Snakes in the Road

Run
I kind of enjoyed fartleks today. Am I sick or something? I set up my intervals last night (since my fancy new watch DATA can do that stuff) at 10 minutes and 1 minute. My plan was to run 10 minutes easy and 1 minute fast. As I got into the groove, I aimed for 10 minutes at around 130 to 150 on the HRM and 1 minute above 150. After my minute was up, I walked to bring things back under 130. The plan worked pretty well so I stuck to it through about 5 or 6 intervals. Didn't really have much trouble and my Star Trek podcast kept me distracted so I just listened for the watch to beep at me. I still took regular walking breaks but they were just as needed and not on any set time or with any set plan.

Outside of the fartlek portion, the workout wasn't exactly what I had hoped for with the scenery. I passed a bunch of dead bugs and critters that I'd just as soon never see again. Saw a giant wasp that was dead. Saw a squished praying mantis. And I saw three dead snakes. Two were fairly small but one was about 5 or 6 feet long and clearly a copperhead. Even though I knew it was dead, I kept my eyes on it and went as far around it as I could. And it still scared me. I'm such a ninny sometimes.

Beyond that, had plenty of nice folks out waving to me and giving me plenty of space as a pedestrian. I have a longer blog post brewing about that.

Weather:
Temps were about 75F to 80F. Humidity was moderate to high. Slight breeze. Sun was out but it was a bit hazy.

Fluids and Fuel:
Pre-run was half an iced coffee. During the run I had a bottle of plain water. I finished it with a good 15 minutes to go and just ran the last part dry. No real recovery as I went straight into a bike ride.

Aches and Pains:
My right foot kept falling asleep. I stretched it out a few times and after a few walking breaks it went back to normal. My calves felt tight during the fast minutes but I just attributed that to me flying over the pavement like The Flash.

Gear:
No special gear but I did wear my cycle jersey because I was going for a ride later.

Experiment:
Wore my phone in STRETCH and carried my small pepper spray. Both rode just fine.

Splits:
Outbound - 25:05 (AVG HR 142)
Inbound - 35:48 (AVG HR 151) (slightly longer return section)
Finish - 1:00:54

Ride
You guessed it, a ride to Sheetz for an iced latte. And an iced tea for later. I made a quick change after my fartlek workout to jump on my bike and head to my local gas station/coffee shop. The ride was fairly slow and steady, I wasn't in any mood to push my pace or anything. It was an easy way to cool off and chill out.

Even though I had passed the big dead snake twice on foot and once on my bike, my last time going by I couldn't NOT look at it. I tried to ignore the dead thing but I couldn't resist the urge to make sure it was actually dead and didn't chase me as I rode by the last time. Can you tell I hate snakes?

I was chased by a small dog for a few feet. I rode past a driveway and heard two dogs barking at me, one large and one small. The big ones don't really bother me that much unless they're in a pack. The small ones scare me because I know they tend to bite and they're too damn small to easily kick. Well, he chased me into the road and from the looks of things realized the cars were bigger than him so he quickly left me alone and went home.

Outside of that, I had some nice drivers and some asshole drivers. I was pleasantly surprised by the nice ones that waited to pass me until it was safe and ever gave me a little honk that was clearly a "have a nice day" honk not a "go fuck yourself" honk. Just like my run, I've got a blog post brewing about this.

Weather:
Temps were about 75F to 80F. Humidity was moderate to high. Slight breeze. Sun was out but it was a bit hazy.

Fluids and Fuel:
Had a bottle of Hammer Fizz for the first half. Second half was just a sip or two of my iced latte. Recovery was Hammer Perpeteum, two eggs, and yogurt.

Aches and Pains:
Nothing really hurt.

Gear:
No special gear.

Experiment:
Carried my phone in my cycle jersey and added my knife to hold my cards. Still had my small pepper spray. Everything rode just fine.

Splits:
Outbound - 19:03 (AVG HR 149)
Inbound - 15:01 (AVG HR 140)
Finish - 34:04