick said “not pregnant.” Jen said that’s probably the last time she’ll be happy to find that out. At least until we’re, like, 50 or something.
Because of the late start and especially because of the queasiness, I wasn’t sure if she would get many miles in today. But she started feeling better as the day progressed. One thing that helped a TON was that she had a record “bear” day.
During her first thru-hike in 2005, Jen didn’t see any bears. During her 2008 record attempt, she saw thirty of them. And today alone, she saw 14! Horton couldn’t believe it. Several times she saw a momma bear with two cubs. Once she saw a daddy bear by himself and another time she saw a couple of older siblings with no momma. It really encouraged her to see all wildlife, and I guess it reinforces the fact that there are TONS of animals in Shenandoah National Park, which kind of makes sense because probably no other national park is as surrounded by humans as SNP, so the animals have nowhere else to go.
FOOD: Horton got a couple of stuffed crust pizzas from Pizza Hut. I was skeptical (just like I was skeptical when he brought the McGriddles from McDonald’s. A sandwich made of pancakes? Please . . .), but it was actually very good. We also enjoyed blackberry milkshakes and my friend Miles’s famous cookies (he sent 5 or 6 dozen) in addition to the usual fare. Jen continues to get as many liquid calories as possible from smoothies, protein shakes, fruit juices, ice cream, chocolate milk, you name it. She’s at the point where she gags whenever she starts eating solid foods at the road crossings, so she’s much happier when she doesn’t have to chew.