Distance today = 50.07 km; Total distance = 9206.40 km; Location = Milwaukee – 43 02.244′ N, 87 54.862′ W; Start time = 0828 Finish time = 1654

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/198852130

It wasn’t one of my better days. My ankle was more sore than usual, and the morning was very humid. Then I had to stop for a thunderstorm. All in all, I just didn’t have a lot of energy. It was just one of those days.

The day started along the shore of Lake Michigan, graduated to the suburbs of Milwaukee, and finished in the middle of the city. For those who don’t know, Milwaukee is the setting for the TV series Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. The Cunninghams could have been living in any number of houses I passed today. And The Fonz was from Milwaukee, just as The Hud is from Maroubra.

Tomorrow I edge closer to Chicago, hopefully with an ankle that gives me less trouble.

Distance today = 57.39 km; Total distance = 9263.79 km; Location = Kenosha – 42 35.353′ N, 87 49.078′ W; Start time = 0806 Finish time = 1717

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199220641

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199220634

I knew I had a big day in front of me, so I was up and ready for an early start. I clicked my watch to begin and headed off. The ankle wasn’t too bad, but the day got off to a disastrous start as far as technology is concerned.

You see, after what I estimated to be a few kilometres, I looked at my watch to check exactly how far I’d gone. It read zero. I stopped and tried to work out what the problem was. It turns out that none of the buttons now work. While there is a display, nothing happens when I click the button to start it. It looks like all the sweat and other environmental factors have finally taken their toll, and the watch is now dead, cactus, kaput!!! I mean it’s now about as useful as Mr Reefton Humblewood’s wedding tackle, and as effective as his cycling ability (a little “in joke” there, but you get the picture).

So, I called Carmel and arranged for her to activate the spare Garmin when she came to meet me. Luckily, the route I was taking was direct and simple, and she could easily follow my course. When she reached me, I reset the Garmin and started it again for the rest of the journey. Therefore there are two Garmin links. Ignore the average speed in the first one – the distance is correct.

I will need to get a new Garmin soon. If the spare displayed the map  I could just continue to use this, but it doesn’t and I really want to provide the map, vertical profile, and speed graph facility to viewers of the web page. As soon as I can get a new one, these graphs will be back in the link.

Anyhow, as for the running, it was a mix of suburbia and semi-rural landscapes. It wasn’t the best day of running, but I was very pleased to get through my longest day in months without any issues.

Early tomorrow I will cross the state border into Illinois. That will be my 13th US state of the run so far. They will come thick and fast after that. My good friends, David and Cheryl Kerr from King Island, are donating to Oxfam per state and country I pass through, so I guess I’m not doing them any favours by visiting so many states, but I’m sure they don’t mind. It’s all for a good cause.

Distance today = 51.46 km; Total distance = 9315.25 km; Location = Highland Park (Chicago) – 42 09.215′ N, 87 48.027′ W; Start time = 0838 Finish time = 1729

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199699601

It was a very hot and humid start to the day, although the conditions eased as the day wore on, with a cool breeze springing up.

After about an hour and a half I crossed the border into Illinois. Pretty much immediately the suburbs of Chicago commenced. There was a mix of residential and industrial suburbs, with the latter certainly less salubrious than the former. It will take me about two full days to cross Chicago from top to bottom.

Now, to diverge a little – I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Tracey and Bill, and Gabbi and Andrew, who all became parents for the first time during the week. As background, the Comets are a touch football team I have played with over the years. The team has been around since the late 70s with essentially the same playing staff, making it one of the oldest “continuous” teams in the world. Once a Comet, always a Comet, even if, like me, you go into playing hibernation for a while (perhaps even permanently in some cases). All new additions to Comet families automatically become Comets. Both Bill and Andrew are Comets. So, it’s great to see these two youngest Comets coming into the world to keep the tradition going.

Tomorrow we meet up with our daughter, Hannah, and stay with friends of hers in the south of Chicago. More on that in tomorrow’s report.

Distance today = 52.52 km; Total distance = 9367.77 km; Location = Evergreen Park (Chicago) – 41 42.927′ N, 87 42.490′ W; Start time = 0842 Finish time = 1648

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/200052482

Another hot one, as I navigated myself across Chicago from north to south. This is one big city, and I spent the whole day running through suburbia, including 32 km on one straight street, Pulaski Road. It was 98F (37C) in the shade – far from ideal conditions for traversing a big city.

I have found that my average pace during these hot summer months has slowed quite noticeably, mainly due to all the short breaks I need to take for drinks, but also because of the right ankle. Consequently, it’s taking me longer to get through the days.

I eventually arrived at Sissy and Bob’s place in the south-western Chicago suburb of Evergreen Park, where I met Hannah for the first time since early February. Sissy and Bob, and their children, Bobby, Johnny, and Connor, along with cousin Kathryn, have been good friends of Hannah’s since she visited the US in 2007. Amazingly, Sissy’s mother, who was Australian, used to live in the very same street in Sydney as Carmel’s mother. What a coincidence! The family are very kindly putting all three of us up for the next three nights.

Tomorrow I am having a rest day, as it is Carmel’s birthday. I will do a very short “run around the block”, but it won’t count towards the world run.

So I’ll be having a day off from the blog too, but will be back on line on Wednesday. Believe it or not, I’m looking forward to a bit of a rest!!!!!