Today was a disaster. I was presented with a more direct route than my original route and I decided to take it. That was the biggest mistake I’ve made so far on this tour.
There was always going to be an element of running on stones. I remember the section west of Morristown from 2011. There is no avoiding it as highway 40 just runs into the interstate (where I’m not allowed to run).
It was only 1.5 miles to the stoney road from the start of the day. I felt real dread as soon as I saw the surface.
There was a lot of cattle in the valley. Other than the road surface, it was a very nice place to run. Although I use the term run loosely. It was like walking on hot coals.
Instead of rejoining highway 40 later I chose to go due west on back roads heading for Old Washington. The road had changed to tarmac and I foolishly thought that the stones were behind me.
I met the team at mile 8.5. The poles was using had helped massively on the stones.
At the break I had an omelette with some bacon. I could hardly keep my eyes open as you can see in the photo below.
When I was back out on the road I had 4 incidents with dogs. The first lot were big golden retrievers. They were fine. The second and third lot were a little more aggressive but the owners were able to control them. The fourth dog was just curious. It looked very nervous and neglected. I felt really sorry for it. I turned to take a photo and it ran away frightened. I wondered what kind of life it had to make it so.
I next met the team at the 17 mile point for a wrap. We talked about setting a routine in the days ahead. Running from 6am to 6pm may help with the underlying problem I currently have. Fatigue. By removing focus on the mileage and onto time, we think this may give a better window of recovery and hopefully have a positive impact on the mileage.
I went back out again and managed a further 4.5 miles on stones before taking a different route on tarmac.
I had to get John and Deb to pick me up at the 23 mile point. I was dead on my feet. Sore feet. Sore legs. The stones combined with 1952ft of uphill and 2382ft of downhill had taken its toll.
A day that was much harder than it should have been was very frustrating. A bad decision made early on about the route had negative consequences. Lesson learned!
In other news, today was Deb’s last day on the team (until she returns in Colorado). She is what I call a guardian angel. She is an elite human being, a one off and this tour is extremely lucky to have her contributing to it. We will miss you Deb.
I think there will be many aspects Deb won’t miss which mainly includes face planting my hung up towels in the RV shower room/toilet in the middle of the night. It’s a tight squeeze in there!
She has worked wonders on my feet. So much so that today was the first day I’d ran pain free and without painkillers. Until the stones that is.
So now the support team consists of John. We are going to have to work closely as a unit. I’ll be 90% runner and 10% support team myself. His cooking has come on leaps and bounds in just a few days. He can now add omelettes, batch cooking/meal prep, laundry, general RV “admin” to his skill set. Although, I’m reliably informed that his wife has spent a lot of time this year on teaching him how to make an omelette. We just need to work on his navigation now. What can possibly go wrong.
Seriously though, John has a strategic mind which will come in very useful in the weeks ahead. Getting the most miles in the shortest time with the most efficient breaks is on the agenda.
Continued thanks to those that have donated to St Benedict's Hospice. If you're enjoying following the journey so far and think my efforts are worth a donation, please visit
https://www.justgiving.com/page/rungeordierun2025
TUNE OF THE DAY: Highway to Hell - AC/DC
The final act of the day was a visit from Callie and Sofia and their owner Angie. They were really friendly.
