Sunday, June 24, 2012

Days 25 and 26 - The Heat Is On

Day 25
Everyone who knows music from the mid-80s should be able to recall Glen Frey's hit The Heat Is On which appears to have also been one of the Beverly Hills Cop songs. Sorry, I don't remember the song being in the movie, but I remember Beverly Hills Cop to be a super movie. Well, it took 25 days for the temperature to reach the 80s on the run so no complaints - but we definitely felt the effect of the heat. I was in a great mood as we started the day as I was running better than I had since all the way back to the beginning of stage 15. Although the super scenery of the Montana Rockies was now behind us, the Big Sky state still provided plenty of views to enjoy. When I saw Heidi at mile 13 she told me that 13 cyclists who were biking from Seattle to New York City weren't far behind me. I was stoked - I looked forward to seeing the cyclists on the "lonely road".  The cyclists passed me shortly thereafter and "way to gos" were passed from the running side of the road to the cycling side of the road and vice versa. And just a couple minutes later I round a bend and I see Heidi parked on the running side of the road and the support van for the cyclists parked on the cycling side of the road. I enjoyed a few more minutes of talk with my fellow road warrior and it was time for all of us to continue down the road. One could say that the cyclists were now taking the lead for Justin, Jennifer, and myself to follow since we were all on the same route for the day. Just two miles later I took my first picture from the road with my cell phone that I have carried with me every day. I noted that the Old Milwaukee Road rail-bed rejoined the road and that a railroad trestle used many years ago had been severely damaged and left in place. I enjoyed the views of the old rail-bed with missing trestles for a good two miles before the left hamstring decided to give me fits. Yes, another "injury or overuse issue" to slow me. Stuff happens on the open road. Once again it was Advil and recovery cream to the rescue and I slowly returned to slow running while only slightly favoring the left leg again. Another point of note today was that I enjoyed passing through the small towns of Ryegate and Livonia. Love those old post offices!

Day 26
The weather forecast wasn't a good one for runners with the temperature to reach the high 90s. So one day after running for the first time in the 80s we would now run for the first time in the 90s. Thankfully, however, complete overcast kept the heat at bay for the first 15 miles or so - yeeeaaaahh!
All three of us started slowly this morning - Justin fighting off a left knee issue, Jennifer fighting off the heat, and myself with the left hamstring now my biggest complaint. Jennifer and I started running together at mile 4 since we were running the same pace and Justin wasn't too far ahead. At mile 8 Jennifer and I could see Justin ahead leaving Margaret and the "Scooby Van" (ie. Justin's van). Seeing Justin at mile 8 of a stage was a first for me since he is usually out of sight in minutes. Jennifer and I made good time despite the overuse injuries and heat up until mile 18 at which point a new left leg issue started to bother her. Still the miles rolled on and we were "quickly" (quickly is definitely a relative term here) into the final third of today's miles to run at which point my left hamstring decided it should bother me more. Bummer. Jennifer and I carried on with our overuse injuries together until mile 34 at which point I moved on at a slightly faster pace to the end. Justin picked up the pace for the day and - unfortunately - also ran some additional mileage do to a confusing intersection.
We passed the 1000 mile mark today!!! We celebrated the 1000 mile mark in the hotel with my favorite Whoppers and some iced chocolate chip cookies - yummmmmyyyy.
Broadview to Billings, MT 39.61 miles
Justin    7:58:33
Mike     9:02:26
Jennifer 9:10:00

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