Farm In The Sky

Day 22- Moriarty to Santa Rosa, NM

Yesterday's blog went up before the end of Dean's long day, so we weren't able to share with you the outstanding sunsets that came down upon Dean's final steps to the day's finish.

It was approximately 6:45pm and Dean was approaching the end. This was a particularly long day for him, as he kicked it off with a 5k event in Albuquerque. So it's quite a challenging day. But the scene like this is the right way to break down the day.

German, Dean and Nikki ran to the finish line together...

And then they slept and woke up bright and early to do it all again, minus the 5k event of course. (Next one is in Wichita, Kansas on 3/31).

Dean started his run today on the same road he finished last night- a dust-gusting, rocky road with no exits. It's one way or the other. It's about a 12 mile stretch and it's filled with a whole lot of nothing- just a few ranches and farms. And though it looks like flat grounds, it's still about 7,000 feet above sea level. You only feel that when you run. Otherwise, we have all adapted.

That shadow is me hanging out of the sunroof. Don't worry, I stopped the car. It wasn't like anyone else was on the road that entire day :)

Came across more cattle...

And fences that keep them all from coming onto the road...

But for some reason, the biggest cow ended up on the side of the road, literally next to my car. When I stopped and went to pull my camera out, it didn't even move...

Finally caught up with Dean after he finished the dirt path and ended up going South on 285. Caught a few snapshots of him coming towards us...

Dean did a lot of solo running today. And I learned that sometimes you will see one of his ops guys like German run in front of him at times, and that is to help speed up the pace if Dean is starting to pull back a bit. It helps him push a little more so that he can finish sooner, which is always a plus.

After Dean passes the SAG wagon and gets what he needs (if anything) the guys proceed with their road side workout. That's Garrett, Brandon and German showing off their moves...

And when they aren't grinding it out, they are waiting for Dean...always on guard to make sure he has what he needs and feels that he has plenty of support at every mile.

Dean will be solo for the next couple of days, so you won't see many photos of him, but I will surely keep you informed. Most importantly, he will be hitting 1000 miles very soon. That is huge! Because he is more than a third of the way through the trip. Very very cool.