12+ miles which should have been easy. Well, they weren't.

For some reason, it was very hard for me today, my legs hurt, and each hill felt like a huge mountain. I wanted to run longer, but the pain in my right leg is still there, and it did not improve with the miles, so I called it a day after 12, and was very happy to be done (which rarely happens).

My misfortune kept following me step by step.

I crushed my foot between two rocks, so badly that even through the shoe and cushioned sock I suffered scrapes and a bruise.

Scratched my arm bloody on a dead tree.

Got eaten alive by nasty black gnats.

And on a swampy trail, I ran into a branch that stuck out from the brush. I thought my thigh was getting impaled, and the impact bumped me right into the mud, but eventually the branch budged, and it only left a nasty 7-inch scrape and a deep bruise across my thigh. Painful, but still better than ending up as shishkebab for the bears. 

LB2: spiders - yummy. Especially the ones with the fat, high-protein legs. 

Nancy: DH had a great idea for preventing this in the future: wear headphones!

AT: I was thinking of using the light, but was too lazy to actually try it. Might have solved the problem much more quickly and without the goopy mess.

Jamie: I have ordered sports glasses, and I can't wait until they are ready. I usually wear the glasses outside the hat, so that the temples don't bother me, but yesterday, I forgot and paid the price.

wc: Yes, I still have a "strange" feeling in that ear, even though all parts and pieces are removed (flushed it with Simple Saline several times).

XT: Do you happen to have astigmatism? I think this is what makes it worse. I did not have this before, and I could see fairly well in the night with the headlamp, but now it is really a challenge. I hope the sports glasses will work better (they fit better and don't hurt as much with the "bumping" from jumping over the rocks), and of course, frequent battery changes!

Queen: I did not think of asking them for such delicate intervention... 

DD1: Love that "ritual" comment. I'll save it for another occasion. 

QOTD2: For May, I'll say over 150 for sure (100 miles from the race, plus some tapering and recovery, nothing more planned).

For April, I don't know. Probably above 200, almost all on gnarly trails.

Fun Fact: When I map my runs, the "satellite view" of the trailhead shows my car, and me, pulling a towel out of my car after a run. I think they customize the maps for every user, right? 

XT, LOL. Is there any way to break that MMT curse other than enduring the race? Thunder and rain sound nice... 

I am nearsighted, too, my vision probably barely beats that of a mole. Last time when I took a vision test at the eye doc, I could not even SEE the letters on the chart, not even the largest ones...  and thanks to the astigmatism, I have now double vision - using only one eye, not both 

We did the usual 8 this am, would really like to crank it up another notch and hit a couple 10's during the week but ther just isn't enough hours in the day.

Agter reading this this thread I think I'm going to start wearing ear plugs as warm weather running gear.

QOTD: 6 mile is the least I'll do, I thought about 5 a few times but it's a odd number and that would just be crazy.