Monday, September 4, 2006
Headed over to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center to try a short run... I picked Five Rivers because I knew I could run the service road loop, which is flat and a mix of dirt and grass. Also not too long - 2 miles at most.
It was very slow going... my stride was about the same as my walking stride, because the various pulled muscles in my hips and groin are still painful. So I plodded along doing a remarkable impression of a little old man trying to run, looping through the very short woodlot trail, then out to the service road, and then down to the beaver pond trail. The latter was the most challenging since I actually hit some hilly sections which were tough going. When I got back to the parking lot I did one more loop of the woodlot trail, for a total of about 3 miles and 45 minutes or so.
At one pond I watched a green heron scurry along the shore, stop to snatch something to eat from the water, and then scurry on. While on the bridge across the beaver pond I stopped to look at the fish and saw a good-sized snapping turtle swimming in the water... between 18 and 24 inches from nose to tail, I'd say. He must not have been hungry, because there were lots of fish around and he wasn't showing any interest. At one point a small red-eared slider swam past him. Pretty cool overall.
(My snapping turtle wasn't as dramatic as this one, but it was still pretty cool! Go here to see a larger version of this photo and some other nifty snapping turtle shots.)
So the running situation is definitely depressing... 3 weeks ago I ran a strong 18 miles and today I painfully shuffled through 3 miles. Hopefully that will improve as September moves forward.
JMH
