Distance today = 55.03 km; Total distance = 5162.56 km; Location = San Luis – 37 11.864′ N, 105 25.567′ W; Start time = 0843, Finish time = 1653

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/169213352

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/169208135

The weather was perfect today – it made me remember why I’m doing this run.

Early on I passed 2000 miles run in the US. At the 26 km mark I crossed the border into Colorado. The girls dropped some lunch off for me on the side of the road at the 43 km mark – Beanie Weenies, a chocolate bar, and a coke. It might not score too highly on the nutritionists’ scale, but you have to take what you can get in the more remote parts.

This whole region that I’m running in at the moment is on a vast plateau known as the American Tibet. It’s essentially a huge flat plain situated about 8,000 feet above sea level, punctuated by peaks that reach into the sky as high as 14,000 feet or more. There are snow-capped mountains on the horizon in just about every direction.

Tonight I’m in the town of San Luis. It claims to be the oldest town in Colorado. There is no internet at the hotel, so I have had to go down the road and sit outside a café where there is a wireless signal. Once again, there are two Garmin files for the day.

Distance today = 51.28 km; Total distance = 5213.84 km; Location = Alamosa (15 km east of) – 37 28.469′ N, 105 42.139′ W; Start time = 0818, Finish time = 1558

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/169473866

When there’s a strong headwind blowing, it’s always better to be running than cycling. That’s how I felt this afternoon. The headwind, although a touch annoying, was not a major problem – it certainly would have been on a bike.

The day was otherwise quite pleasant. It was mostly flat, with all my running being between 2,305 and 2,465 metres in elevation. All around me, however, were views of snow-capped mountains. I have actually had to run west for half a day in order to navigate around one of these insurmountable mountain ranges. I’ll be running on this “American Tibet” plateau for the next two or three days. I then have to go over a pass that is not too far below 3,000 metres in altitude.

Half way through the day I passed through Fort Garland. The fort was established in 1852 as a base for the US Army to protect settlers in the region. The adobe buildings are still standing, exactly as they were 150 years ago. I also found out that Kit Carson was a Lt. Colonel in the army, and was in charge of this fort for a period. I still insist that he wouldn’t have stood a chance on a bike against the great Kit Rumsey.

To finish, I’d like to explain how I am operating the tracker at the moment. In order to send regular tracker position updates during the day, I need to have T-mobile reception. But I rarely have such reception in these more remote regions.

At first, I thought this meant no updates at all. However, I’ve discovered that, if I can find a wireless internet source (and I generally can in the towns), then I can set my phone to access this source – this allows me to send and receive data.

The only issue is that it sends out my position as being where the wireless network is located. If I haven’t actually finished my day at that place (sometimes, like today, I finish out of town and am transported to and from this spot by the support crew), then my tracker position is not quite correct. Tonight it is showing me in the town of Alamosa, whereas my official run position is about 15 km to the east.

However, I feel it is better to give people a rough idea of where I am at that moment, than to have the tracker many days out-of-date (and, therefore, even more inaccurate). Whenever the tracker position is not strictly correct, I will acknowledge this fact on the blog.

Distance today = 47.02 km; Total distance = 5260.86 km; Location = Monte Vista – 37 36.736′ N, 106 08.973′ W; Start time = 0829, Finish time = 1534

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/174235445 (retrospectively added)

I’m gradually making my way through the Rockies to Denver, but the geography of the mountains requires a more convoluted route than I might otherwise have taken. While the world running rules stipulate a predominantly easterly direction, it does allow for temporary westerly courses for geographic and logistical reasons, as is the case for me at the moment.

However, although it’s allowed, I find it very difficult, mentally, to run west – it seems like I’m going backwards. Anyhow, the westerly aspect is over now, and I head north tomorrow, then east towards Colorado Springs.

Today’s run was a little shorter than normal. I felt a little below par in the stomach during the middle of the day, but this improved in the afternoon. Just as I got into the town of Monte Vista, a strange combination of snow and hail began to fall. It was the icy equivalent of a sun shower, lasting just a few minutes, while the sun shone on.

Once again, the tracker is showing me not quite in the correct location. My position is actually a few kilometres north of the centre of Monte Vista.

Apologies, but today’s data will not upload to the Garmin site for some reason. It has downloaded to the computer, but it just freezes and “hangs” when I try to upload to the Garmin site. I assume the file has been corrupted in some way. No major issues, as I have the data, but I can’t provide a Garmin link for today. I hope it’s not an on-going issue. I’ll find out tomorrow.