After a decent night's sleep in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park the day started with a break from the norm as I had a bowl of "Wheaties - breakfast of champions". They gave me just about enough energy for 3 miles of running. I'm not so sure what kind of champions they are supposed to service. It'll be back to the usual bowl of porridge tomorrow morning.
It was very foggy at the start of the run but the sun soon burned it away. Once again, I started the run with multiple layers of clothing such was the low temperature.
The scenery in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park was stunning and there were quite a few people on Quad Bikes driving on the dunes. I had a bowl of pasta and porridge (not together!) at the 7 mile point which stood me in good stead for the next 10 miles.
Comedy Jon parked the RV at the top of a steep climb at the 17 mile point. The team had been busy washing and drying my clothes. Wee Kirsty supervised the drying process while taking in some sun. It was at this point that I had some more pasta. I then had what I like to call a "tactical snooze". I always feel a lot better after one of these and it showed in my running in the final session of the day.
The final session of the day saw a drop from 5900 ft down to 5100 ft and then back up to 5800 ft. Comedy Jon managed to negotiate a cracking deal with the RV park and they haven't charged us for staying the night. A total of 30.3 miles were ran today and I'm now about 27 miles behind the planned schedule. I've got a 16 mile day next week where I'll be running 26 miles to cut the deficit even further.
The day ended with a vigorous massage on my calfs, feet and lower back from Wee Kirsty. She is changing strategy tomorrow morning with a "pre event stimulating massage". This is to try and get me properly warmed up and my muscles wakened earlier than usual on the run.
I'll close by thanking the kind folk who made a donation today as the charity fund burst through the £33,000 barrier (That's 53,600 US dollars). If you are enjoying reading the blog and think that my run across the USA is worthy of your sponsorship then I would appreciate it if you would consider using the following links to make a donation. Goodnight from Utah.
(St Benedict's Hospice)
(The Children's Foundation)
