Day 12, May 18 2011 – Antigonish to New Glasgow 61.22km
18 May
A routine is developing. Every morning we wake up, and every morning Mike tells me about the dreams he has the night before. They never make sense, but he’s usually pretty excited about them. And he always seems to remember them.
Now that we have the RV I can start eating breakfast the way I want to. Instead of heading to a restaurant I can have granola with yogurt and fruit, and as my brother will be delighted to know, lots of eggs.
After bandaging up my feet again I took off in the cool misty morning. Once again Mike came along for the run. I’m going to make a distance runner out of him yet. The road from Antigonish to New Glasgow had a decent shoulder but there were a fair number of logging trucks to blow wind in our faces in addition to their pine scent. Mike lasted almost the whole run, but decided to take a 2.5 km break during the second half because of cramps in his legs. He ran 20km yesterday and 17.5 km this morning. Pretty good for someone who doesn’t usually run. There was no beaver buzz taken this morning though so not as much talking. In between the second and third 20km we stopped at a nearby Irving gas station in New Glasgow, where we learned how to fill our RV with water, and dump out the waste compartment.
The second 20km took me around New Glasgow where the drivers seemed less concerned about runners on the side of the road and so gave way less space when passing. A number of times I had to step off onto the uneven, steeply sloping side which was both painful on my feet and threw off my pace, which toward the end was really starting to slow down. Part of the problem was the sun had come out, which while helping contribute to my now pretty impressive sock tan, also made me sweat a lot more. By the time I finished and met up with Mike and Serg I needed 1.5L of Gatorade before I started to feel even remotely hydrated.
Mike again joined me for the third 20km as we left New Glasgow, and ran into Pictou towards the Northumberland Ferry to PEI. Mike ran 15 out of 20km bringing his two-day total to 53.5km. If you’re wondering how often he runs, he ran the sun run (10km) 2 years ago. I ran the last 5km alone down a straight road lined on both sides by flooded marsh. Just before the end there was a huge bald eagle sitting atop a tree directly in front of the low-lying sun on my left that had me wishing for a camera.
The entrance to the ferry line-up to PEI is not like the ferries I’m used to in Vancouver. I had no idea how close I was to finishing until I turned a corner and it was about 100m in front of me. Nova Scotia is done!
That night, after a hot tub and showers courtesy of the Pictou YMCA, and three hot dogs, we headed into the nearly deserted New Glasgow core to watch the Canucks demolish San Jose!
Tomorrow….PEI!
