A Week of Critters

Wow! What an odd week it's been... since my intiation into trail running I seem to have had several run-ins with a variety of critters. I did confirm that I brushed up a nest of seed ticks during my trail run on Wednesday. Ticks are one of my biggest outdoor fears, so I guess that fear has been addressed. Last night, when I got home from a movie, the resident skunk returned...I had a head to tail encounter with it. Yikes!! Luckily it kept its lovely aroma to itself.

It's been tough for me to get out and exercise since the antibiotics I am on to repel the evil tick venom is kind of wiping me out (dehydration, sleepiness, and I'm supposed to stay out of the sun). Today I decided to buck up and take Big Red, my lonely Trek hybrid, out for a spin. I left my place and rode through JCCC to Stoll Park to the Indian Creek trail. In total I did about 17 miles. Pretty interesting ride...by mile 3 I ran into a snake that was crossing the trail. A cyclist was coming at me head on. What to do! I didn't want to get off my bike, and I didn't want to run over the snake... Luckily I got around it before ramming into the other cyclist. Other interesting sights on my ride included a man kicking a ball around in his red Speedos on a softball field at Stoll Park (the snake on the trail may have been a more welcome sight...) and a guy practicing his shot put at the JCCC track.

Tomorrow brings the Mud & Muck 5K at Unity Village....should be interesting! My first 5K through a mud pit!!

Trail Running

Last night I did my first trail run at Shawnee Mission Park. We did the "easy" loop twice for a total of about 4.7 miles. This was a challenging proposition for me - the City Girl. I think Girl Scouts in 4th grade may have been the last time I spent quality time in a woodsy area. Seriously. Overall, it was a great experience - much more gentle on my legs than pounding asphalt, and with time I will gain the grace necessary to avoid the tree roots and rocks. As an experienced runner, I did make a newbie mistake: I forgot to apply glide to my feet so I ended up with blisters. This may be inevitable since trail running involves so much more foot movement than "regular" running. I think this may have been the longest 4.7 miles ever: 1 hour and 19 minutes...but we did stop to talk to some people we knew on the trail, so I suppose actual time may 10 minutes less.

On the way home, I noticed I did pick up 100s of tiny little hitch hiking bugs of some variety. Some are still with me this morning as I type. I am REALLY hoping they are some sort of mite, but odds are I have some variety of tick, which is causing me great mental distress as ticks are my LEAST favorite insect.

Lessons for the next trail run: 1) buy better trail shoes and 2) buy the highest level of DEET in a can possible...

My First Blog

A friend sent me a link to a gal's blog where she was recording her training activities. I couldn't help it...I had to steal her idea. Not sure right now if I am going to go public with the blog, maybe share it with a few friends, or keep it to myself. What better time to start "journaling" online - as an avid jogger/runner who recently picked up cycling and is planning to pick up swimming I thought it would be fun to record my thoughts.