Day 147 September 30, 2011 Kelowna to Middle of Nowhere 66km

Tyler was still feeling a little unwell and went home last night and actually went home the night we stayed in Vernon because he wasn’t feeling well and was worried about blowing his nose and waking us up. I could have told him that I can’t hear and Mike snores so loud that he wouldn’t hear anything. He apparently lay there in the bottom bunk trying to figure out how to clear his nose without making a sound for quite a while before giving up and heading home.

As a result Tyler had to get up pretty early this morning and was sleeping on the couch in our condo when I got up. We drove back to the start point and met Geoff and Jennay along with a bunch of their family and local firefighters. They escorted us all the way to their fruit stand, at which point they peeled off. At pretty much exactly the same time Kent and Dana pulled up and took turns running with Mike and I for about 30 mins; a great way to run out of Kelowna.

And then the hill began. We started climbing at the 15km mark and an elevation of just under 400 metres. It was a 6% grade, with not a single flat portion, that continued upward for 25km and an elevation gain to the summit at 1728 metres. I had felt really good when I started running this morning, thanks to the day off yesterday and this hill took most of that away.

In fact, I don’t think there was a single flat portion today. Once I reached the top of any hill it immediately crest and plunged back downhill. Needless to say my overall pace was a little slower than normal and it was dark by the time I finished running.

We spent the night in a brake check pullout, surrounded by semis all testing their airbrakes all night long. At least that’s what I was told; I slept through the whole night.

Tomorrow I should make it a little past Merritt