My favorite running course is out my front door, past the lake we live on, and into the cool refreshing woods on a seldom traveled dirt road. I rarely share the course with many people, but the wildlife, especially later in the morning, can be notable. One of my least favorite co-runners is the hated Chrysops callidus, more commonly known as the deer fly.
As a long-time woods-savvy girl, I have some theories about how to avoid becoming an insect repast.
- Stay in the sun. Most bugs have enough sense to stay out of direct sunlight, preferring the cool cover of shade, even if some humans aren't always this sagacious.
- Move fast. Most bugs can only travel just so fast; if you're running, run faster, or if you're swatting move quickly. Surprise twists and turns are good for leaving the insects in the dust.
- Eat garlic. Everyone from medieval times forward knows that all blood suckers abhor garlic.
Unfortunately, it turns out that while this all seems to work pretty well for mosquitoes, gnats, and many other flies of the order Diptera, deer flies are completely undaunted by any of it. These miserable creatures LOVE sun. Regarding speed of flight, I'd like to tell you that I'm so fast that I can outrun them. (I'd be lying.) Last evening I decided to do a little experiment. I hopped on my bike to do a little cross training, and rode off to a nearby park that was having a big Independence Day celebration. I entered the Chrysops central zone, prepared to laugh (mouth closed, of course) as I zoomed by the hoards of attackers. 10 mph -- nope. Those little bloodsuckers could keep up with me without effort. To quote the folks at Ohio State, who generally aren't right about much [M go Blue!], "They are fast, strong fliers." 12 mph -- the old, infirm, and just born yesterday were dropping off, but I still had to deal with the starving pregnant females. 15 mph -- only the hardiest, which were still enough to keep me veering all over the road as I swatted away. It wasn't until I was blazing 20 mph down some major hills that I could rid myself of those miserable pests!
This leaves us to one last remedy: Garlic. Back in my Bram Stoker reading days, I remember hearing one theory that the birth of the vampire myth was really an explanation of the bloodthirsty nature of wicked insects. Just as vampires in the form of True Blood's Bill Compton are only slightly more than some creative writer's imagination, so is the idea that you can eat enough garlic in anything under the quantities necessary to ensure that you will never again have a personal friend going to dissuade these creatures from making you their dinner. Fortunately we have modern science to the rescue. Some of the more novel solutions:
- Wear a bright blue plastic salad bowl. (I'm not kidding... check this out!)
- Neck patches (also from the Oh-how-I-hate folks)
- Chemicals, including DEET and permethrin (nice summary from University of Kentucky, I especially like the aviso regarding age)
I have to admit that today I wore blue (polyester, not plastic), tied a scarf around my neck, and began applying Cutter's and Off, both, to combat the problem. I'm not too happy about taking the chemical approach to what is supposed to be a healthy activity, but since I'm not (yet) able to run 20 mph, even for short bursts, something had to be done.
Até amanhã...
7/4/11 - 2.0 miles | 43 mins | 4.7 mph | 225 kcal
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