Day 14: Salt Lake City, UT to Pocatello, ID (Saturday, June 28)
Distance traveled: 166 miles
Personal running distance today: 5 miles
Total personal miles to-date: 98 miles
Today's dedications: Charlie and Delia Lamb
My running buddy: Mo
Weather: Sunny, 70s/80s
Today started out with me waking up with searing pain in my right hip. If you've been following along, I've mentioned in previous posts about my hip bothering me. I've always had trouble with my hip flexors since I started running my freshman year of college. Often times, it's just strained from overuse or under-stretching, both of which are happening on this trip. We log TONS of miles each day and week, and often times I haven't had time to stretch after each leg of my run (shame on me, I need to be better). So, all of this is adding up and really troubling my right hip flexor.
Today the pain was so bad that even walking was hard. I was paired up with Mo today, who is also having some leg issues, so together, we took a very slow and steady pace...and mostly walked the entire way. We were in Team 2 today, though it didn't matter because the roads were hard to plan routes on, so we found a stretch that Team 1 and 2 could both do their miles on. Each team member was supposed to knock out 14 miles today, but because of me and Mo's issues, we only made it to 5 miles and decided it would be safer to save our legs and try and heal/rest up.
However, we can't complain about spending part of the day driving the vans, because the views were stunning. Utah continued to be gorgeous as always, but as we discovered, Idaho is totally an underrated state. This is one more shot from Utah before we left:
Distance traveled: 166 miles
Personal running distance today: 5 miles
Total personal miles to-date: 98 miles
Today's dedications: Charlie and Delia Lamb
My running buddy: Mo
Weather: Sunny, 70s/80s
Today started out with me waking up with searing pain in my right hip. If you've been following along, I've mentioned in previous posts about my hip bothering me. I've always had trouble with my hip flexors since I started running my freshman year of college. Often times, it's just strained from overuse or under-stretching, both of which are happening on this trip. We log TONS of miles each day and week, and often times I haven't had time to stretch after each leg of my run (shame on me, I need to be better). So, all of this is adding up and really troubling my right hip flexor.
Today the pain was so bad that even walking was hard. I was paired up with Mo today, who is also having some leg issues, so together, we took a very slow and steady pace...and mostly walked the entire way. We were in Team 2 today, though it didn't matter because the roads were hard to plan routes on, so we found a stretch that Team 1 and 2 could both do their miles on. Each team member was supposed to knock out 14 miles today, but because of me and Mo's issues, we only made it to 5 miles and decided it would be safer to save our legs and try and heal/rest up.
However, we can't complain about spending part of the day driving the vans, because the views were stunning. Utah continued to be gorgeous as always, but as we discovered, Idaho is totally an underrated state. This is one more shot from Utah before we left:
Additionally, when we were still in Idaho, we had discovered a field of horses that were the friendliest horses I've ever met. In true 4K fashion, we cannot pass up an animal photo-op, so we snapped a few photos with our four-legged friends.
The most fun part of our day was actually with our other Team 2 van waiting on Team 1 to finish up their miles. We had finished early (mostly because a lot of our team was sore and not finishing all 14 miles), so we wanted to wait for Team 1 before we went to the Idaho state sign to get a big team photo. So, we pulled into a gravel lot near the interstate entrance...and had a massive dance party. For at least 45 minutes. And it was AWESOME. I'm pretty sure we all laughed too much and screamed/yelled too loudly, but we were having a blast. Finally, we got the team back together and arrived in IDAHO!
We drove the rest of the way to Pocatello, ID, where our host was. We were so pleased that Turner House at Idaho State University offered to house and feed us for free! I loved the feeling of being back in a college residence hall. Patty was my roommate for the night. The residence hall was great; a warm welcome, plenty of showers, dinner and breakfast served in the dining hall...too perfect.
Today was Kenzie's 23rd birthday, so a bunch of us went out for a beer and dessert at a local brewery/restaurant owned by a woman, so of course I loved it. She's living my dream! We went to Portneuf Valley, and I had a dark Midnight Satin beer. Yummy! To top it off, there was live music playing upstairs, and it was a great local band. Once we returned to the residence hall, we were all pretty exhausted, so Patty and I are heading to bed.
Tomorrow we get to "sleep in" until 6:00 a.m., our latest wake-up yet!!!! The dining hall is providing us breakfast at 6:30 a.m., so we get a little extra time in the morning. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Then, we will be making our way out of lovely Idaho and into Wyoming! Jackson Hole, here we come!
Run happy,
Natalie
Tomorrow we get to "sleep in" until 6:00 a.m., our latest wake-up yet!!!! The dining hall is providing us breakfast at 6:30 a.m., so we get a little extra time in the morning. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Then, we will be making our way out of lovely Idaho and into Wyoming! Jackson Hole, here we come!
Run happy,
Natalie