I ran 110 km this past week, much of it at a high quality. This morning I did another session of 4 x 200 metres, this time averaging 37.8 seconds. It was easy on the lungs and the Achilles was fine, though the leg muscles didn’t feel like they could have gone much faster. But I’ll get there eventually. Luckily, I have no real need for speed until the middle of the year. I certainly won’t be running the Anzac Ultra at a pace of 37.8 seconds per 200 metres (3:09 per km).

Kevin Carr has now finished his North American leg. He reached Jacksonville Beach in Florida early this morning (Sydney time) and is now on his way to Santiago in Chile. He has faced a lot of adversity in recent times and has come through with flying colours. He still faces a challenging time over the coming two months, needing to average more than 60 km per day if he is to set a new world record, but my money is on him to do it. Well done, Kevin!!!

On This Day

Feb 9, 2013

Distance today = 48.98 km; Total distance = 16,245.10 km; Location = El Barraco, Spain – 40 28.620′ N, 04 38.532′ W; Start time = 0904, Finish time = 1722

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/271404220

Today was by far the hilliest so far in Europe, with a mountain top finish to boot. And as is usually the case with mountain stages, it was quite picturesque.  But the heel didn’t appreciate it. It flared up a bit toward the end of the day, but it’s not too much of a problem just yet.

It was also a cold day, to the point that I wore my gloves – the ones Libby gave me for my birthday, almost a year ago in California. It was nice to be warm.

I also ran across a large dam wall. The view from the surrounding hills was quite stunning as I approached the dam. From there, it was all uphill to the finish at the town of El Barraco. That’s when the heel started to feel it. I haven’t run this far uphill since I ascended the Andes last November.

And I passed an interesting milestone today – I now have less than 10,000 km to run to complete my journey around the world. That means I’m now down to single figures.  Woo hoo!!!!

PS Once again, the tracker hasn’t updated fully throughout the day. At least it is only 12 km behind at the moment.