Day 16

June 26, 1978
Miles run – 32

Comments: ”Ended up in the hospital cause knee hurt so much. Only ran 15.5 miles in the morning but was determined to get more done even if my knee was killing me! So, I ran another 17 miles but it hurt like hell. The knee hurt because of the terrain I was running on. No room, no shoulders on the road, 40 degrees banked, it is tough to run on that stuff. Can only hope knee will heal.”

My editorial comments today: I do remember this day the most. I will never forget Ely, NV. In the desert with a bum knee – the vastus medialis muscle. I never felt so alone in my life. My dream of running across America was about to end at about 1,000 miles. I was questioning whether I could do this or not. The doctor in the ER asked me how I thought my knee became sore. I just couldn’t tell him that perhaps running 40+ miles a day had something to do with it! I eventually realized that the pitch of the road was what was causing it. I was running all my miles on one side of the road. I alternated each side from then on and my pain eventually subsided. If I didn’t figure it out, I would never have made it and I wouldn’t be posting this daily report right now!