Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The last time I tried running at the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve I gave up after a couple of miles of being swarmed by deerflies and mosquitoes, despite having used bug spray. My hope was that today would go differently because it was earlier in the day, cooler, and breezier than last time. And I was mostly right...
Somehow I usually end up at Vischer Ferry toward the end of the day, so it was a nice change to have full daylight for the entire run. That also gave me the option of running all the way to the power plant across the river from Lock 7. In the end I ran a little further than I originally intended, but that's OK - I need to be putting in more miles on the roads and trails, if I want to survive some of the races I'm planning to do this fall.
Along the way I spotted numerous blue herons and even a couple of green herons, as well as many wood ducks... this is typically a good spot for seeing birds, and today didn't disappoint. There was also a group of cormorants out on the river below the power plant... pretty cool!
No deerflies today, though at various points I did find myself swarmed by increasingly larger numbers of 'skeeters whenever I slowed down - especially toward the end of the run, when it was getting later and my bug spray was probably wearing off.
Now I just need to work more hills into my runs...(I knew that anyway, but Savoy really drove the point home!)
JMH
