It has been a frustrating few days for me. I went to an auto race in upstate New York and was camping. The plan was to run some of the cool trails near the lake up there. Unfortunately, everything got derailed while I was up there. On Friday, it was hot and I walked around for about an hour at the track. I came back extremely chafed. I was surprised because I wasn't out that long. I guess I wasn't dry in that area and wearing cotton sure didn't help.
I found some cream that definitely helped. It didn't work fast enough though and I had to skip the rest of my runs until today. I thought about running after dark last night, but decided to give it another day. I felt a lot better, but still didn't think I was 100% today. Five days off was enough though, so I had to give it a try.
I had hoped to get out early and run before it got too hot. That didn't happen though and when out in the peak of the heat at lunch time. To keep relatively cool, I decided to run in the wooden sections of Jacobsburg. I would've liked to actually run uphill, but that section goes into an open field. It was too hot for that.
I made sure to keep my skin dry and I put on some Bodyglide. The frustrating thing was my GPS watch. I must've walked almost a mile before I finally got a signal. I've never had that issue at Jacobsburg and it wasn't cloudy or anything. I was actually heading back to the main parking lot when it finally started working. I may be pathetic, but I can't start a run without tracking it. Otherwise, it seems like it doesn't count.
I started off and ironically the Garmin screwed up again anyway. I had barely run anywhere and it already said I had run a third of a mile and at a 6 min and change pace. So much for an accurate run. I was just happy it was working though and it seemed to be fine the rest of the way.
I climbed some of the small hills and wound through the narrow section too. I ran without a shirt and was a little concerned about brushing up against bushes. I don't want to get any ticks. In my effort avoid bushes, I nearly tripped a couple times.
I was surprised at how much mud there was in the muddy section. One part was awful because there was fresh horse crap and flies everywhere. It was actually nice and cool in the woods, but 90 degrees is still 90 degrees and I was sweating quite bit.
As I crossed over a few roads and came to the back section, I came up on people riding horses. I always hate this as I never know the proper etiquette to use. I told them I was coming and they moved out of the way. It was a pain though because this section was narrow and there were three horses. One of them actually backed his horse off the trail and partway into the woods. I thanked them for letting me go. I think the one horse then trotted fairly fast behind me. I assumed it was under control, but it did have me checking behind me a little.
Shortly after passing the horses I came up on a lady running with her dog. I passed them and noticed a guy up ahead. I rarely see anyone running on these trails and to pass two people within a matter of minutes seemed odd. It made more sense though when I came up on the guy. He said I surprised him because at first he thought it was his wife running, but he knew she wasn't that fast. I was wondering why he was running relatively slow when he looked to be in great shape.
I didn't actually want to run this far. When I was worried about passing the horses, I missed the left turn to run a shorter route. Coming back is nice and flat. It is easy running. This is actually a good place to practice some fast trailing running. When I had the chance, I decided to cut down towards the creek and run along there. After a couple minutes, I came up on another horse. It looked like the same guy that was in the back the last time. Rather than be a pain again, I turned around and looked for a creek crossing. I found the creek and crossed over.
It was refreshing running through the cold water. I then ran along the creek trail for awhile, until I came back out to the main path. I run this part of the trail quite often. It comes out on the road and I have to run there for a short distance.
I was starting to sweat quite a bit and was glad the run was nearly over. There was some small uphills, but I was cruising. I decided I run to about the five mile mark. I did a short out and back near the main parking lot. There is a very hilly section there which I haven't run in awhile. I need to try that out next time. I actually ended up running for a little over 50 minutes. It was a good run and I was relieved to be done.
To prevent chafing, I change my pants and dried off a bit too before heading home and taking an immediate shower. I think wearing moisture wicking clothes was a bit help. Obviously the Bodyglide was good too. I made sure to cool off with the nice breeze under a tree before I left too. I'll have to continue to take these types of measures I guess.
I'm going to a dirt track race tonight. I might run some short hill sprints, maybe four, when I get home late tonight. Tomorrow, there is a four mile race nearby. I don't think I'm going to run it, but I'll probably go and take pictures. If I do that, I'll try to get up very early and run five or more miles. We'll see how that goes. It is great to just be able to run again. Not only did I not have chafing problems, but my wound isn't bothering me too much anymore either.
Slightly inaccurate run information.
5.06 miles - 50:31 (9:58 pace)
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