I'm now in Amarillo, Texas after a week of mostly strong running. I'm guessing between 1250 and 1300 miles total run so far, and less than two thousand to go. I'll work out the exact numbers as I get closer to the finish.
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> Sep 13 = Partly cloudy all day today. I got a late start because I knew I was only going to run 25 miles today. I felt fairly lethargic today until I took the second bottle of "Electrifire" that the bike shop in Albuquerque gave me to try out. I'm starting to think that stuff may work for real. Both times I've tried it now, it's worked for me. The downsides are that it is $4 for a 2 ounce bottle and tastes quite awful. But, it did help me get moving into the wind and uphill again. I'm really starting to hate the people who told me the wind would be at my back going from west to east. At least the train tracks were back in view again. I like looking at them while I run. I did NOT pick up a single coin today. That's the first time in weeks. I've been using the coins I find to pay for my milkshake habit. I still get a little creeped out by being the tallest thing in sight in any direction for so long. I'm not getting used to that. It makes me feel small, insignificant and lonely. 25 miles today to get to a rest area to sleep.
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> Sep 14 = The first 10 miles of the day were into a strong wind yet again!! The construction on the Interstate made the next 10 miles fairly miserable. Then a cop came by and helped me to a frontage road that had just appeared to my side. He helped me lift the stroller to the other side of the barbed wire fence and then held it down so I could crawl through it. A few miles later he reappeared with a cold gallon of water for me. Nice guy. I ate way too much for lunch (4000 calories) and had a hard time getting into Tucumcari because of it. Tucumcari is by the way my favoite name for a city on the Route 66. 32 total miles today.
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> Sep 15 = I felt great from the start. I did some shopping in town to prepare for the next nothingness until Amarillo. I stopped outside of the town of Lesbia to eat some fruit someone had given me before we\\\\it went bad in the heat. Then it was up a long hill to San Jon, I saw a mile long stretch of fence posts on each side of the frontage road that had shoes nailed to them. Modern Art. If only I had saved my horrible shoes instead of thrown them in the trash. I wonder which would have been more fitting. A few miles before San Jon, I came across a couple of Briitish fans who had heard about me before starting their route 66 trip and were hoping to meet me. After taking pictures and telling stroies I went on my way with more energy. The map screwed up and said there was a rest are where there was none. As a result I ended up doing 43 total miles today with the last 8 in the dark. I slept at the NM Welcome Center 500 feet from the border with Texas and the Central Time Zone. Felt Great all day.
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> Sep 16 = I felt week and aimless for the first 12 miles of interstate in Texas. No pain\\\\, just a lack of energy. I stopped at Picnic Area for lunch and got some strength for the long hill known as Caprock Climb. Six miles long. Then you get to the top at Exit 18 for the frontage road and realize you're looking out at what is probably The Flattest Place on Earth. Then six more miles into Adrian which claims to be the midpoint between Chicago and LA for a few pieces of pie and a few stickers for my stroller. 34 total miles today before sleeping at another picnic area. Felt great all afternoon.
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> Sep 17 = Went through Vega while it was still asleep. Just east of the town, while I was staring at the many windmills going full speed, I was interrupted by my first honk of the day from a trucker. I've been tellling every trucker I talk to to honk if they see me again. I get 4-5 per day now. Then I saw this tarantula the size of my hand in the middle of the road just crawling around. I'm attaching the picture for you. For scale I put my card down and it crawled right over it. I did the first 17 miles in 3:30. I felt strong in the afternoon as well, despite more wind in my face. I stopped at the Cadillac Ranch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ranch) just outside of Amarillo. I was planning on being there for just 2 minutes, but so many people wanted to talk to me and take my picture and ask me if I was crazy. It basically turned into a media appearance for 40 minutes. It was fun though and I did enjoy meeting all the people. 44 total miles today and felt great the whole time.
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> I'm still ripping through the miles and the days seem to blend together sometimes, but I'm still having fun mostly. And, I'm still basically injury free and pain free. All quite positive really. But, still a long ways to go.
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> Phil
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> All of my running this year will be supporting the charity of The Mario Lemieux Foundation (www.mariolemieux.org) which does great work in cancer research and supporting families affected by cancer. Please click on their link to learn more about their fine efforts.