These stories are pulled from the journal writings I made at the end of each day... photo post to follow.

Our standard breakfast seems to be porridge (I add peanut butter, honey & jelly), scrambled eggs, toast with honey, papaya, banana, tea & coffee. All are great starts to the long running days. Today we also had avocados which make this girl smile. When it came time to make our lunches for the day I snagged a few of the leftover pieces to make a salty avo sandwich.

Today's run was a bit shorter and on significanlty more runnable terrain. The day was a bit more mellow without also coordinating with the film crew and the running was much more open, smooth and less technical. A bit more exposed to the sun, but it felt great to move and open up the stride. I mostly stayed with Iddy (one of the guides and an enthusiastic one at that) on the first part of the day and then with both Iddy and Simon later in the day. Iddy has great enthusiasm for running, his own strength and encouraging the group along with the English that he has learned. He has made us all laugh and appreciate him more with his sprints to the top of the next rise followed by grabbing one of our hands and placing it on his chest to feel his relaxed heart rate and to show us how quickly he recovers. It was awesome to share a few miles with Simon and have the time to chat about the terrain, his family, upcoming race plans and however the conversation flowed. I also appreciated his strong stride and pace to push me a long a bit and make my lungs work.

After cruising by our camp for the night at about 25k, we opted to run an additional 5k to move us a little further along the route. At our day's finish Willy and Joseph, our drivers, picked us up along the road near a township. We had a few kids join us on the sidewalk and ask for sweeties and money as well as an adult, who was obviously enjoying a few beverages in the early afternoon, tell us of his woes. We had a clear view of Kilimanjaro as well as an amazing vista of the Kenya / Tanzania border. At times during day 2 and day 3 we were tip-toeing back and forth between the two countries.

Snow Camp Cottages is where we landed for the day after the quick ride back to camp. This facility is mostly set up for climbers as it is near one of the starting gates for a route up Kili, but as prearranged by Simon and his crew our tents were set up on the lawn amongst the trees and flowers. While I write the kitchen is cranking out another yummy meal - lentil soup with crepes, talapia, boiled potatoes & carrots and banana fritters for dessert. We have already indulged in popcorn, peanuts and hot chocolate as post run snacks. The showers were freezing, but it felt good to get all of the muck off and shave my legs. I've got a couple of run wounds - thorns from day 1 and a stick I clipped jumped up and took a bite out of my ankle. Nothing to worry too much about, just don't want it to become an issue.

Total of 30ks and about 3000ft of climbing in just under 6 hours of running. We are enjoying the extra time in camp the afternoon to sort our tents, read books, relax, snack and kill time until dinner.