My last two runs have been adventures in creature-dom.
First there was Saturday's planned 7-miler. The guys went to a baseball game that evening so I decided to just get out there for a relaxed long run around 6:30. It was super humid that day and it just seemed to get more and more so as my run went on.
Before I knew it, I wasn't just swatting the thick air, I was swatting creepy flying ant-like creatures! They had come out of nowhere! And it was gross. Completely. 100 percent. Gross. The flying ant-like bugs were swarming all around; getting in my air, hitting up against my arms and sticking to my sweat, trying to fly in my mouth (but finding that I had quickly gotten smart and kept it closed). Gross. Just gross.
So I cut my run short at a little over 5 miles. Who can run in those conditions? OK, lots of people can do it but I'm not lots of people and it just wasn't worth it to me.
Yesterday's run was a run of a different sort. (No flying ant-like creatures! Woo hoo!) An easy 4-miler. Scheduling was such that I had to head out after 8pm when Owen got home. No problem -- I took my cell phone and a cool little blinking light and set off.
The thing about running in the (mostly) dark is that it is a lot cooler than when running in the blazing sun. And the humidity -- well, it's virtually non-existent.
Have you had many cool, low-humidity runs lately? I haven't and, let me tell you, they are a treat! I felt like I was flying and as if I could just run forever.
Except for two things: 1) Mailboxes look a lot like ax murderers when you are running past them in the dark and 2) bats. Seriously. I have never seen so many BATS in all my life. They were flying all around -- high above me and not bothering me at all but, still. They were there. I knew it. I could see them. Bats may be my friends and all but they are also a little on the skeevy side.
So, there you have it. Creatures, creatures.
Today I'm going to attempt my speed intervals on the treadmill.
Please let there be no creatures in my basement . . .
~ Felice
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Bugs 'n bats.
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20 comments:
Oh boy those bats can be scary! I really hate when its buggy and muggy outside for a run! Good luck with the intervals!
Good lord that is a lot of creepy crawlies! I got the heeby jeebies just thinking about those bugs!
I am waiting for a cool, low hudimity run. Hope it comes my way soon too. Great job on getting through 5 miles of bugs!
I wear a headlamp when I run at night, because it turns the monsters back into mailboxes again.
And I wish the bats had a little more courtesy. I know they are good fliers and won't hit me, but I'd rather they didn't show off so much.
Ewww and UHHHHH! I want to attempt the semi-dark run as well (so as to not be a slave to the treadmill), but I'm afraid.
I'd have quite with the bugs as well. Sick little things.
Jon -- that's exactly it! The bats seem to be showing off with all that dipping and flipping and darting around. Sheesh!
My eyes always play tricks on me in the dark. All kinds of random objects become crazed animals or serial killers. *shudder*
As for the bugs... EW. I have ingested far too many this summer. Bats would have freaked me out too.
Enjoy the safety (hopefully!) of running in your basement!
If you catch any of my long run posts from the weekends you'll find that I am always mistaking objects for other things, coming across random wildlife and just generally running like a crazy person. My long run partner and I always opt either run at night after 9pm and/or VERY EARLY on Saturday mornings (as in start at 4am) to get as much dark running as possible. Humidity down here in Orlando is a given, no matter what time of the day, but the less exposure to the sun the better.
Good luck with the intervals tonight! :)
You're lucky they weren't swooping down at you! I've had that before...not fun!
Bugs ARE gross!
Har! I sooo know what you mean about inanimate objects morphing into scary beasts in the dark :)
I'm loving this weather, btw. A little coolness & low humidity = heaven!
I would freaking FLIP if I saw a bat I think. I get scared over everything! AGH! I can't even imagine. Yikes! hope they don't attack you! (I don't know if bats attack but it sounds scary! ha ha)
"Mailboxes look a lot like ax murderers when you are running past them in the dark" LOL TOO FUNNY! I am hyperparaoid I doubt I would be successful running in the dark..
I hope the mice didn't try to nip at your heals on the Dreadmill :)
omgosh i think i would FREAK if i saw a bat!!! things look so different in the dark, even my dogs get spooked by shadows sometimes :)
Ugh...bugs. I inhaled a spider once when I was running. My nose was running, so I managed to sniff at the wrong time and yep...inhaled a floating spider. Which I didn't realize until I sneezed. True story.
Bats really creep me out . . . just knowing they are they makes me all jumpy. Not so good for the running!
Last week I went for a bike ride with some friends after work. It had stormed earlier in the day, but was clear and MUGGY by evening. As we were getting ready to go, we noticed large gnats were swarming. I tried bug spray but they didn't care.
During the ride, I'm surprised I only spit out a bug once, and got bugs IN MY EYE twice. Ew!
I hate seeing bats on my morning runs. I'm scared they are going to fly into my head.
note to self. don't run past mailboxes in the dark.
:-)
um i definitely get jumpy from mailboxes during broad daylight! :) i know what you are saying. i hate running through bug clouds. thankfully i haven't seen any that were so extensive i couldn't run around them yet. i hope there are not axe murderers to run from on the 'mill today!
ugh, i hate bats. my dad put one in a paper bag when i was five and left it on the counter to show my mom and i. we got home, saw an empty paper bag on the counter. took us 4 days to find that effin' bat, which had curled up in my mom's slipper. Those were 4 really sleepless nights...
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