On the 9th we started our running from Zion National Park in Utah at 3 am. I was up last and ran the last shift from 7:45 - 8:55. As my first run at noticeable altitude, it took me 5 miles of thinking 'wow...I am tired today', to finally put one and one together. This combined with some relaxing in the sun over the last 4 days and getting in about 2-3hr sleeping shifts, I was looking forward to our change to the day shift and running from 9am-3pm. With our change in shift our team had a 24hr period between running and it just so happened that Taeko and I were at the same hotel for the first time in 6 days. With some fantastic news of us being finally put on the same team in the next few days and with the 9 hr sleep I had, I decided to do another 20mile shift on the 10th. It worked out that the scenery, heat and altitude were just aspects of life that I soaked up. With my first 10 miles in 1:02:00 at an altitude of 6000+ feet, I then ran the next 10 with my team mate Simon and we finished the 20 miles in 2:01:00. Up next... my first visit to Moab. Stay tuned!!!

Poem of the day:

Although amazing scenery flashing in our dreams
being masked in the darkness we could feel each
time the cut from our weathered thoughts
rip into walls of redness and pillars of stone
Only then could the fleeting moment eternally last
and extraordinarily be seen in the stars
when we closed our eyes to simply appreciate
shining down.