This morning I lowered the heels of my shoes ever so slightly (I had layers of lifts in them – now I’m just down to one heel lift per shoe). The Achilles felt great the whole run, until I ran on some very uneven ground over tree roots in Centennial Park. The tendon got a bit sore at that point, but no worse than after the 6 km walk on Thursday afternoon. It came good then, so I’m not concerned. It does show, however, that recovery from an Achilles injury requires running on firm even ground.

Kevin Carr is tonight staying with Diane and George Melnyk at their beautiful home on the Mississippi just south of Stoddard in Wisconsin. Carmel and I stayed with Diane and George in mid 2012 (see the blog posts for July 1/2/3/4 from 2012), enjoying their wonderful hospitality. It wouldn’t surprise me if Diane treats Kevin to that delicious quintessential local fare, the Wisconsin brat.

Kevin has approximately 6,660 km to run in 125 days in order to set a new world record for the Fastest Circumnavigation of the Earth on Foot. Whether he achieves this or not, he will certainly set a new world record for being the first and fastest to run around the world “unsupported” – he has no support crew and pushes all his gear in a stroller style cart.

On This Day

Dec 6, 2012

Distance today = 0 km; Total distance = 15,414.07 km; Location = Buenos Aires, Argentina – 34 27.800′ S, 58 29.779′ W; Start time = n/a, Finish time = n/a

Sorry for the short report last night. We were late arriving at Mauro and Laura’s, and I didn’t want to be on the computer for an extended period. We had a great evening, with fantastic Argentinean hospitality shown to us by the whole family. It was a real joy to finish the South American leg with an experience like that. Thanks Mauro and Laura.

Yesterday’s run was really a tough one to conclude with. It was very hot and humid, and running through the suburbs of a large city is never my preferred option. The road during the morning was not a good advertisement for Buenos Aires but, later in the afternoon, the surroundings changed greatly for the better.

I finished in the suburb of San Isidro at a park on the ocean, although it’s also called the River Plate at this point, due to the muddy fresh water from upstream mixing in with the sea water. It wasn’t quite the sandy yellow beaches of Valparaiso on the Pacific coast, but I was very pleased to reach the other side of the continent regardless. I have now run the length of New Zealand, and across North America and South America, from ocean to ocean.

After almost a year on the road, averaging 50 km per day, living out of a suitcase, and waking up in a different hotel room each morning, I am now going to have a decent break over the Christmas and New Year period. I will resume my run around the world in Portugal in January, although I’m not quite sure of the date yet. I’ll be posting periodic updates on this site, so keep watching this space.

I’m looking forward to next year’s running, through Europe, Asia, and Australia (hopefully with a dash of Africa thrown in). And I expect we’ll have a variety of friends travelling with us at different times. I’m now well passed half way, so it should be an easier year overall.

In the meantime, I’m going to do some resting (though still running at least a little each day) and some site-seeing, starting with Buenos Aires. Catch you soon.