I thought yesterday was hot! Today was even hotter. I had a delayed start (9 am) to having a really bad headache. Once I was only in a bit of pain I was on my way. My head was so bad that I couldn’t even stand having my iPod switched on.
I felt a little better after the first climb and then even more so after talking to Katy and Jack. As an added bonus I was also able to talk to my Aunty Joyce and her daughters Deb and Joanne. It’s great to hear familiar voices when you’re running in the middle of nowhere.
This ended up being a very challenging and interesting day where I was either running up or down hill. The scenery was breathtaking and the day could be summed up in a series of 6 climbs and descents. Each one was a challenge especially given the high temperature of 28 degrees Celsius. As soon as I reached the summit of one climb, the next descent and climb would be revealed. And again, and again, and so on……
Fortunately, the roads were extremely quiet and I was mainly able to concentrate on pushing up the climbs and not wholly on watching for traffic.
I received a text message from Shelli who had been talking to a passing State Police Officer. He had warned her to be on the look out for huge white sheep dogs. These animals are the size of a small horse apparently and are trained to fend off Coyotes, humans and so on from the flock. I never saw any sheep never mind their guardians today but I will continue to be on my guard over the next few days.
I passed through the 1000 mile point after lunch. As soon as I knew I had done 1000 miles my thoughts immediately turned to the next 550 and the halfway point of the run. That will be a more significant milestone for me as, in my mind, I’ll be over the “hump” of the run and on the homeward stretch.
Kirsty joined me at the 20 mile point for the last few miles. I only managed one climb before “hitting the wall”. The fact that I had very little during to eat during the day had left me with zero energy. I got to the 27.5 mile point before loading up with sugary food in the RV.
I felt much better after the impromtu feast and Shelli joined me for the last 2 miles. We reached the overnight RV stop in Maybell and I had managed to run 29.65 miles on what had been a very difficult day.
