I had a better run this morning, but I put that down to the fact I raised the heels in my shoes. It’s something I prefer not to do, but it would appear it’s necessary at the moment. The Achilles now aches pretty much 24 hours a day, indicative of a very fresh injury.

How I managed to incur such an injury with no memory of the event is a mystery in itself. However, if the raised heels for a period of time helps to remedy the problem, it’s a small price to pay.

On This Day

Oct 29, 2012

Distance today = 41.13 km; Total distance = 13,846.87 km; Location = Framingham, Massachusetts – 42 17.899′ N, 71 26.793′ W; Start time = 0829, Finish time = 1523

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/238394754

Wow, what a way to conclude the US leg. Although I still have one day to run, today’s slog through Hurricane Sandy was certainly a change from the norm.

It wasn’t too bad when I set off this morning, but I started getting cold after about an hour, mainly due to the wind blowing on my wet clothing. I was joined mid-morning by a local runner, Charlie, who ran about 13 km with me. He found me via the tracker. Charlie just ran his first 30 mile race last Saturday, so he was doing well to be out again so soon.

Charlie headed home after we reached Hopkinton, where the Boston Marathon starts. I met Chook and Don there, but I was too cold to head off immediately. I changed my clothes in the car with the heater on full, and then recommenced the run with Chook. I had four layers on my upper body, the two outer layers being waterproof. Now I was warm, and I felt much better because of it.

Chook and I stopped to take photos of each other at the Boston Marathon start-line, and then headed straight into the hurricane. It had increased in intensity by this stage, and we were heading east, the direction from which the wind was coming. It was as wild as any weather I’ve run in, and we’re not even getting the worst of it. This is apparently the largest hurricane or cyclone ever recorded (by area) in the world – another piece of evidence supporting climate change. It is also behaving differently to any ever seen before.

Given all that, we actually had quite a good time, probably due to the novelty of the situation. We decided to have a relatively short day, and got into the motel unscathed. It was great to have a shower at the end.

We have run the first part of the Boston Marathon course, and I’ll finish the US leg tomorrow by running the remainder of the Boston course with Chook.

Important note: I am not sure whether I will get a chance to update the website and blog after tomorrow’s run. We are heading straight to the airport to catch a flight to South America (assuming there will be flights at all). Don’t panic if you don’t see an update for a couple of days.