I enjoyed a different sort of weekend. Saturday was spent cycling with Big Andy around the Bowral-Berrima-Bundanoon region. Interestingly, I was running on these same roads exactly one year ago, just prior to finishing at the Opera House.

On Sunday I rode from Bowral, down Macquarie Pass, and on to Warilla, where I watched my old football team, the Gorillas, win their major semi final and advance to the South Coast Grand Final. All in all I covered over 140 km on the bike.

The alternative exercise seems to have helped the calf injury. Today’s run was the best it’s felt. However, it’s now more than four weeks since I suffered the injury and it’s still far from perfect, testament to how serious a tear it was.

Tomorrow I’ll begin the “favourite races” series.

On This Day

Sep 8, 2012

Distance today = 51.58 km; Total distance = 11,295.37 km; Location = Winchester, Kentucky (8 km east of) – 38 00.688′ N, 84 03.961′ W; Start time = 0826, Finish time = 1701

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/220336171

More running through rustic rural countryside. You’re probably getting sick of me saying this. But that’s the best way of describing Kentucky.

It was pouring with rain when I started, and bright and sunny when I finished. It is also very hilly in this region. There is a never-ending sequence of short but steep hills. They really take their toll on you after a full day of it.

I passed 7,000 miles today, but I’m still not even half way around the world. Still a long way to go.

People often ask me what I think about when I run, especially since I have so many hours each day when I’m predominantly on my own. I reckon the best analogy is that my thoughts are like a jukebox that’s spinning through the song list, looking for a song to play, but never quite settles on one. The thoughts just keep scrolling through my head, but usually no particular topic lasts more than a minute of so before I move on to the next one. I guess you could call this “an inability to concentrate”. That’s probably quite accurate, and is most likely due to the fatigue caused by the run. One day I’ll be fresh again.

Sep 8, 2013

Distance today = 46.12 km; Total distance = 26,058.49 km; Location = Moss Vale, NSW – 34 32.786’ S, 150 22.488′ E; Start time = 0825, Finish time = 1527

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/372275237

Although it wasn’t a big day in terms of distance, it certainly was in terms of visitors.

Karen was back early this morning, and I was soon also joined by Barry and Richard, with Carmel and Debbie acting as support crew. A little later, Greg Ellis from the Illawarra Mercury arrived. Besides the normal press duties, he also did some running with us.

While all this was happening, one of the Tour de Bois, Mother (remember, he is a middle-aged, balding man with a beard) and his wife, Liz, stopped by on their way south.

Barry, Deb, and Richard left us around 11 am, but soon after that, Kate returned for a 10 km stint into Bundanoon. From there, Karen and I continued on through Exeter to Moss Vale. Both Kate and Karen passed Sylvia’s aggregate record for girls of 70 km today. Kate is now on 71 km, and Karen is up to 84 km. Karen also set a new girls’ record for a single day, with 37 km.

I now have less than 200 km to run, before finishing at the Opera House at 1 pm on Friday. I’m hoping to see lots of old friends on the road as I run through the Illawarra on Tuesday. I can always be found via the tracker on the web site.