I’ve run 135 km this week; my biggest week in a long time. I may even do a few more Ks this afternoon to finish the week. I actually feel less tired this week than I did last week. I guess that means I’m getting fitter.

Last night we were at Jane and Peter’s place for dinner (remember, they accompanied us across much of the Nullarbor during the world run). They had a blood pressure machine there (no, neither of them suffers high blood pressure). Anyway, after a few red wines we decided to test ourselves for fun. My blood pressure reading was 115/62 with a pulse rate of 45. I’m led to believe that’s a pretty good result. Carmel’s was 96/63 with a pulse of 63 – also pretty good, although the systolic (the top number) was a little low. Better low than high, though.

This photo below is very interesting. It was taken as I ran between Mendoza and San Luis in Argentina. This ultra straight road dipped to a low point and then rose again. This meant that it was possible to see along the road for an incredible distance. Believe it or not, the far extent of the road you can see in the distance is actually more than 50 km away. It had the potential to be boring, although I found it quite an enjoyable stretch of road on which to run.

On This Day

Mar 6, 2012

Distance today = 63.33 km; Total distance = 3073.02 km; Location = Brawley, California – 32 58.673′ N, 115 30.923′ W; Start time = 0913, Finish time = 1818

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/155610657

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/155616472

And today’s highlight was …………. a dust storm.

It was a long day through the desert, and I was struggling mentally – until the dust storm hit. The novelty of the occasion actually helped me through the rest of the day. There should be some photos and a video at some stage, although the worst of it was just on dark, when photography didn’t do it justice. I really needed my shower tonight, and all my clothes need to be washed. All I can smell is dust.

Another highlight was when a nice CHiPs officer pulled over to see if I needed anything, which one often does in the middle of the desert. We ended up talking running for a while – he has done several half marathons.

Then tonight at dinner we met an Aussie physicist, who is in Brawley to do experiments on a new geophysical instrument. He and his colleague are going to provide me with some water on the road tomorrow, as they will be working just off the road at about the 38 km mark of my run.

I am now going to bed, as I’m tired. Yes, it does happen, especially after a 63 km day in a dust storm. It was a longer run than I would have preferred, but I couldn’t see the point in having the support crew come out to meet me with less than 10 km to the hotel.

The next three days to Blythe will be shorter. My body will appreciate it.

Mar 6, 2013

Distance today = 47.45 km; Total distance = 17,517.98 km; Location = Mauressargues, France – 43 57.527′ N, 04 09.617′ E; Start time = 0840, Finish time = 1634

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/281117946

Like yesterday, it rained all day today, but at least there was no wind and the temperatures were higher. It wasn’t such a bad day, although I’m looking forward to some drier weather.

I passed though several towns and villages, on my way out of the southern Central Massif region and into western Provence. One town was St Hippolyte du Fort, where I had my bike repaired 18 months ago. The same guy was working in the shop.

I also passed through the medieval village of Sauve, with buildings that looked so old, it’s amazing they’re still standing. They knew something about building structures in those days.

On the way, I passed the two-thirds milestone. Just one-third of the run to go now.

I finished in Mauressargues, at the same B&B we stayed at in 2011 with Jenny, Jo, and Dave. By the way, Jo and Dave are joining us in about five weeks time for a couple of weeks in the support crew. So are The Hud and Sue. You may recall that the Hud ran with me on the first day of this run, from the Sydney Opera House. He also got a big mention in the blog about a year ago, when a new running distance  of 167.7 km was named a “Hud”. And Jenny travelled with us from San Francisco to Phoenix last year.

We are staying with our lovely hosts, Florence and Vincent. I’ll report more on our evening in tomorrow’s blog.