A Bird Told Me to Run

Sunday morning - I was lying in bed just after 7:00 am.  The night before I had pretty much made up my mind I was not going to run this morning.  I had been up a few times earlier already and was about to fall back asleep.  Jenny had left early that morning for her race where she would meet up with a bunch of friends for the Gulf Beaches Holiday Halfathon, so it would have been very easy just to stay in bed for a while longer.  But then I heard something coming from one of these guys:

Sandhill Crane

 They are one of my favorite Florida birds, more often than flying I usually see them rooting around on yards and golf courses like this:

But one kind of strange thing, is that for some reason these birds remind me of an episode from Bugs Bunny where he encounters Marvin the Martian who sets after him with "instant Martians" like these:

The run went pretty well.  I ran on the pavement and on the grass along the road which always is a good recovery medium.  I said hi to a woman putting gas in her car trying to cheer her up as I'm sure there are better ways to start a Sunday than running out of gas, having to get home somehow and come back with a gas can.

I got back home and it was a pretty quiet morning, with one boy at a friends house and the older one sleeping in.  Time for some reading and a cup of coffee.  Made a good dent at finishing Catching Fire , and chipped away at Lord of the Rings, which makes me keep thinking about Led Zeppelin songs ("Gollum, the evil one" - from Ramble On and "The Ringwraiths ride in black" - The Battle of Evermore).

Jenny texted me after she finished her race, a time of 1:46, but more importantly felt great after having a number of not so great feeling runs.  The finisher's medal was super cool this year:

Saturday - Woke up at 4:40 with a goal of doing 18 miles and finishing by 8:00 (8:15 at the latest) so I could take Thomas to bowling.  I had no one lined up to run with but I was optimistic that things would work out and I might have some adventures along the way.

2-ish mile warmup in Longleaf, coming back to my car right about 5:30 where I saw a small group getting ready for a run.   Ran with Keith, Victoria, Greg, and two Jamie's.  They were just going to do 6 or 7 miles then head over to Panera for breakfast and discuss the plans for their race next week in Jacksonville for the marathon there.  It sounded very tempting, but I decided to stick with running this time around.

Ran to Craig and Dianes house for fluids top off.  This is where I split off from the original group.  Craig was going to run to Starkey park, so we decided to run there together.

Arrived at the gate of Starkey Park right at 6:27, as the park ranger was unlocking the gate to the running path.  I don't think I've ever had such perfect timing (official opening time is 6:30).  We ran together until I turned towards the horse corral, where there is an entrance to the off road trails.

Ran into a girl named Madeline home on break. Ran to the power lines and then south for a bit with her, before I had to turn around. Said goodbye and headed back, hoping I'd find my way back ok to get home on time.  But, this is how I learn things, get a little help from someone else then try it out on my own and make a few mistakes.  I think this next picture probably looks about the same as several others, but here is the spot where I was heading back by myself:

Took a couple wrong turns on the way back, corrected it but was going to be a little long. Just as I was heading back up toward the trail I needed to be on I saw someone walking towards me, it was Craig who was short cutting home, so I turned back with him and ran out of the park and into his neighborhood.  He offered to let me top up my water at his house but I still had plenty so I kept on going.   Headed north a little once back on Starkey Blvd then turned around for home stretch back. No plans run turned into lucky adventure.



Trying to figure out where I'm going with my running right now, had a few good unexpected races and some random runs, maybe I should set some goals.  Ok, maybe I have some goals but just need to solidify them :)
running stats/summary for the week:

• Monday - day off
  
• Tuesday - 7.3 miles, 8:54 average pace, ran with Chris and Lisa
  
• Wednesday - 6.14 miles, 9:02 avg, started with Jenny and Lisa
  
• Thursday - 7.3 miles, 8:54 avg, cold and windy early run, ran some with Amye
  
• Friday - 3.12 miles, 9:25 avg, solo run
  
• Saturday - 18.05 miles, 8:34 avg, Starkey Blvd, Starkey Park, on road, off road, Keith, Jamie, Jammie, Victoria, Greg, Craig, Madeline and Craig
• Sunday - 4.85 miles, 8:57 avg, sandhill crane