I’ve run 60 km in the first three days of this week. I reckon that counts as being ‘back to normal’, at least as far as my running goes. Some people wouldn’t call that normal though.

I’ve been mixing my shoes up lately too. Some days I wear thicker soled shoes, while other days (like today) I wore much thinner soled shoes. My preference is for the thin soles, although I’ve had to include the thick soles (actually it’s the heel part that’s predominantly thicker) as these relieved the stress on my calf when it was sore. It’s the same when you have an Achilles injury.

But I can now gravitate away from these ‘high heeled’ running shoes. Unfortunately, the idiots at the shoe company who make the shoes I’ve been wearing have decided to discontinue the flat heels that I found so great for running around the world. Having used these shoes for the past six years, I’m now going to have to find a different shoe company that makes running shoes with thin, flat, minimalist soles.

Here’s a photo of me running in the shoes I prefer. I have no idea where this was taken, but if I had to guess, I’d say the Californian desert, or perhaps in Arizona. Then again, it could have been in Argentina.

On This Day

Jun 8, 2012

Distance today = 55.33 km; Total distance = 7472.20 km; Location = Lidgerwood, North Dakota – 46 04.307′ N, 97 09.165′ W; Start time = 0826, Finish time = 1647

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/186918212

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/186922297

Running all day through this heat is a killer. The mornings are fine, then the temps zoom up by another ten degrees around lunchtime. Tomorrow is again predicted to be in the mid 30s C.

I crossed the border from South Dakota to North Dakota today, bringing my total number of US states run through so far to nine. They will continue to mount thick and fast over the coming months.

Many readers may have noticed the new video – a TV news clip from KDLT in South Dakota. It’s a nice piece, but there is one inaccuracy I’d like to correct. I will not be the first person to run around the world. You may have read my previous mentions about a couple of guys – Jesper Olsen and Tony Mangan.

Jesper is, in my view, the first to truly run around the world. In 2004/05 he completed such a circumnavigation. I believe Jesper deserves recognition as the first. Since that first run he has embarked on a second world run, which he has almost completed.

Tony Mangan is, like me, currently involved in his own world run. Tony has chosen a course of his own design which, I have to admit, is incredibly comprehensive. He will take four years to run approximately 50,000 km through some of the most remote areas on Earth. His run will be the most complete and detailed circumnavigation of the world ever achieved when he finishes it in 2014.

There are also others who deserve a mention, such as Rosie Swale-Pope, who ran around the northern hemisphere (Eurasia and North America) several years ago.