Monday: 0.5 swim
Charlestown, RI
2 days post 52K. Woke up in the middle of the night with searing pain in my legs. Slept in and noticed one of my foot blisters had swelled and popped. Decided to give the old, tired feet a day off and swam instead. Easy (translation: very slow) swim, triangle from/to the boat launch.
Tuesday: 5
Charlestown, RI
Fourth of July! With Matthew and Brady. Plan was to run from the B-game Picnic Area, but it was already packed in the morning, even though there was light rain. Ran from the Kettle Pond Visitor Center instead. Very warm and humid. Dip in Watchaug Pond post-run.
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| 4th of July was quiet for us this year, having been away a lot recently. But it's always a good time to grill. Cajun swordfish, zucchini, and garlic bread. |
Wednesday: 8
AM: Charlestown, RI. Five miles at Ninigret with Matthew and Brady. Just super humid. Singlet quickly drenched.
PM: Westerly, RI. Fun Run week #6. Pretty miserable weather with the heat about 80° and humidity in the 80s. Somehow ran about a 6-flat pace, so that was encouraging despite the weather and recovering from my 50K.
Thursday: 23 ride
Westerly, RI. Very hot on my 2nd ride. Incorporated some of the Charlestown hills. My plan was to go from the bike immediately into a run, but I just felt awful in the heat and spent the rest of the day inside with air conditioning.
Friday: 6
Westerly, RI. Early (6am) low-tide beach run with Brady. Six miles seemed a good distance to start with, for my first barefoot run of the season. Post-run ocean dip felt heavenly in the soupy air.
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| Spent the late afternoon and early evening running Sailfest 5K packet pickup at Kelley's Pace. As Race Director, I don't get much time to talk to runners on race day. So it's nice to talk to runners here, including both those I know and catch up with, as well as those that have questions. There were a few first-time 5K'ers that were looking for advice on different topics, and others that had questions on nutrition, moving up to longer distances, chafing, etc. --- Do you remember your first 5K race? Ironically, mine was a Kelley's Pace race (Hare Hop) twenty years ago. |
Saturday: 11
Exeter, RI. Arcadia trail run with Brady. Just oppressive heat and humidity. Stopped at every river possible for Brady, and joined him in many. Dunked myself completely at the swimming hole in Breakheart Brook on Shelter Trail, and then back at the check station went in the Wood River for a long soak and swim.
The one issue, and in retrospect it was a big one, was the bugs. 52 DFKs, and three ticks taken off my legs in the Wood River when we finished up. 52 is a disgusting amount of deerflies, and who knows what the ratio is of ones buzzing around my head to the ones I actually kill, but it likely means hundreds were bothering me during the run.
What was really surprising to me was that the deerfly patches I used FAILED to catch a single deerfly (all 52 kills were by hand, which is kind of disgusting in its own right). Anyway, after getting home, I went online to check if efficacy of deerfly patches is lost over time. On the manufacturer's website, it states that the shelf life is three years, and lo and behold, these are more than three years old. They're only $11 for 12 patches, and a dollar less than that on Amazon, so I'll just get a few more. (Note: several reviews also suggested to wear a hat you don't care about as sticky residue can be left behind. That was the case with me. Yes, solvent can remove it.)
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| Here's a picture I posted on my blog 3 years ago, so clearly they worked at one point. |
The bigger problem was the other vile creature you encounter trail running. Ticks! Three on me was a price I was willing to pay, but not the 15 or so that we pulled off Brady after he got home. I have no more trail races in the immediate future, so running roads and dirt roads may make sense for me now.
Sunday: 3
Westerly, RI. Short and easy run with Brady on local roads at 5am. After yesterday's deerfly and tick encounters, opted not to go into Winnapaug Farm or Champlin WLT properties.
Weekly mileage: 33 run, 23 ride, 0.5 swim
Weekly synopsis: Easy recovery week after the longest duration race and likely hardest of my life. Will pick it up from here.
Weekly highlight: Barefoot beach run with Brady. I do like beach running. Not everyone does.
Weekly lowlight: Unbelievably bad deerflies and ticks at Arcadia on Saturday.
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