Updates from the Great Lung Runner Herself.

What a day! I covered another 33 miles in Oklahoma and ended the afternoon only 23 miles from the New Mexico State Line! I am very, very excited to officially make it out of Oklahoma tomorrow afternoon. The day was full of other highlights that I will share. 

I started off the morning feeling great, aside from some tight shoulders (the result of wearing my backpack and getting dehydrated while I am running). It has been so interesting to note very slight differences in how my legs feel everyday, at any given time while I am running. Today was a good day because my legs felt great and I was able to go a little faster than usual. I say faster, but keep in mind the fastest I go these days is still only 6 mph. Not the speed  am used to from my pre-GLR running days. 

About 4 hours into my run, after a cool morning and great start to the day, I had another awesome experience. I noticed a group of people, vans, and bikes stopped on the side of the road in Oklahoma. Keep in mind, there is literally nothing else to see - not a town, a store, or even a Church. It was just me, the cars, and endless fields in every direction for the whole day. I gave a wave and asked if they were cycling across the country. They were and when I told them I was running across the country, they insisted I stop to chat and take come pictures. I love the instant bond that exists between people taking part in almost any active endeavor. They were a good sized group cycling with Trek Travel from Santa Barbara, CA to Charleston, NC. As we took pictures and I told them my name, story, website, etc one of the cyclists came up to me, said my name and then introduced himself (unnecessarily) as Tom Krummel. Tom and his wife are dear friends of my parents who also live in California. We embraced, laughed and caught up. It was to the surprise of everyone that two people who actually knew each other would happen to cross paths along the most random road in Oklahoma. Meeting the folks traveling with Trek Travel simply made my day. 

I continued on as I still had a few miles to cover before meeting up with Sydney. The last couple hours were really hot and dry, I stress the hot. Also, as an added bonus, it seemed the flies really came out to play just as I was losing the high of meeting the Trek Travel group and as the temperatures seemed to rise with every mile. Luckily, Sydney passed me in the car not too long after and I got to ditch my backpack and grab a quick sip of cold water before finishing the last mile. THEN, of course, about 1/4 mile from the car I took my first fall of the entire trip so far. I full on tripped and somersaulted on the asphalt (into the road, luckily at a time when no cars were coming). It was embarrassing, but considering Sydney didn't even see me and there was not another live creature in sight, I didn't feel too bad. 

Well, those are the highlights for today. Tomorrow we officially cross into New Mexico and will have covered over 1,800 miles!

Top left: some Trek Travel cyclists; Top right: Tom Krummel;
Bottom: October 2, 2012 sunrise in Oklahoma