Patience is not one of my virtues. In fact, Carmel says I’m the most impatient person she knows. I just struggle sit around waiting for things to happen. But that’s exactly what one needs to do sometimes when it comes to running training. After a good speed session on Monday, I know the best thing to do is to take it easy for a couple of days. Particularly since I also did some skipping and bounding on Monday, and I’ve been warned that overdoing this sort of exercise can lead to injury more quickly than anything else.

So I’ve been doing less strenuous running since Monday, ensuring I recover adequately. Things are looking good at the moment, and the last thing I could handle is an injury. Tomorrow I should be fine to do another time trial, and I think I’ll do a lap of Centennial Park again. I’ll report on that tomorrow.

The book about my world run is now at the printers – nothing more for me to do. I know it won’t be viewed as perfect, but it feels satisfying knowing I wrote every word of the book – no ghost writers for me. We’ll soon see how well it sells. It’s still due in the book stores here in Australia on June 29.

Today’s photo from the world run was taken in California, between the towns of Lompoc and Solvang. These are west of Santa Barbara and near to the Vandenberg Air Force Base, an outpost of NASA with a space shuttle landing strip. The previous evening a story about my run had appeared on a local TV station. The guy taking my photo had seen the news segment and then spotted me the next day, so he stopped and got out his camera. So I stopped and took a photo of him taking a photo.

On This Day

May 6, 2012

Distance today = 51.24 km; Total distance = 6102.13 km; Location = Cheyenne, Wyoming – 41 07.444′ N, 104 50.635′ W; Start time = 0926, Finish time = 1704

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/175585109

I started the day with two options – run on the shoulder of the interstate freeway, or run on a dirt road that paralleled the freeway. I chose the latter, and it seemed to be the right choice.

However, after nearly 20 km on an uneven corrugated surface with lots of large loose stones and gravel, my ankles and feet really started to suffer. The rest of the day was a little painful because of it, but nothing that some rest won’t cure.

I crossed from Colorado into Wyoming this morning. That’s the sixth US state I’ve run through so far. I finished in Cheyenne, the state’s capital, where I struggled to find a way across the freeway to the hotel. The surrounding landscape is a little sparse, with no trees anywhere other than in the towns, where they’ve been planted by humans.

However, I did see some things of interest. At my lunch stop – a bison ranch – I saw a new born Shetland foal. It was only about as high as my knees – the smallest horse I’ve ever seen, by far.

I also ran past the Warren Air Force Base. This was the first place that ICBMs were housed (for those who don’t know, that stands for Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile). In effect, it’s where the first US nuclear missiles were stored, ready to be fired – thankfully they never were. And a little trivia I learned from the information board – they were capable of travelling at 16,000 miles per hour.

A big thanks to the Candlewood Suites Motel in Cheyenne for a great deal on the accommodation. This place is fantastic value – one of the best facilities we’ve encountered so far, and superb staff.

May 6, 2013

Distance today = 50.54 km; Total distance = 20,516.17 km; Location = Ihtiman, Bulgaria – 42 28.365′ N, 23 47.537′ E; Start time = 0835, Finish time = 1722

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/308749059

The temperature only reached 27 C today, which made the running much easier. A cooling breeze helped even more.

The run out of Sofia, like any big city, was less than inspiring, but it didn’t take too long. Although I am probably not technically allowed, I ran for about 10 km on the freeway, as it provided me quite a sizable short-cut. No-one stopped me or gave any impression I was doing anything wrong, so maybe it is allowed.

Later I was running on a road alongside the freeway. Hardly anyone uses it now, and the vegetation was beginning to reclaim the road – sometimes the road was only about half its original width.

Barry ran the last 6 km with me, which helped pass the time. The last few kilometres are always the hardest, so it’s great to have them pass quickly.

Happy 25^th birthday to Hannah for tomorrow – have a great day.

PS I probably won’t get a Bulgarian SIM card, so I will just be updating the tracker via Wi-Fi at the end of each day while in Bulgaria. It will only be until the weekend.