Still taking it easy with relatively short runs of 10 km or less. I’m starting to feel pretty good, so the recovery from the race is on track. A harder week begins on Monday with a time trial.

Next week will be interesting. On Tuesday and Wednesday I will be visited by ESPN, the big sports cable network in the US. They took a fair bit of footage during the run, including in the US and on the last day when I finished at the Opera House. I also did a long sit down interview in Connecticut. This time the guys will be conducting the final interview before assembling it all into a documentary about the world run.

An update on the other world runners: Tony Mangan has just passed through Brno (correct spelling) in the Czech Republic, scene of one of his greatest triumphs – that’s where he set the world record some years back for 48 hours, covering 426 km during those two days. That’s astonishing. Kevin Carr has finished New Zealand and has just arrived in Vancouver to begin his North American leg.

On This Day

Jul 26, 2012

Distance today = 50.61 km; Total distance = 9757.19 km; Location = Litchfield, Illinois – 39 10.547′ N, 89 40.307′ W; Start time = 0823 Finish time = 1622

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/203412376

Ahhhh, it was a such a pleasure to run in cooler temperatures. It was still in the low 30s Celsius, but that counts as comfortable these days. Factoring in the cloud cover and breeze, it was so much better than yesterday.

I began on some very quiet back roads, which helped even more. Once again, I was running between crops of corn and soy beans. The corn is really suffering, and much of it around here will be next to useless when harvest time comes around.

The back roads continued into the afternoon. These roads are important, as they afford me a much more stable surface, where I don’t have to continually jump off the road as I do on the busier thoroughfares. My ankle is much better because of it.

Just a quick explanation about the temperatures I’ve been quoting of late. Most weather reports use “in the shade” temps, which is the logical thing to do – these are more stable and less susceptible to the effects of adjacent materials. However, I’m not running in the shade, so I feel it is more logical in my  case to measure the temperature “in the sun”. The problem here is that the result can depend strongly on where you place the thermometer. Placing it on metal, for example, will give a very inflated reading. I make sure the thermometer is in the same basic location as I am, and not near thermal conductors like metals. This was how the 140F result was obtained yesterday. It is worth adding, if this temperature had been recorded in the shade (which it wasn’t), it would have been the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.

Just finally, I am actually feeling much stronger the past couple of days. I am not feeling the injuries at all most of the time. The main concern now is the heat, but it looks like I will have some respite from it for a few days. Small mercies!

Jul 26, 2013

Distance for July 25 = 51.42 km; Total distance = 23,721.14 km; Location = Iron Knob, SA (37 km west of) – 32 57.901’ S, 136 53.193′ E; Start time = 0819, Finish time = 1605

Distance for today = 56.28 km; Total distance = 23,777.42 km; Location = Iron Knob, SA (19 km east of) – 32 39.875’ S, 137 19.257′ E; Start time = 0840, Finish time = 1714

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/348370044

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/348370019

What a difference a road surface makes!!! Thursday was tough, due to a very rough road, consisting of large and sharp blue metal. It was also steeply cambered – not the best combination for running.

The traffic was quite eventful. Early on, there was a massive oversize load that came past. Not only were there two pilot cars, but also two police cars with lights flashing. They were forcing the oncoming traffic to move off as far as they could on to the gravel, as the loads spanned not only both lanes, but also part of each shoulder. They were so big they needed two truck prime movers, linked together, to transport the huge mining vehicles.

I also encountered a policeman booking a truckie, and a road train overtaking another road train. They were approaching me from behind, and I’m pleased the leading road train blew his horn to warn me to get off the road.

Jeff ran the last 5.5 km with me, which brings his total to 102 km, putting him into second position, surpassing both Dave and Barry.

Last night was the last of free camping with Jeff and Michael. They found a very secluded spot, well away from the road, complete with a fantastic camp fire.

This morning, one of the Tour de Bois, Eric, arrived at our camp, after spending the night in s sleeping bag on the side of the road. If last Friday belonged to Chook, then today belonged to Eric. When he asked me how far I was running today, I explained that, because I wanted a shorter day into Port Augusta tomorrow, I would be running 56 km today. He simply said “OK, let’s get going”.

The amazing thing is, despite a previous longest ever run of just 35 km, Eric today ran 56.28 km, breaking Chook’s one week old record for the greatest distance run with me in a single day. What a fantastic achievement. It now means either Dave or The Hud will have to run at least 57 km to set a new record.

I have often said that one of the reasons I am doing this run around the world is to demonstrate that ordinary people can run these sorts of distances. Guys like Chook and Eric are helping me to confirm this. Neither has any real history in ultra running, yet they are achieving things of which they never thought they were capable. It makes it all worthwhile from my perspective.

To cap off a great day, Jane and Peter have returned to set up camp with us tonight. They brought a case of Kingfisher beer, so I’d better get out there and help Eric celebrate his accomplishment with the rest of them.