I had a great run this morning from Shellharbour to Kiama, about 15 km in total. I didn’t feel the Achilles at all, despite a good pace and lots of hills. I can definitely now say that it’s the best it’s been since I suffered the injury.

I’m down this way for the weekend for a school reunion tonight. And yesterday was the annual Pewter Mug Day. Those who followed the world run closely may recall last year’s Pewter Mug Day was held in Streaky Bay in South Australia (check out the blog posts for July 20 and 21 last year). On that occasion Bill and Tony travelled to meet me on the run. This year we decided to incorporate the event into the school reunion weekend. We had a great time in Kiama catching up with many old friends and acquaintances. I’m sure there were a few sore heads this morning.

Kevin Carr continues to make his way through Minnesota, though he had a day off yesterday to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. After today’s run I believe he has covered nearly 19,250 km, leaving him just under 7,000 km to run. At the same stage I’d run 20,621 km with about 5,600 km still to run. Kevin has 132 days to run that 7,000 km in order to set a new world record. Hopefully the weather will improve for him, as he has had some arduous conditions the past few weeks. He deserves a bit of good luck.

On This Day

Nov 29, 2012

Distance today = 49.67 km; Total distance = 15,119.06 km; Location = Vedia, Argentina (21 km east of) – 34 33.262′ S, 61 18.484′ W; Start time = 0832, Finish time = 1614

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/247853014

I was greeted by a ferocious headwind this morning, and it didn’t let up all day.

But that wasn’t the hardest part of the day. Worse was the shoulder. It consisted of long grass, so every time a car or truck came along, I had to jump off into the green stuff. It takes much more energy running through long grass, as you either need to lift your knees very high, or incur the “drag” as you pull your feet through the grass. In summary, I expended a lot more energy today than if I’d been on the road surface all day. And that doesn’t even count the nervous energy from running in amongst the snakes.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I’m now in my fifth Argentinean state. After briefly running through the state of Sante Fe, I am now in the state of Buenos Aires, although still hundreds of kilometres from the city itself.