In terms of sleep you just don’t know what you’re going to get on this tour. I was in bed soon enough but suffered pain in my feet that meant I struggled to fall asleep. As has been the case all tour, I kept waking up when a blister was knocked or if there was a shooting pain or tingle in my feet. Add to that the checking of the time on numerous occasions. There’s nothing better than knowing there’s still 7, 6, 5, 4 or 3 hours left before the 0515 alarm. It’s not so good when it gets to 2 or 1. The latter is when I seem to drift into a deep sleep. Not great timing.
So I set off 6 miles east of Zanesville at 0558. Those miles were an absolute chore and I just couldn’t get going. Zanesville was pleasant enough and I met John just short of the 7 mile point for sandwiches and a much needed tactical snooze of 30 minutes.
The second session was equally as slow but I was glad to see that the bike lane / wide hard shoulder had returned. I made it to 15.75 miles and it was time for an omelette with bacon and another much needed tactical snooze of 30 minutes.
I ditched my waist pack for the final session of the day and was able to find a little bit of pace. It’s obvious to me that it’s slowing me down, as is my backpack when I wear it. But these things allow me to run with enough water and pack snacks, toilet roll, hand gel and a waterproof. The rain started on 20 miles. It was just a few spots at first but it soon turned into a downpour. If only I had a waterproof! I managed a further 2.75 miles before calling John back to collect me. I was done for the day.
I dived into the RV and we drove to a nearby church. At the time of writing it’s our overnight stop. It’s quiet enough and there’s nobody around. I immediately took painkillers to deal with the pulsating pain in my feet. I got my feet raised and fell asleep for an hour. I managed to have a shower and discovered another leak in the RV roof. It was a hearty bowl of porridge for tea. I was very amused by the rather brilliant headline on NUFC.com.
Tomorrow’s plan is to get to an interstate junction just to the east of Columbus. We have been invited for food 14 miles north of there. Thanks to Ray for arranging that. John will drop me back off at the start of Thursday and drive to the west of Columbus where Cruise America is located. Hopefully, the loss of power, the leaking roof and the dripping grey water tank can be fixed. Or a new RV given to us. When I spoke to an agent the other night, they said that if the recommendation is to have a new RV, then that would be “a straightforward process”. Big words.
I’ll run unsupported through Columbus but I’ll have a bit of running company. Northumbrian exile Alistair has offered to do a few miles with me.
TUNE OF THE DAY: Blessings - Calvin Harris, Clementine Douglas (PS. thanks to Karen for sending some banging tune suggestions).
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