Day 22: Awesomeness!

First let me say that my aircard for the computer isn't working, so I'm doing this from my phone. The title of the blog is definitely how the run turned out today. I knew the first 10 miles was to be a gradual downhill run all the way into Wickenburg, AZ, so I was ready for that. I was not prepared for the pain that suddenly started in my right hip. After 4 miles of every other step hurting, I gave Mom my usual take on the start of the run. "I just wish that one damn day, I could run without something hurting!", I proclaimed loudly to her. I tend to get a little self-righteous in face of adversity from time to time. I was just hoping for it to go numb for the next 8 miles. The good thing about it was that I occupied my mind so well by complaining in my head that those next 8 miles just breezed by. Downhill slopes plus great weather, and other than the hip, no pain to speak of. I broke for lunch at 2pm, and we drove back to the Best Western because the manager said we could relax there during my break. There have been some great people along this trip so far. I slept very well during the break, even deep enough to dream a bit. If only Jessica Biel were actually my girlfriend, as she was in the dream, haha.
As I was stretching for the afternoon run, I could tell that my energy was high and my body felt well rested. This was an exciting feeling, especially since I didn't know what road lay ahead. I soon found out that what the road offered was 8 straight miles of uphill, out of the valley that Wickenburg was in. That didn't bother me this afternoon, actually, nothing did. I felt so good that I came out of the gate running fast and never let up. All 8 miles uphill, and I just kept running fast. Part of me thought, "maybe I should slow down and save some". But, there have been so few times early in this journey that I have felt this good running, and I was going to take full advantage of the feeling. I finished the 8 miles uphill in just under 1 hour and 30 minutes, which is an average of just over 10 minutes a mile. That's a pretty good pace for a 210 lb. man to run after already running 12 miles. It got me thinking that I really wish I was down around 170 lbs. 'cause this would be a heck of a lot easier, haha. But I didn't sign up for this because it was going to be easy. What a great feeling to finish the day. A great sense of accomplishment. Another small victory early in the journey.
We stopped at the Morristown Fire Station to ask if there were any camping places nearby. Let me tell you all, if everyone else we meet on this trip is as wonderful as these firemen, what a trip it will be! First, they offered to let us stay in their parking lot. Then, they offered to let me shower. Then they offered to let us use their kitchen to cook dinner. Then, they helped mom clean her dishes. They also offered us ice, and told us to use the station anytime throughout the night if we needed. Finally, a couple of them even donated to the charity. I am just blown away by the generosity of these men and women. I will post a pic of them when I get the computer working. In the meantime, I definitely wanted to recognize them by name on here. So a big thanks to the men and women of the Morristown Fire Dept. Especially Marlin Nightengale, Adam Tharp and Jason Palmer. Feeling very good all around after day 22. Hopefully there are many more days like this ahead.