That's two workouts now that I've hit right at prime time for bugs. The run tonight was through clouds of them. Herds of clouds of them. Now I've swallowed more than few bugs during workouts, mainly on the bike.
Big ones.
Little ones.
Stinging ones. (During Calgary 70.3, yet)
Tasty ones. Even without being dipped in chocolate.
Nasty ones. The dead grasshopper on my teeth was the worst.
Tonight I was inhaling them, and almost clogged up my nose when I was trying to breath through it. Even the mustache filter didn't work very well. Then it got worse. They started getting into my eyes. Even running along, eyes squinted almost shut, blinking almost constantly, I was getting bugs in my eyes. Big time. They were all over my glasses, all under the brim of my hat. Most were still alive, including one crawling around on my cornea. I was getting seriously grossed out, and wishing I had one of those industrial eye wash stations at home. (Oh, are you eating right now? I'm sorry. But really, you should know better by now.) The front of my red shirt was about half black from bugs, though they don't show up in the photo.
I haven't run for about a week, letting cranky legs relax a bit. I did some stretching and limbering up, then headed out. Into bug central. I let my legs run at whatever pace they were happy at, and didn't really care about heart rate or breathing. There were some knee twinges about the half way point, but they went away again. Overall my feet felt light and pretty happy. Turnover was very good. Even though I wasn't trying to run fast, I was very pleased, doing 5 K in 31:30. My breathing was never laboured.
If it hadn't been so buggy I might have gone further, but maybe it's just as well. My legs are a bit tired, and still happy. I gave them a really good stretch.
There were no further entries into the contest, and it's now closed. I'll go through the entries, and using only my criteria, pick a winner, and award a prize of my choice.
Well, that got your attention, didn't it? I just saw you all perk up. Too late to enter now. This is blog post number 999, so for the innumerate of you, that means the next one is 1000. I'll try to put on something a little special for my fans.
You are supposed to keep your mouth shut!!
ReplyDeleteThey are good protein as long as it doesn't get stuck in your throat and you start gagging!
If there was ever a blogger who would hold a contest without telling anyone, it would be you. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteI said it in your last buggy post, but blah! I breath through my mouth and bugs are no good for that. That's one advantage to running early morning right now. It's been bug free.
I feel your pain Keith. I've started wearing sunglasses, yes even into the evening and into the dark. Last night I finished off the bike ride with my sunglasses on. I can barely make out the people on the pathway, but it's better than getting multiple bugs in the eye and crashing.
ReplyDelete