I'm happy to report that, for once, everybody was up on time to get the run underway at 06:30 am. Almost sticking to my new plan I managed to do the last few miles (17) in Colorado by midday. Those last few miles, incidentally, involved one of the straightest, longest and flattest stretches of road that I have ever seen (pictured below).
There was a very gusty wind today and other than a 2 mile stretch it was right on my back pushing me out of Colorado and into Kansas.
As soon as I reached the Colorado / Kansas border at 17 mile point the time on my GPS watch swept forward one hour. This served as a timely reminder that I was entering the 3rd time zone of this run and, moreover, that I would be losing an hour of sleep tonight!
The Support Team and I stopped for some photos on the border. I then had a very quick lunch break, scoffing down some tuna and pasta made by Shelli.
As soon as I started running again I noticed just how different Kansas looked in comparison to Eastern Colorado. I'm still racking my brains as to why this was the case. Perhaps it was the fantastic cloud formations.
I finished the second section of the run (12.5 miles) just after 5 pm. By this time the wind had died down slightly and in it's place was glorious hot sunshine. It was just the ticket after yesterday's horrible weather. The team and I went for a burger in St Francis which was delicious. I had sweet potato fries with mine. I'm sending Shelli on a shopping mission tomorrow to find sweet potato!
Shelli accompanied me for the final 5 miles where we were chased by a big black dog. Instead of my usual sprint away I confronted it with a loud voice in a low register. If anyone has ever seen the Monty Python sketch "I wish to report a burglary" you'll know just how I spoke to it. The deeper my voice got the more afraid the dog became. It turned and ran home eventually. After 52 days of running away from those critters I now have a tactic that seems to work. Hopefully!
I managed to run a total of 34.5 miles today giving a total of 1435 miles overall. I've got to follow this up with similar distances between now and the end of June. The mileage deficit is a tough burden to carry. The 4 days that I'm behind need to become 3 before I leave Kansas. Then I'll work on getting it down to 2 days behind in Missouri. I have 2 contingency days planned on days 98 and 99. Looks like I'll need to use them to get right back on schedule. There is so little margin for error and further delay now.
It's almost midnight now as I finish catching up with my blog. It's almost 11 some 18 miles away back in Colorado. I hope this time zone is easier to adjust to than the last one. It may only be 1 hour difference but it really played havoc last time. Lights out! Up in 6 hours to do it all again!
I managed to run a total of 34.5 miles today giving a total of 1435 miles overall. I've got to follow this up with similar distances between now and the end of June. The mileage deficit is a tough burden to carry. The 4 days that I'm behind need to become 3 before I leave Kansas. Then I'll work on getting it down to 2 days behind in Missouri. I have 2 contingency days planned on days 98 and 99. Looks like I'll need to use them to get right back on schedule. There is so little margin for error and further delay now.
It's almost midnight now as I finish catching up with my blog. It's almost 11 some 18 miles away back in Colorado. I hope this time zone is easier to adjust to than the last one. It may only be 1 hour difference but it really played havoc last time. Lights out! Up in 6 hours to do it all again!
