Distance today = 59.66 km; Total distance = 4060.05 km; Location = 20 km east of Cow Springs – 36 29.565′ N, 110 37.609′ W; Start time = 0935, Finish time = 1755

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161981287

Lots of technical issues today, which is one reason I ran so far. Firstly, Arizona is not on daylight saving time, like most of the rest of the US. However, to complicate this fact, the Navajo Reservation, which is part of Arizona, is on DST (although they call it Navajo time here). This unusual situation has confused our i-Phones and other GPS watches (our various time pieces are reading different times), and led to the support crew picking me up later than I had anticipated.

Then when I got in, the batteries in my mouse had died, so these needed to be replaced after a rushed trip to the supermarket. Finally, the GPS watch took nearly three hours to download its data (not sure why). At least these problems have now been resolved. However, I was also out of mobile phone “data range” too, and this has not been resolved. I have phone call reception, but not data reception (once again, not sure why), meaning I can’t send my position to the tracker (or see Google Maps or get the internet). It’s currently showing me well back from where I officially am.

The run itself was uneventful, other than an episode with a dog. At about the 40 km mark, I noticed a young dog running along inside a fence line, looking to get out and meet me. It finally found a way out, and came running to me. It was a very nice dog – the stereotypical sort that cartoonists draw, with a black spot around one eye. It was ultra friendly and just wanted to be with me, jumping up and licking me constantly. The problem was, it wanted to go home with me, and wouldn’t go back to its own place. It also had no road sense, and sat in the middle of the tarmac waiting for me to join it – this was a road with plenty of traffic travelling at 120 km/h. I quickly picked it up and took it back and placed it inside its gate (after switching off my watch, of course), but it soon escaped and was back on the road with me. Luckily there was a road worker in a pickup truck just across the other side of the highway. I carried the dog over to him (I didn’t trust it on the road), and explained the issue. We agreed he’d occupy the pooch while I ran away, and he would then drive it across the road to its home and then drive away. My part of the plan went smoothly, and I hope his part did too.

The 60 km today affords me a relatively short day tomorrow. If there’s anyone out there who wants to join me to run Monument Valley on Wednesday, please feel free to be in touch, or just turn up and meet me on the road around lunchtime.

PS I’m back up over 1,900 metres in elevation, and I believe I’ll go above 2,000 metres tomorrow morning. It’s been very gentle climbing, though.