Cows and Calves

Turns out that there are a lot more cows up here in Northern Michigan than I would have expected in what is essentially a beach community. My family has been playing a game in the car that if you see cows (or any animal) and they are on your side of the car, you get a point. The only problem with this game is that my aunt cheats every time, so unless you're sitting on her side of the car, you can't win.

This afternoon I decided to go for a run. I had looked at the map before leaving for Michigan and found a route that should have been about 6.5 miles. Our cabin is set right just a little ways back from the highway, but right on the water, so I wanted to try to avoid running too far along the highway. Luckily, just a little ways down the road is a sub-division of houses along the beach, so I figured I could run there and have less traffic to contend with.

Everything was going okay until I got to about the first mile (or what I'm assuming was the first mile since it had been 10 minutes). Then my calves just had essentially had enough. I don't know what happened and my left is worse than my right, but neither was happy. I stopped and stretched for a few minutes and kept going. I ran for another 15 minutes before stopping again to walk for a while.

It actually turned out that it was okay that my calves started acting up, because although the map shows that the road is a through street, it is actually a dead end. When I got to the end of the road, I turned around and headed back. That was also about the same time my legs pooped out on me.

I did run for a couple short intervals just to see how it felt and each time it still felt about the same (not too great). I did run from the sub-division back to the cottage since it seemed like I should minimize my time on the highway if at all possible. I did see a guy out walking his dog, so at least I wasn't the only person out there.

I have no clue at all the distance for today, but I will go back and fill in later. I tried and tried to get gmap pedometer to work on my phone (the only source of Internet I've got here) but I had zero luck. Part of the problem is that it still looks like the road should continue for longer than I know it does, so I really don't understand the map on the Internet at all.

But, here are today's stats without the distance:
Time: 38:51
Calories: 489
Maximum HR: 186
Average HR: 169

I'm thinking tomorrow will only be a swimming day. And I'm going less for distance and more for practicing getting into and out of the water, since Westchester is a beach start and I've got such a nice and sandy beach to practice on. I figure Saturday can be reserved for one long last swim.