Day 31: Mom Tricked Me. And Some Great News Tonight!!

I want to first say how excited I am to hear the news that our soldiers have finally got Osama Bin Laden!! It has given me such an immediate boost, I feel like I could run another 20 miles right now. I just want to take another opportunity to thank all the men and women who have served, or are currently serving in the military. This news is a great reminder of just exactly why I am doing this run. When I heard this news, I immediately thought of my military friends, Mike Snyder, Caleb Nichols, Mike King, Sam McClung, Jason Woods, Matt Thomas, Ben Goodson, and the rest of my military buddies. I get a great sense of pride knowing these guys, and what they have done for this country.
Now, as for the run today, all was well once again. My body is still feeling pretty strong, other than the soreness in the bottoms of my feet and my lower back. Nothing I can't handle though. The weather continues to amaze me out here. Still beautiful, and actually a little cooler than I would even prefer today. Mom called me during my second 4 miles to see if an extra mile in the set would be okay since she couldn't find a place to stop. I was feeling good, so I said no problem. When I finished the 5 mile run, I told her it felt like I had gone farther than 9 miles already, as I try to keep track of the mile markers when I can. It was then that she informed me that I had actually ran an extra half mile during the first 4, and she was planning on just not telling me. So, I had actually already completed 9.5 miles in the first 2 sets. The last 4 miles in the morning set were really grueling, specifically the last 1.5 miles. It was a nasty incline all the way to the vehicles. Luckily, Adam had rejoined the roadcrew by then and decided to ride the mountainbike down the hill to meet me. I can imagine how much fun it was to coast down the mountain, but he sure did suffer for it on the way back up. It was very nice for me though to have company to distract me from the pain being inflicted on my legs by the mountain.
After a great, and lengthy rest period, I had just 6.5 miles remaining in the day. Dare I say it was kind of easy. I guess easy isn't really the word, just more relaxing than anything. Mostly downhill, and relaxing. Today's run took me into the town of Superior, Arizona, a very interesting little town. Adam once again put us up in a hotel for the night, first time I've ever seen a 3-twin bed hotel room. We took a drive after the run to scope out tomorrow's run. We made it 11 miles in and I am now very freaked out about tomorrow, haha. The elevation in Superior is 2,800 feet, and in the first 11 miles, I will run uphill to 4,600 feet. I am already missing the flatland of Phoenix.
Unfortunately, Adam has to head back to the airport tomorrow morning, so he won't be able to see the misery that inevitably will be my life for the first 11 miles tomorrow. It has been so great having him out here for these few days though. It has been exactly what I needed to keep me from getting too homesick. It just goes to show just how great my friends are. I am so lucky to be surrounded by some of the greatest friends anyone could have.
Better get some rest now, got a very rough run ahead of me first thing in the morning. Hopefully I can keep the feeling I have right now and carry it over to tomorrow's run. Night all.