Distance today = 50.04 km; Total distance = 8372.63 km; Location = St Paul – 44 55.198′ N, 93 10.451′ W; Start time = 0938, Finish time = 1758

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/193167177

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/193169818

Just a quick report tonight, as we are heading to dinner soon with some wonderful people we met in New Mexico, Sherla and Dave, who invited us to stay with them when we passed through St Paul. We are, naturally, very appreciative of their hospitality.

Today was much better than yesterday. The ankle was fine, other than a period in the middle of the day after I had to run on some uneven surfaces. The shoes were much more comfortable, and I think I’ve now adjusted to them.

I ran into the centre of Minneapolis, where I needed to visit the Apple Store. That worked out successfully, but I was annoyed my Garmin watch started giving me the finger (i.e. indicating the battery was getting low) much earlier than ever before. Perhaps the battery is deteriorating over time? There is no way to replace it either, other than to get a new watch.  Anyhow, there are two Garmin links today, as the battery did give out before I was finished for the day.

I crossed the Mississippi twice today – it’s a pretty majestic river. I’ll be seeing much more of it in days and weeks to come. I also passed 4,000 miles run in the US, and I did a radio interview with station WCCO this morning, so it was a busy day all round.

Distance today = 50.90 km; Total distance = 8423.53 km; Location = Hastings – 44 42.941′ N, 92 50.873′ W; Start time = 0901, Finish time = 1702

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/193463872

I headed out of Minneapolis-St Paul this morning – the home of the Minnesota Twins baseball team, the Minnesota Vikings gridiron team, and the setting for the 1970s series The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

I’d like to again thank Sherla and Dave for their unbelievable hospitality. They are such nice people.

I had a bit of a scare this morning when I awoke with a very sore and swollen right foot. I struggled to walk. But, amazingly, once I put on my shoes and started running, I had no pain. And none throughout the day, so things are looking good. But when running around the world, you’re never totally out of the woods. As Bob Dylan said “Don’t speak too soon, for the wheel’s still in spin”. So I’m going to stay vigilant.

Speaking of Bob Dylan, when I was struggling through the floods in Duluth last week, I forgot to mention that Duluth is where Bob Dylan was born and lived till he was six years old.

My new shoes are feeling really good now. I think they just needed to “give a little bit”, so I played them some Supertramp and they responded appropriately. Seriously, though, I have been finding my shoes are getting progressively tighter, and I believe it’s because my feet are actually getting bigger due to the extreme amount of running I’m doing. Not longer, just wider and thicker. I think the bones in my feet are increasing in density and thickness, and the muscles and tendons are getting bigger. This is making it more difficult to fit into my shoes. At least the current shoes appear to have stretched adequately now.

Despite temperatures of 36C, I felt really quite good as I paralleled the Mississippi River downstream. I’ll be running along the river quite a bit over the next several days. I’m looking forward to it, but not to the high temperatures that are predicted.

Distance today = 50.76 km; Total distance = 8474.29 km; Location = Frontenac – 44 31.121′ N, 92 23.878′ W; Start time = 0859, Finish time = 1713

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/193763491

Hot, hot, hot – it really started to get to me during the afternoon. I wanted to go further today, but was lucky just to make it to my regular 50 km. Whereas I was regularly able to do days of 55 to 60 km earlier in the year, I can’t see myself being able to run much further than 50 km during the summer. It’s just too hard being out in the heat for so many hours during the middle of the day. It also slows me down, as I have to take lots of breaks for drinks etc, which ultimately keeps me out in the heat even longer.

Although I was within striking distance of the Mississippi River all day, I didn’t actually see it, but that will change as of tomorrow. At least I did achieve a big milestone today – 200 marathons. And it’s taken me less than six months to do so.

I also heard that my sponsor, Next Digital, has won the award for the Best State Government Site for their design of Tourism Victoria’s web site. A sign of things to come, as I’m sure the company will be receiving many more accolades in the future.