I ran 50 km again today and this time it was far more comfortable. I didn’t eat anything during the run, but I had breakfast before starting and drank three chocolate milks along the way. I had plenty of energy at the end.

However, I did contract an ache in my right groin at about 25 km. I had the same thing last week, but it was secondary to my suffering from energy depletion. I think it’s a case of the muscles in the right groin area becoming fatigued because I’ve favoured the left leg for months due to the Achilles issue. The left leg is now weaker and doing less of the work. After a few hours of taking the bulk of the effort, the right leg (more specifically, the groin area) starts to throw in the towel. It was easy to manage with short stops or walk breaks, after which the ache would completely disappear for a short period. It also felt better when I consciously made the left leg do more of the work.

But it was a less than pleasant feeling, and I certainly wouldn’t want to be feeling it for the majority of the 150 km Anzac Ultra.

Tomorrow I’m heading off into the outback. Well, not quite the real outback – just the area around Yass and Young and Boorowa. There will be 18 of us cycling for a few days. The weather is predicted to be perfect, so it should be a great time. And will provide me with additional endurance training. Chips and I will also be doing a semi-long run on Saturday morning while the other guys ride.

Funny – looking at the “On This Day” entries below, I can see that I’ve now run at least 50 km on this day for three of the past four years.

On This Day

Mar 25, 2012

Distance today = 51.19 km; Total distance = 4000.39 km; Location = 11 km east of Tuba City, Arizona (329 mile marker) – 36 09.572′ N, 111 06.577′ W; Start time = 0825, Finish time = 1555

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161641189

Today I passed the 4,000 km mark. As you’ll see from the photos, the scenery is stunning. It’s part of the Painted Desert, and it’s not hard to see how the region got its name.

I woke this morning with a few sore spots. When I arrived at Cameron yesterday afternoon, I slipped on some roughly-hewn stone stairs. I knew I’d hurt my left ankle and strained my right glute, but it wasn’t too bad while I was warm. However, it stiffened up during the night. It took a little while to warm up this morning, but once I got going, everything settled down.

I was pleased I was climbing again today, after yesterday’s long descent. It was much easier on my legs. The mobile phone reception was actually quite good, so the tracker worked well. Let’s hope this continues through the desert, but who knows.

I expect to be at Monument Valley by Wednesday, ready to do the Forrest Gump thing.

I’ve had a few enquiries about the RWVQ, but haven’t had anything to better the leading red wine yet. This isn’t going to change for a few days at least. We discovered that we’re actually on a Navajo reservation at the moment, and no alcohol is sold. Luckily we have some spares.

Mar 25, 2013

Distance today = 51.57 km; Total distance = 18,464.80 km; Location = Worndorf, Germany – 47 59.250′ N, 09 00.328′ E; Start time = 0824, Finish time = 1646

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/288820779

It was back to a snow covered landscape today – surprisingly so, at this time of year. My Garmin registered a temperature of -3.7 C this morning while I was running, and that was when it was being warmed by the palm of my hand. I suspect the real temperature was closer to -10 C.

I generally don’t mind running in these conditions, but there was a slight headwind, which drove the light snow directly into my face. Each time a snow flake hit my eyes, it felt like a small pinprick in my eyeball.

I was stopped by a German policewoman, who told me it was too dangerous to run on that road during a snow fall. She spoke excellent English, and was very polite, pointing out there was a cycle path only about 50 metres away. I hadn’t seen it, as it was totally white, like the rest of the countryside.

Luckily, there were many different cycle paths along my route today, and I didn’t have to run on the road too much. On one occasion when I did, I found it was easier to “ski” down a hill, than to run. The road was smooth, and the snow reduced the friction to almost zero. I simply slid my feet along the side of the road, like cross-country skiiers do. I reckon I was moving about twice my normal speed for a short while.

My feet were quite wet from an early stage, and in these conditions, they spent pretty much the whole day at around freezing point. When that happens, there’s no real deterrent to running through the snow. I regularly plodded through deep snow drifts, as I knew my feet couldn’t get any colder than there were.

I finished with a good total, and had quite an enjoyable day in retrospect, considering the conditions. We had trouble again with accommodation. The first choice was closed because it was a Monday. The second choice had recently ceased to be a hotel. We finally found a very pleasant abode for the night – something that’s even more important when the snow is getting heavier outside.