We left Salt Lake for Moab at close to 6 pm last night. It took a long time to get down here, having stopped in Helper for 40 minutes to feed Jack and get a bite to eat for ourselves. We didn't eat very well, just sandwiches etc. Arrived in Moab at 10:30 pm. Sam and Kelli and their daughter, Samantha, were already asleep. Sam got up at 3:45 to head out to catch the bus to run the 50 miler today. His race started at 6am. So, as we speak, at 10:45 am, he has been running for 4.5 hours and probably has another 4-6 hours to go. They have a massive climb in the beginning and then the last half is fairly flat. I can't wait to hear his report. For myself, my plan was to head out for 18 miles, the last "long" run before SGM. The house where we're staying is out near the road that heads up to the Slickrock Trail. So, I ran out on the Mill Creek road, heading south, wondering how far I could go before running out of road. Turns out I could have gone a lot farther than I did. I had lots of company on the road since there was a 100 mile supported bike ride on the same road. I saw a couple of people that I know out there on the road. The run itself was fun. The road out had a nice little uphill grade that was easy, but still a climb. I finished the first nine miles in about 1:10. Then I turned around and had a nice cruise. The pace was faster but still easy. The last few miles were in the 6:20 range, with mile 18 in 6:04. Overall, I think this was a pretty quality run, not just because of the distance, but because I kept the effort more consistent over the distance than I have in my last couple of long runs. Ok, so time to start a little taper action. Hope the TOU runners had good races, I look forward to the reports. | 