Readers get 3 mini-columns for the price of one today, all for shelling out hard-earned 75 cents ...

• Karl Meltzer, the man from the Salt Lake City, Utah, area who is attempting to break the record for running the entire Appalachian Trail finally took some time to catch his breath.

Just more than two weeks into his odyssey, Meltzer took a rest day. But that rest day wasn't planned.

"My decision to take a rest day today was beyond my control," Meltzer wrote on his blog, WheresKarl.com. "A few days ago, I somehow contracted poison ivy on my toes, primarily on my left foot. I have no idea how I got it, it just happened.

"As I was running down Killington Peak, my toes were swollen to the max and I had to flex my anterior tibialis to control pain as my toes were being jammed into the front of my shoes."

Compensating for the poison ivy pain put pressure on that anterior tibialis ligament, which in turn forced the muscle in Meltzer's left foot to stiffen up and cause more discomfort.

As of Tuesday morning, Meltzer was in western Massachusetts, near Manchester Center along Route 7, just west of the town of Ludlow. He estimates that even in taking the break from running, he's only 40 miles short of what his goal was for 15 days.

"My top priority is getting better and getting back out there," Meltzer wrote. "Honestly, after today I would only be 40 miles behind, which in reality, is recoverable. Two days back would be tough, but as I always have said in the past, records come on special days."

Marit Fischer of backcountry.com, the outdoors outfitter sponsoring the trip, has been keeping tabs on Meltzer's progress during the first month. She said he spoke with doctors about his foot injury.

"Karl and his docs recognize that his current issues in his left (foot) are a direct result of his changing his stride to compensate for the pain in his toe due to the blister he's been nursing since Day 3," Fischer said, noting that he's logged 416 miles over 11 days while "running wrong."

"He's been icing and elevating since he logged in his 38 (miles) yesterday. He woke this morning with the clear message from his bones that running 50 on them today would be a bad idea. Since it's still relatively early in this attempt and he's confident that he can make up lost time in the coming mid-Atlantic states, he's opting to rest and nurse his injury (Tuesday) and hit the trail running again first thing in the morning."

Meltzer said he planned to give it another shot today, adding that his legs and the rest of his body feel fresh and ready to continue running while his foot heals.

Here's what those of us following along on WheresKarl.com should be looking for -- a blog entry this morning would be a bad sign because it would mean he's still on the sidelines. But no update by mid-morning would mean he's back on the trail with his sights on the record or 47 days set in by Andrew Thompson in 2005.

"I will not quit now, as 'quit' is not in my vocabulary," Meltzer wrote. "Staying positive is the hard part."

• In a matter of days, the flows on the central section of the Kennebec River have improved rapidly.

The flow below the Wyman dam is now at a wadeable 6,300 cubic feet per second -- as compared to the more than 14,000 cfs we were seeing below Shamut dam by the end of last week.

The weather had dried up, with the exception of Tuesday's bath from the skies, and looks to be sunny and clear for the next several days, too.

George Smith, executive director for the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, wrote in to say that despite the high water flows, there is still good fishing to be had.

True, water flows have hurt those places where wading traditionally produces the best fishing, but there are still great opportunities to be had in mid-August -- particularly as the water temperatures stay low for this time of year.

One of those spots: a stretch between Waterville and Augusta, which continues to produce excellent smallmouth bass opportunities.

• First he finds our Eurasian milfoil, then he finds all our big fish.

It proved to be quite a Maine vacation for Tennessee's Kurt Lakin.

Actually, Lakin is a fisheries biologist in his home state, and he recently spent his vacation on Salmon Lake in the Belgrades. While he was here, he found the first sign of the Eurasian milfoil in the Belgrade Lakes region -- where it could easily threaten Great Pond, Long Pond and all of the other fine bodies of water in the chain that produce everything from good fishing to excellent paddling opportunities.

But it wasn't all work and no play for Lakin.

While fishing on Salmon, he landed a 5-pound, 10-ounce largemouth bass that broke the tape at 22 inches.

Hey, I'm as parochial as the next guy, but I won't begrudge someone "from away" a fish like that if he's also helping to clean up our lakes in the process. Just seems like a fair trade to me.

Travis Barrett -- 621-5648

tbarrett@centralmaine