fly into the my air-intake!

Today was my long run of 10 miles. I’m in Yorktown, VA for work and so I get the pleasure of running through the Civil War memorials. I’ve been here a week and have run the lap a couple times. There are a good number of trees that have fallen and they make me think of fallen soldiers, the way they lay in such a desperate posture compared to their upright counter parts.

Hopefully I didn’t wake up my roommates this morning, up at 530, on the trail by 550. There was some anxiety about my left Achilles and my right IT band as I began. The weather was already beginning to heat up and I was happy with my decision to run early vice later.

The fun began as flies that I would call “horse flies” pestered me. You know, the big old dark gray HUGE flies, which are mighty brave. To combat them, I flailed my arms about, hitting them pretty often, but this was futile. The only break I got was when I was in the clearing; apparently they melt in the sun. About half way through my trip one flew into my air intake (my mouth), which was a mighty shock, sending me into a spitting frenzy. I don’t believe I slowed him, probably due to my cat like reflexes.

Toward the end of my run I was pretty frustrated with my companions and as my flailing was futile, I said, “Hey, what if I just ignored them.” This lasted until they bit me behind my ear.

Overall, I was pleased with the actual w/o, 10 miles, reached my goal of 9/mi.

Achilles: no problems

IT band: began to get tight around 5 miles, but never anything more than a “tight feeling.”