I decided to run a time trial around Centennial Park this morning, following it up with a long run. I don’t normally combine such sessions, but thought I’d give it a go. My justification was that I wouldn’t go too hard around the park, and the long run wouldn’t be too long.

So I ran my lap in 14:43, before finishing with another 24 km. The time for the 3.8 km CP loop was almost exactly a minute slower than my fastest time last year just prior to my successful 54 minute run-my-age effort at the City to Surf. And I was much more comfortable today than I was in that 13:41 effort last year. And the final kilometre was just 12 seconds slower than when I ran my fastest ever lap of CP in 12:50, back in the 90s.

So I’m pretty happy overall. While I won’t be at my best for the 50 km on April 30, I should do OK.

This photo was taken just to the east of the city of Logrono in north central Spain. I enjoyed running the rolling hills you can see in the distance.

On This Day

Apr 7, 2012

Distance today = 47.02 km; Total distance = 4679.21 km; Location = Cuba, New Mexico – 36 01.514′ N, 106 57.629′ W; Start time = 0903, Finish time = 1558

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/165724885

Today I crossed the North American Continental Divide. This is the ridge-line through the Rocky Mountains that divides the directions in which the rivers flow. Any rain that falls on the eastern side of the Divide will flow into the Atlantic Ocean, and that which falls on the western side will flow into the Pacific. This means I’m now on the eastern side of the Rockies.

It was another nice but uneventful run, although a little disturbing to see the number of roadside memorials along this stretch. Usually taking the form of a cross with flowers, there appears to be one on average every mile or so. A particularly distressing case was a large cross with four slightly smaller crosses, two either side. There were no names, but I assume it was dedicated to a parent and four children. Very sad.

I arrived into the town of Cuba today under bright April sunshine – true story. This could only mean one thing, so watch the video (it should be posted soon after this blog). Obviously the sound quality is dubious in the open air, and the singing exhibits clear signs of having just run 47 km without using my voice. But, anyway, I hope you enjoy this excerpt from a 1970s Australian/NZ hit song.

Apr 7, 2013 

Distance today = 47.72 km; Total distance = 19,123.43 km; Location = Prague, Czech Republic – 50 05.150′ N, 14 25.345′ E; Start time = 0842, Finish time = 1607

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/294525408

I awoke this morning to grey skies again – no surprise there. But, by the time I walked out the door to start running, it was snowing again. The snow continued, fairly lightly, for the first hour or so, let up for a while, and then recommenced for a short period in the early afternoon. I finished, however, in Prague in a bit of sunshine.

The day was generally uneventful (though Carmel saw a car accident, with a car completely engulfed in flames), as I made my way in to the country’s capital. As I’ve mentioned before, running through the outer suburbs of a large city is uninspiring, but the inner city of Prague is a different matter. It is one of those grand old European cities, and I’m looking forward to exploring it some more this evening.

BTW, this region of the Czech Republic is historically known as Bohemia (as in Queen’s Rhapsody), and it goes back a long, long time. It’s named after the Boii tribe, which settled here when forced north after losing a series of battles with the Romans in the 2nd century BC. The landscape is not as green as I imagined, probably because the grass has been covered with snow for so much of the past several months.

I am now at the most northerly point of my entire world run, just over 50 degrees above the equator. From here, it’s all south.