My sweaty, sight-seeing, seashore stroll

I’m visiting my buddy, Trajan, in Connecticut – not too far from the Basketball Hall of Fame, where I spent the past half-week covering Karl Malone’s enshrinement journey. With a few races looming in the horizon and time on my hand, I decided to combine sight-seeing and training today.

I went online and tried to find some fun recommendations for this area, even pondered running around the campus of Yale. Ultimately, after looking at Google Maps and mapmyrun.com, I ended up with a six-mile loop that would put me on the Connecticut shoreline for part of the run. Sounded like a neat run.

I knew there were a few ma and pa type stores out on my course, so I tucked a $5 bill in my sock, put on my trusty 305 Garmin (to let me know just how slow my pace is!), and left everything else at my friend’s house.

The temperature is only in the low 80s today, so I just figured I could find some water along the way. That turned out to be a mistake. I also brought a small granola bar with me, which I’m glad I did but I probably should’ve packed some quicker-energy (like chocolate!) and a drink. I got very thirsty and kinda bonked out there.

The incredible humidity made it feel like I was running through a shower, a hot one. I kept my pace really slow – with my usual four-minute run, one-minute walk routine. But by the time I reached the halfway point and hit the beach, I kinda knew I was in trouble.

I did take the time to find three seashells on the seashore to bring home as souvenirs for my kids, and boy did I have to work for those. My run included about a half-mile or so on the sand, so that increased the difficulty there.

My friend’s wife, Lauren, joked that they would come looking for me if I didn’t return after four hours, and I wondered if they were actually going to have to at one point. I was feeling dizzy about four miles into it, so I twisted my arm to walk a bit extra (didn’t take too much convincing, haha).

Finally, at about Mile 5, I ran into a convenience store, and it seriously took me about 5-10 minutes inside to find a low-calorie Gatorade-type drink to get my electrolytes and fluid back in check. That was a tasty drink!

I still had a half-mile to get back to my friend’s house, and I kept forcing myself to jog for a couple of minutes at a time. I even made myself go past his house and come back to get the full 6.0 miles in.
My nutrition, fluids, body and mind really struggled on this run, but it was nice to see some new incredible green territory and a part of America I’d never checked out while exercising.

Boy, it’s hard not to let self-doubt creep in, though, when you struggle to finish a six-mile route with half-marathon, Sprint and Olympic triathlons coming up and an Ironman on next year’s schedule.
But I got my workout in for the day even while on a mini-vacation and got some free souvenirs out of it, so I’ll consider the run a victory.

Now let’s just hope my friend’s washer and dryer – already used to clean some nasty workout clothes from the weekend – can handle this new soggy load.