Booty Rumble

Well, I survived a Team Slug non-event, and even managed to thoroughly enjoy myself:
Um, yeah. Not the most flattering picture of me. That's me enjoying the dark chocolate peanut M&M's at the "aid station".

I was doing the 25K option of the 50K non-event, at an undisclosed location in Delaware. I found out later it was 91 degrees. Yeow. I drank a lot, and had lovely friends who ran it slowly with me. I had a wonderful, wonderful time.

Usually, I wouldn't want to even be outside in 91 degrees. ;)

Father's Day Hike

On Saturday, my dad and I hiked from Ridgway to Brockway. No joke. We hiked 18 miles on the Clarion/Little Toby Rails to Trails . Of course, we originally were thinking of 9 or so miles on this trail, but considering both our personalities, I suppose it was inevitable that we were going to end up doing the whole thing.

It's a beautiful trail, going along first the Clarion River (this was slightly familiar to me, since this is part of the course for the Ridgway Triathlon that my husband has done) and then the Little Toby. We had good luck with the weather; there was a chance of thunderstorms in the forecast, but we never got more than a light drizzle, nothing bothersome. And the temperature was in the 70's instead of the 80's like last week! And as a side note, it started some heavy rain about 3 minutes into our drive home!

We had our fair share of wildlife spottings:

• a blue heron flying along the river
  
• mama deer and baby deer, very close to the trail. Mama kept an eye on us, but didn't bolt
  
• a raccoon, fishing industriously in the river
• several red-spotted newts crossing the trail. The one I took a picture of is in the eft or sub-adult stage. Apparently at the end of the eft stage, and about a week before they are ready to enter the water, its color will be darker, with the red spots along the sides. We saw some in that stage, too.
• my mystery animal... it was scuttling along the side of the path, and didn't seem too afraid of us... it was chittering at us somewhat angrily. We think it might be a marten or a fisher, but we couldn't get a very clear look at it. It seemed to have some stripe markings on its back.
  

The trail is punctuated with signs labeling where old towns and quarries and whatnot used to be, which made it very interesting.

We walked partway across the swinging bridge across the Toby, but we stopped partway over, so as not to disturb the fly fisherman who was fishing that spot. From where we were, we could see a very large palamino trout.

We had a great time, although my legs are feeling it a bit. There is definitely a different set of muscles for walking than for running! It makes me think of people who hike the Appalachian trail...they would do a day of hiking like that (but with hills!) and then get up and do it again the next day. And the next day. They must become so incredibly fit and strong.

And I am so proud of my dad. He had heart surgery last year, and got his pacemaker/defibrillator in just recently, and he pretty much just walked me into the ground! The only adjustment we needed to make for him was to re-adjust the straps on his camelbak so they wouldn't rub against his "appliance". He pretty much rocks.

It's good to have a long time to walk and to talk. It's a good thing.

Good Things

On last Saturday's run, and last night's walk in the woods, there were more good things to appreciate:

• Salamanders moving lazily in the shallow water
• Frogs singing
• Trees felled by the beavers that are far too large for them to drag
• Ferns unfurling from their fiddleheads
• Geese nesting
• Green, green and more green.

I love this time of year. Even if the bugs are out. I had to bust out the insect repellent, since the game lands are notorious for having a huge tick population.

Here's my smile from Saturday:

On Saturday, as I was finishing up my first loop, I saw what looked like a boat being unloaded in the parking area. I hesitated, wondering if I had a responsibility to go tell Mr. Optimistic Boat Guy that the ponds in there weren't actually that big, and that it was pretty far to carry a canoe.... I decided against it and kept running.

On my second loop, I changed my route since the water was overflowing the beaver dam and I had ended up with mud splashed all up my left side from my first crossing. I ended up running past a pond I usually didn't see... a larger pond than the others. And there was Mr. Optimistic Boat Guy, gliding in his canoe with a buddy, having a good old time!

So, Mr. Optimistic Boat Guy, I salute you! And I'm glad I didn't go tell you "You can't do that here!" I'm glad I was wrong, and I'm glad you had a good day.

Wonderful Day

Today, by way of missing one trail turn, and trying a new one further down the line, I managed to have a bit of adventure and make myself a decent loop.

At one point, after running a long way along a grassy road with "private property" signs to my left, and state game land boundary signs to my right, I passed a sign that indicated that I should not be on the road I had been running on. Oops. I took a few strides across the exuberantly labeled private property, becoming a trespasser at risk of being prosecuted, until I was safely on public lands.

From there I followed a trail that... well, I wasn't exactly sure where I would end up. That is a little bit of adrenaline rush. I felt uncomfortable going back along the questionable road, in case one of the property owners might be around, so I forged onward. I briefly wondered how upset my husband would be if I called from another county to get a ride home.

But the trail eventually took me to a road I recognized, the one that runs toward the shooting range. I ran down it a bit until I found a trail I knew, and took that back toward my car.

It was a beautifully sunny day, and everything seemed to work perfectly for me today. My foot hung in there, although it "felt funny" during one prolonged uphill. I was able to run for 2.5 hours, and my heart was filled with the joy of it all.

There is a mist of green over the forest floor, where bits of grass, ferns and brambles are starting to grow again.

Next weekend is Umstead, where I will be crewing for my friends. After today, I feel like I might even be able to pace for a bit.

Springtime in Pennsylvania

We had some mild weather this weekend, so I was able to make a try at a trail run.

The trails were a mix... some slushy ice, lots of mud, streams running down paths, small bogs and big puddles. It was a beautiful mess. I had even picked the "dryer" side of the gamelands to enter.

I managed to get my first bramble scratches of the season, which sting like fury when you hit the shower.

I also managed to solve a mystery. When I first started running in the gamelands, and didn't know the trails very well, I had ended up in a field (a feed lot for wild life) with a track along the side, and numbered bluebird houses. And I had never been able to find that darn field again after that. Yesterday I tried a different path, and ended up in the lower end of the mystery field, and then was able to turn my run into a loop. Good stuff. :)