the Way of the Turtle

6.5 Mile Run in the Pine Bush
Friday, September 11, 2009

The first few days back to teaching always take a lot out of me, which is why I ended up running tonight instead of last night... I was just too fried yesterday to force myself out the door. And tonight I ended up staying late at work trying to wait out the downpour that started just before I was planning to go home, so much of tonight's run ended up being done in the dark. Headlamp time!

I ended up at the Karner Barrens, near the Pine Bush Discovery Center. The storm had blown in on a cold front, so it was chilly and damp - more like late October than early September, so that I needed to wear a windbreaker to stay warm enough. As I ran along the trails the cool stormy weather had me thinking back to 2005, when the Albany Running Exchange had originally planned to hold their Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon and Squirrelly Six Mile trail races in the Pine Bush, including some of the trails I was running tonight. Then some bad feeling sprang up between the ARE and various folks involved with the Pine Bush, in part because of some fairly blatant disregard on the part of the ARE for some of the rules for using the Pine Bush trails and in part because some of the Pine Bush folks may have been enjoying jerking the ARE around, and about a month before the race the location was moved to Thacher Park... which in the end was probably for the best, because it has thrived there and I don't think the Pine Bush folks would have ever let it grow into the mammoth event that it's become.

I think I'm getting back into the swing of running with my headlamp... at least it seemed a bit easier tonight than the last two times, but maybe that's because the trails were more forgiving. I saw several toads hopping around... good hunting, guys, eat lots of bugs! And over in the fields of Karner Barrens west I had two pairs of glowing eyes watching me from off in the scrub. Usually deer run off when I go by, so I suspect these two didn't quite know what to make of the strange critter with the bright light up top.

I was briefly tempted to put in one more mile, but in the end my legs were feeling tired and I decided it wasn't worth it... better to only do 6 1/2 tonight than to get hurt running in the dark on tired legs, and no sense in overdoing when I have Pisgah on Sunday. And regardless of the length, tonight was a good run. I'm definitely looking forward to cool fall weather!

JMH