Day 34. 13/10/11: Mt Brown East to Wilmington
Tim's bit:
Another run today! Another almost exact half-marathon.
After a lovely chat with another couple who were travelling around with their 2yo son, heading roughly in the same direction as us and with the same vague plan of finding somewhere interesting, we revved the van to walking pace and set off. Lily drove the dirt roads with grace and control to the spot where she pitched me out and sent me on my way!
I started out and got into a rhythm straight away, and ran the first kilometre quite quickly. This may sound odd, but I looked at the time and thought: "Woops! A fast first k can mean a long hard day." (It helped that it rhymed.) But the terrain was much smoother than yesterday and a few long but not too steep downhills got me into a nice tempo and the first 7km to Lily took about 36 minutes. She wasn't as excited or happy as yesterday; sometimes it makes me want to kind of just get it over with so we can have a normal day.
I set off thinking I'd slow down a bit, but the next 7kms felt good and I cruised along at the same speed, trying to remember my elastic bands and ideas on "effortless running" from yesterday. At the second stop, i hung out for a little bit longer. Lily had finished another editing assignment, which was ace, and we made plans for where to meet in Wilmington: The Beautiful Valley Caravan Park. Lily headed off with a wave and a smile, but a bit sad and frustrated, too. Hugs required.
As soon as I set off I felt as if I had a grass seed stuck between my toes. I took my shoe and sock off, found nothing much and hoped it had just fallen out. Put my shoe and sock back on and set off. Nope. Still there. Sat down again and took my shoe and sock off again and had another look. Nothing there. Oh! Except for the blister bubbling up with fluid underneath my big toe and curling around to the space between my toes. Well, not much to do, really, but try to run light and gently for the last seven kilometres into town. Finished in a bit over two hours, which was good! Got to the caravan park to find Lily riding out to meet me. Lovely! Then headed back in for a great shower, some blister treatment, a yummy lunch and a sit in a hammock chair.
Lily's bit:
Yes yes yes. I'm sad, frustrated and a bit bored of being stuck in the van (although that could be remedied by getting out of the van, I suppose). The roads are lovely though. Mostly single lane, red dirt or yellow grit. It's been fun crawling up hills, up to crests to poke my nose over the edge, discover what lies beneath then swooping down, through the valleys. It's all farm land at the moment. One field will be vivid green, the next brown earth, chewed to bits by big fat sheep. The occasional farm worker zooms by in their utes in a cloud of dust, waving to make sure I'm ok, or just to say hello.
I've been playing the 'Guess When Tim Will Appear' game for the last couple of days. Trying to estimate how long it'll be before he appears in the rear vision mirror. I won today! I looked up from my book thinking "it's about time", and there he was! As if by magic!
It was funny driving into Wilmington. Before we started out on this great adventure, I'd had visions of running into towns like this one. Running in and through and out the other side without stopping. Or maybe just long enough for an icecream. Well, I got my icecream anyway.
The camp site isn't as picturesque or well-maintained as Quorn, but it's quieter. We've been for a ride into town (population: 220), past the toy museum, the puppet museum, the post office, the supermarket that once was, and had icecream and lemonade from the nice people at the deli. Now we're in the recreation room at the camp site. Two tennis tables and a pool table! We'll bunker down in here for the afternoon, writing, reading and blogging. It's super hot outside and mummy says I have to stay out of the sun...
Run
Time (hr:min:sec): 2:02:24
Speed (kph):
Distance (km): 20.88
PS Lily has put on a sundress, and is smiling. Good.
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