Wednesday, September 15, 2010
No question fall is on the way... I set out for tonight's run with both short and long-sleeved shirts and in the end only opted for the short sleeves because I remember too many occasions in the past where I spent an entire run where I was chilly at the start and spent the rest of the time overheating. Actually, I enjoy the cooler temperatures, but the ever-decreasing hours of daylight are a bummer... I spent the last mile or more of tonight's run with a view that was slightly better than the photos below, simply because my eyes are more sensitive to dim light than my camera.
Haven't run in the Pine Bush much this summer, partially because there are lots of other places enjoy running, partially because soon the Pine Bush will be one of the few places I can run trails after work (in the dark, with a headlamp) and partially because I didn't run nearly as much this summer as I should have. So it was nice to be there again, even with all the changes that have occured due to "habitat restoration." Even nicer was the fact that I arrived at the Madison Avenue Pinelands trailhead and it wasn't crowded!
During the first few miles I heard a lot of "tap, tap, tap" and after a bit figured out that the noise was woodpeckers. I was a bit surprised by how many I saw, but that may have been a positive outcome of the "habitat restoration" - there are plenty of stands of dead trees, especially in spots where lots of black locusts have been girdled, dead trees are good homes for bugs, and those are a primary source of food for woodpeckers. I saw primarily downy woodpeckers but I think I also heard some pileated woodpeckers calling off in the distance.
I was a bit concerned at first - my legs were feeling pretty tired and a bit sore from last weekend's races in Kinderhook and Pittsfield, despite the fact that overall they felt much better than they had after the Catharine Valley and Oak Tree half marathons. But they seemed to loosen up a bit as I ran, and later in the run I even opted to take the power line trail, which in some spots features killer hills (which I hiked up, of course!) The sand was probably the biggest challenge... right now things are very dry and all the trail usage has really churned up the sandy sections, which was pretty tough going at times.
JMH
