I entered a new phase today, with the entire run being continuous – no walking breaks to give the heel some respite; just constant running. The heel was a little sore from other activities over the weekend, but nothing to be concerned about. From now on I start to up the distance on a daily basis. It will be gradual at first, but I expect to be running close to 50 km within about three weeks – I hope. Perhaps I’m being too ambitious, but I’ve got to take a chance if I’m to reach the starting line of the Oxfam 100 km Trailwalker event on May 2.

I’ve been made aware that several people send private Twitter messages to me. Unfortunately, the way my Twitter account is hardwired, any reply goes straight to my web site and to all on my “Following list”. I cannot reply privately to messages. So if I haven’t replied to you, please don’t think I’m being rude. It’s just that I can’t. If you’d like a response from me, simply send an email via the Contact section on the web site. I will certainly reply individually to those.

On This Day: a year ago today I set out from Dachau in Germany amid heavy snow. The afternoon before Carmel and I had visited the former concentration camp that is now a museum honouring the Holocaust victims. Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp, established a few years before the outbreak of WWII. We had visited it once before, in 1986. I still recall what is perhaps the most prophetic statement ever uttered. Between a photo of a Nazi book burning of the early 1930s and a photo of a bodies awaiting transfer from the gas chambers to the adjacent ovens, there was a quote by 19th century German philosopher, Heinrich Heine, from a hundred years earlier – “When they start burning books, they’ll soon be burning people”. And the warning is just as true in any era – society must constantly be vigilant against those who wish to censor all but their own extremist opinions, for these are the same people who can so readily justify genocide at the next stage.

Two years ago I was running in less sombre surroundings, making my way between the towns of Blanding and Monticello in Utah. That afternoon I almost collided with six deer that unexpectedly vaulted the roadside guard rail just metres in front of me.

Photo book link: http://www.momento.com.au/gallery?cpid=1575172&auth=52ef5b04ec6ac8.11540117