DAY 88: BUGGIN' OUT!!!

Greetings,

Today, the warm weather and humidity returned and I was totally excited to go for my run this afternoon, especially since I took an unplanned rest day yesterday. Unfortunately, the return of the heat meant the return of the certain insects...

I ran a different portion of the trail that I normally run on, just for a change of scenery. But that scenery consisted of walls of gnats! The little buggers are not half bad when your stationary, but they're a nightmare as soon as you start running.

During the first mile of my 3-miler, I tried my best to ignore all the tiny smacks against my face, because I was just glad to be running. But by the middle of the second mile, I started to pick up a bit more speed which required me to breath out of my mouth. Without being too grotesque, lets just say that I've had my share of protein for today.

At the turnaround of my out-and-back, I almost stopped and walked back, but I was determined to get my miles in. I started to try to dodge the swarm, but I quickly learned that was impossible. They were everywhere. At the beginning of mile 3, I just put my head down and trucked through the never-ending swarm. And although I emerged victoriously, having run more than 3 miles, it was not without consequence...

BEFORE MY RUN

3 MILES LATER



This is, hands down, the grossest thing that has ever happened to me. My front was covered from head to toe in gnats. Fortunately, I was able to get rid of the ones on my clothes with a few snaps of the elastic fabric. But unfortunately, the ones on my body were glued to my skin with sweat. I shook some from my hair, blew some from nose and I even fished one out of my eyelash.

Did I mention that I was completely grossed out?

On the bright side, I think this run qualifies me as at least one step closer to being a real runner. Three months ago, I couldn't have imagined running 3 miles, but I did today...while inhaling gnats. Who knew?!?!

The Human Windshield a.k.a Almost Thirty