Monday: 0
Needed a day off after a Saturday workout and Sunday bike and run.
Tuesday: 10
AM: Got up early to go on a pre-hospital visit run, but bagged it in the rain. Week #13 of hospital debridement treatments. When my wound healing stalled two weeks ago, the wound care doctor made two changes to my treatments: 1) changed to a different collagen dressing to promote wound healing, and 2) filed a request with insurance to approve use of an advanced cellular tissue membrane. The membrane chosen has had a clinical study of 307 applications to large, difficult to heal wounds, and shows an 86% improvement when the membrane is used. Let's hope.
Today the approval came in, and the membrane was applied to my head wound. It is porcine derived, meaning from pigs. My son Mark said that's gross, and that he now considers me to be part human, part pig. So I have always been part German, part Scottish, and part English. But the part pig is new to me. I do hope that the side effects are that I'm even more inclined to play in the mud going forward, and not that I randomly start oinking during business meetings. That wouldn't be good. Or if I start growing a curly pink tail. Also not good.
PM: Burlingame sweaty mixer with Matthew and Brady. Not a soul out there. Well, except for a bunch of deerflies. Hate those things.
Wednesday: 8
AM: 5 miles at Ninigret. Very humid at 95%. Just felt slow and heavy.
PM: 3 miles. Fun Run. Often humidity is at its highest in the morning and dissipates during the day. Not today. Humidity still over 90% in the evening. Just felt horrible on the run, and decided from the get go to reel it in a bit. 19:38.
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| It's so good to have the namesake of our runs, Tommy McCoy, to come out to many of the Fun Runs this year. He has slowed down a bit, for sure, but he is age 86 after all. |
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| Finishing up the Fun Run. |
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| So glad to see our wagon getting use, to carry the clock, signs, and other gear to setup the Fun Runs. We got this wagon about 20 years ago to pull Mark and Matthew around. Time flies. |
Thursday: 10
Low tide barefoot beach run with Matthew and Brady. Very thick fog. Not quite as thick as at the summit of Mt Washington during that road race, but pretty thick for around here. I guess my feet aren't calloused enough yet this year, as the bottom of my toes are a little sore post-run.
Friday: 6
Slept in. Ran the Groton Fun Run for the first time in a long time. Ran with Josh Harwell for a while and caught up. Yet another hot and humid day. No whining.
Saturday: 18
Drove to and parked at Narragansett Middle School, as I'd be there to pick up my Blessing of the Fleet bib and shirt post-run. This was a planned two loop run, so that I could get cold water at the car mid-run:
Loop 1: First eight miles of the Blessing course. Warmed up for two miles, then pushed the next six moderately hard (splits varying 6:24 - 6:41). Quite a few cyclists, walkers, and runners out on the course. As usual, I disliked the Route 108 busy, open sun, and hot section, and really like the Windermere Road shaded section. Finished up and got some cold water and dumped my drenched singlet back at the car. I was tempted just to call it a day. I tried, but it was hot, over 80° and that was my justification. Fortunately, bib pick-up wouldn't be open for another hour, so back out there you go, boy.
Loop 2: Ten mile loop into SK, about 3 miles on shaded bike path and the rest on roads. I am feeling really dehydrated for most of this run, but I keep moving along at low to mid 7s. I am tempted to soak in the few streams that I pass over, but they appear overgrown and not clean flowing streams. Keep moving. When I finally get back to the car, I'm a disgusting hot sweaty mess. Before going in to get my bib and shirt, I must've spent ten minutes in the shade repeatedly alternating downing cold water and toweling sweat off my body. Happy I didn't bail halfway through.
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| Saturday dinner: With the preface that I know not everyone likes sushi (although that's a shame), this rainbow roll as an appetizer was just awesome. |
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| And the grilled eel for dinner was fabulous. |
Sunday: 8
Went with Brady to Yawgoog for what I intended to be an easy recovery run. Didn't exactly turn out that way. Deerflies were just atrocious. FIFTY deerfly kills! Those things are so nasty and gross. I never saw anyone on the trails; maybe because of the deerflies? Killed 22 of them with my bare hands and the rest with deerfly patch:
Leaving Hidden Lake shores, I slipped on wet rocks and wet down hard on my knee. It hurt and kept bleeding for most of the day. I imagine it will be fine for Blessing five days out, though.
Weekly mileage: 61
Weekly synopsis: Back-to-back 60+ miles weeks. I'll take it! Fall marathon season is a long ways off, so I won't get cocky, but I'm feeling really good with my running at the moment.
Weekly highlight: Despite the heat and humidity, I was happy with the 18-miler and getting a long run completed as planned. For an even more specific moment, when I stopped shirtless along the bike path 13 miles into my run to retie my shoes, an older woman looked at me and said, "You look really fit!". Hopefully I didn't mishear and she really said, "You look really fat", but otherwise it made my day.
Weekly lowlight: Heat, humidity, and deerflies.
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