Over the past few weeks, I have been figuring out how to maintain some sort of balance in my life. And I get that this will always be a work in progress but I am feeling pretty good about it these days. Maybe it's because this summer sun has me all sorts of happy. Or maybe it's because I greatly overestimated how crazy my life would be at this point. Granted I am only a three weeks into the swing of school, work, summer, etc., but so far so good.
With yesterday's festivities, I knew that my cousin Colin would be around in our hometown and that he would totally be up for a mini-adventure. We set our sights on an early run at Connetquot River State Park for Sunday morning.
The only time we were running 'together.'
To be completely honest, I have fallen off the running wagon these past couple of weeks. I would like to blame this entirely on an injury but there has also been just a lack of motivation. No bueno. It's funny because I am feeling fairly motivated in other parts of my life. It's almost like I only have so much brain capacity for willpower. At the end of the day, all I want is ice cream and my bed. I hoped that by getting my feet dirty I would feel re-inspired to stick with my training plan or you know at least run a couple times a week. If I had known what these trails had in store for me, I probably would have cut back on that whole I need motivation thing.
This running buddy is more my speed.
As we made our way to the park, the skies opened up and it started to pour. Not to be deterred, we continued to the trail and accepted that we would be thoroughly soaked. Looking back, I should have been thankful for the rain because at least it wasn't hot. After a couple of miles, the rain stopped and the air became stagnant, sticky, and steamy. Not my favorite. And to make matters worse, with this insanely humid weather came swarms of insects which were mostly horseflies. Stupidly, when I first saw them encroaching in my space I thought what funny looking moths. I know. I am just as disappointed in myself as you are. They let me know pretty quickly that they were merciless bloodsuckers and hence became my primary running motivation.
I spent the remaining 3-4 miles of my run alternating between swinging my arms in the air above and around my head and smacking myself all over my body in a sad attempt to keep them off of me. The shear number of bugs was ridiculous. Also, at this point my feet were audibly squishing in my sneakers and with each stride I was generously sprinkled with sand and mud. I was uncomfortable, looked absolutely ridiculous, and knew that there was no way I could stop. I could have been angry about it or at the very least frustrated but all I could do was laugh. I mean I got exactly what I asked for.
I should have known better when this swamp was at the start of the trail.
notes:
- if you drive to connetquot, you must pay to park there ($8 per vehicle). you can alternatively bike, run, or horseback ride in and avoid a fee. with that in mind, be aware of horses while exploring this park and remember that they always have right of way.
- get a map when you enter the park or use gps on your phone. i am pretty familiar with this park as i used to horseback ride here and i still managed to get turned around making my planned 3-4 mile run a 5-6 mile run. you can imagine how thrilled i was to be running for an even longer time with my horsefly friends.
- no fathers were neglected in the execution of this activity. they were of course invited and shockingly decided that spending the morning indoors and dry was a better option. don't fret - there was plenty of adventuring that afternoon (evidence below).
