Running the White Rim-Day 3...Murphy's Hogback to Airport...

Day 3 was a personal best for me. Believe it or not, I had never before run 26 miles. I hiked with Hal for 40 miles on the Kokopelli Trail last year, but this day was my first time running the full marathon distance, after two back-to-back 20 mile days! And we wonder why people call us crazy!?
26.4 miles, and six hours after we left Murphy's Hogback, we arrived at our Airport campsite.


The start of the day...

Fortunately the terrain was mostly flat and rolling, only gaining 1,600 feet of elevation over 26 miles. Miraculously our legs felt better, and descending and squatting down weren't as painful.
All was well as we ran along for the first half of the day. We even passed by numerous of my new favorite flowers, sego lilies.


Sego lilies... The Utah State Flower!

As the clouds melted away and the sun came out, my high spirits began to evaporate. Negative little demon thoughts began infiltrating my previously positive outlook.
"My legs ache, it's so hot out here, my hydration pack is heavy and hurting my shoulders, my feet are sore, the desert looks the same, I'm hungry..." and on and on.
Hal tried to lighten my mood by pointing out that we could be inside a cubicle, behind a desk, but that sounded better than running. Actually, anything sounded better than running!

I sometimes wonder if people assume that these adventures of ours are easy for us, because we do them so often. Well, this one sure pushed my limits. At the time, when it's happening, it's uncomfortable and seems as if the pain will never end. But now, I'm so glad we did it. I guess that's why we keep doing it, because the sense of accomplishment when we're back on the other side is so gratifying. But this run put me on my knees.

When we rolled into camp that night, I had to excuse my cranky self from setting up tents and go and sulk in Judi's Jeep while the wind roared outside. Emerging almost two hours later, I felt rested enough to be civil. Thanks to everyone at camp for letting me be and not hassling me!
And thanks to Hal for being the super trooper by running with me the whole way, smiling the entire time, and then helping everyone else set up camp when we finished the 26 miles!!!

After our cold solar shower, I pulled off my socks to find these beauties...

Note the big blister forming on the right side of my big toe!

The 'pearl onion' looking blister on my middle toe!

Funny thing was, I didn't even know I had blisters at all until I took my socks off! Ignorance is bliss...Of course, once I was barefoot, all I could do was think about how uncomfortable the blisters made me-ha!

Once again, the wind died down around 8pm and we were able to have dessert and watch the stars come out. Sleep was fast coming as we lay down in the tent, only one day away from the finish...