Sunday, July 13, 2008

A Bump in the Road

When we 1st arrived at the start point of our long run around Boyden Lake I was quick to point out the 'bump in the road' to my good friend Andrew. It also served notice for 1st dibs on my blog post title which are sometimes hard to be creative with. Not today...
Of course Andrew insisted that I should also be photo-oped as we recreated our running shuffle at the end of the 18 mile journey.
It was a perfect morning for a run today with only light winds and an overcast sky (though the sun came out and winds picked up at the very end chasing the pesky deerflies away). Ideal temps of 14-20C (57-70F) made for a nice run, though the humidity sucked us both out a bit. Andrew had 2 water stations set up and I stopped to refill at a roadside spring at the 10 mile mark. Not much else happened on the run, I had to do an emergency pit stop at the gas station in the 1st mile, one photo stop for an old tractor and we scared some horses because we were running 'so fast' down a little hill. My legs were good today, other than feeling a little tired and the hams were not too much of a problem. Great run and it was over before we knew it.

The 'Bump in the Road' occurred on my way home just as I entered Calais on the US side of the border. My van started to overheat and I had to stop and call for a tow truck which hauled me all the way back to St. Andrews. Good thing I have CAA! Also the kindness of strangers was amazing. I had my hood up and at least 6-8 people stopped and asked if I needed help. One guy even went back to his home and got some antifreeze to refill my system. However, when we saw it just pour out of a hole in the engine (popped frost plug) we knew I wasn't going anywhere. It was funny but the Canadian border guard hardly even blinked as we went through the booth. Anyway, now home safe and sound and I'm now eyeing a bottle of Guinness for an afternoon treat.

Have a nice day!

July 13 - Sunday
Training: 18 miles easy (8:22 pace) Boyden with Andrew and the deerflies 7/10
Health: legs and body tired but hams were pretty good today 7/10
Stretching: none (again) but iced legs on return and 'will' stretch tonite

4 comments:

Andrew said...

Oh no! By any chance did your son's fiancee drive your van recently?

Good run Mike! See you next Saturday hopefully.

Sonhasrisenrunning said...

I like to read and compare your accounts of your runs with Andy's. When I was running with Andy on a consistent basis in the mornings I would always enjoy reading his account of the workout.

Garry said...

Tough break with the van. Thank goodness for CAA and kind strangers. You definitely deserved that bottle of Guinness!

Dubs said...

A cold beer sounds like the perfect antidote! I say this as I sit here with mine!