DAY 17-6/28/04: RACE ACROSS AMERICA-Louis Rodriguez (Agnes is still catching us up on the journey)


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Posted by Gail Marino on October 01, 2004 at 14:30:14:

In Reply to: RACE ACROSS AMERICA-Louis Rodriguez updates posted by Gail Marino on August 02, 2004 at 09:02:43:

RAA DAY # 17 MONDAY 6/28/04

Brrrrr, it’s a cold morning of about 45 degrees, as we leave Panguitch, Utah (6624 ft) & head off to Marysvale, Utah (5866 ft) for 47 miles with a cutoff of 13 hrs 25 min. In his heavy attire, Lou darted out quickly like a rabbit, ahead of the pack, as they all laughed. He was feeling good this morning & looked for a comfortable spot to run in. With the long distances, it is easy to settle in to the short quick stride, which seems to be a popular running form here, from what I have noticed. But after all the years of speed work on the track, we were not used to running with such a short stride. So while Lou was healing, it was back to basics. For years, we have trained doing track workouts on the road during our long runs. So he implemented track workouts here also, why not.
We saw Graeme & Tracy about an hour or 2 later. They were returning home to New Zealand & came to say their goodbyes. After 5 miles running this morning, he made this decision. He was becoming frustrated because now his knees were acting up. It was a very difficult decision for him to make but we understood. We wished they would stay because we liked their company & felt as though we were all an extended family, because we had the same goal. We realize that an injury can cause a domino effect of injuries, that are extremely frustrating for runners & we were in the same boat, but we are much closer to home than they were. As saddened as we were to see them leave, we did understand their frustration. It is so difficult running with injury & then finishing so late & not being able to get enough rest & being too exhausted to eat, makes it that much harder to heal. So we did understand from personal experience as well as from our hearts.
The herb cream from Santa Clara seemed to be working for Lou & Taka. They looked fairly comfortable. We were basically traveling along hwy 89 north through mountains & trees. We were still very high up in altitude, probably why Lou's ankle was still a bit swollen. After the 1st few miles out, Lou backed off & ran just ahead of Taka, continuing on with his speed work drills. At about 20 miles, we were briefly caught in a thunderstorm. We decided 23 miles was enough for Lou today, then we continued on helping crew Taka. But then the last 2 miles Lou jumped back in to run with Taka & Olivier. The crews of Taka, Kaz & Olivier gathered around to cheer them on. Kaz ran with Graeme's number along with his own. We then drove about 29 miles to the motel in Richfield.
Once in Richfield, we went to see Dr. Edward Rose, a chiropractor & Viet Nam Vet. We caught him just before closing & we didn't have an appointment, but he saw us anyway. He gave Lou a much needed adjustment for his right hip pain. After thanking him for his time & kindness, he also allowed us to leave our breast cancer pamphlets for his patrons. Till tomorrow. Lou & Agnes



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