the Way of the Turtle

7.2 Mile Run in the Pine Bush
Wednesday, April 9, 2008

A cloudy evening with the possibility of some showers, but still fairly warm - warm enough to run in shorts and a shirt! I headed over the the Willow Street trailhead for the Pine Bush planning to run most of the major trails (except for a short stretch that's currently undergoing "habitat restoration" and is off limits.)

While my legs felt better during the day than they have for the past two, it was clear fairly quickly that I still haven't totally recovered from Sunday... legs felt tired during pretty much the whole run. I'b been thinking of putting in a few miles on the bike tomorrow, but maybe I'll just do an easy walk or something and try to rest up for Saturday's long run (11-12 miles, on trails.)

Spotted a couple of deer, but by far the best wildlife experience tonight was toward the end of the run, when I went through an area with a lot of vernal ponds (pools of water which fill with snowmelt and spring rains but mostly dry up in the summer.) Vernal ponds are very important for salamanders and woods frogs breeding, and if I hadn't known the ponds were there before tonight it would have been very obvious from the almost deafening racket the frogs were making! I ended up stopping and walking for a while, just enjoying listening to the peepers and all their different calls. And while I was there, I spotted a muskrat swimming through the largest pond (one that actually retains some water year-round.) From the way he ducked under the water when he spotted me, I don't think he was as interested in seeing me as I was in seeing him!

Overall, a tough run, but a good time outdoors... I'm starting to think that the Muddy Moose 14 mile trail race in 1 1/2 weeks is going to be a real bear, though!

JMH