The Walking Thread

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I had to break things up today since DD17 has softball tonight. In the future, I really need to consider timing break day with away games like today. In any event, I got to the gym at 5am today. I did all of the stuff I'd normally do in a traditional gym workout but added in some extra time at the end for treadmill so I could supplement on top of my minimum. So, 2.25 treadmill miles and 4.04 outdoor miles at lunch. Total of 6.29 miles. No pics from the latter part but I could tell when I left the gym early this morning that I missed a pretty sunrise.

 

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Made it to Wednesday!

I was so happy to have a normal morning...well, for the most part. We didn't get home from softball until nearly 10pm last night. After a late dinner, I jumped into bed and slept until just before my alarm went off around 5:35. I went 6.09 miles. I had planned to go a little bit farther but a woman I see pretty regularly stopped me to give me a stranger danger alert.

Long story short, a creeper that I encountered back in March last year is apparently back out there and scaring women. I did not see him today, but she did and has heard other recent reports. We both shared similar stories of how he behaved, what he said, as well as reporting it to the police and nothing happening. I don't love running armed because I'm the king who is much more likely to hurt myself, but I think I need to go back to carrying something. I have a stun gun with a flashlight and alarm but I believe it's broken and I just kept it for the flashlight in my storm supply kit. I have a can of bear spray but that's a fairly large thing to be carrying. I'll probably just go back to a basic pepper spray wristlet. I know a few people who keep switchblade keychains on theirs as well. Ugh...hate having to think this way.

The sky around sunrise pretty much captured the mood of the day...gray and cloudy. I guess, at least it's fairly warm. Although, it's reminding me that spring is just around the corner and we're about to be hit with 1. the great annual "pollening" 2. the wasps, horse flies, etc. are all about to wake up. They can be real menaces. I had several days last year where I was accosted by flying stinging/biting things and had to change course/pace.

 

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Hello, walkers and welcome to my Thursday installment.

After yesterday's creeper sighting, I reconfigured my route. Instead of doing one big loop, I did more of an out and back. It's a bit more boring, but I think in the end, it might be better for hill work. You can see the sharp spike in the middle for the big hill but you can also see the gradual rise after I hit bottom.


Oh, and I have two new things of pepper spray arriving today. One is because DD17 needs to start running for her upcoming races. I just got her fitted for new shoes. That's always such an interesting and enlightening process. They were also kind enough to do a mini fitting for me with the new iteration of my preferred shoe. In any event, I opted not to go with the bear spray since I can't find the safety clip and we both really need protection. Instead, for today, I found a pair of surgical tweezers that are sharp as heck. I positioned them in between my fingers, alongside my flashlight. So, at least I had something hard and something sharp to defend myself if needed...which thankfully, I did not. I'm also really bothered that once again, our local community groups refuse to post my warning about this creeper guy. I also had to be super careful with the tweezers since I stopped once to pet a couple of shih tzus that like to greet me if they're out.

So, I went 6.12 miles as you can see above. Sunrise wasn't much but there were some pretty colors in this one section.


I was hoping to share some unusual wildlife this morning. While not native, we get Egyptian geese down by the lake. I could see them and hear them when I passed through the tributary area in the dark, but they were gone when I crossed back after sunrise. There was nothing but a couple of mallards. I did, however, get you some wildlife. No, not the yeti I pass most days...


I know I've shared that I often see armadillos. It's usually in the dark but today I got one in daylight. Normally, they bolt but I stopped moving enough that she stuck around for a bit.

 

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Happy Friday! 6.22 miles in early this morning since I needed an early start at work. There were some sprinkles here and there and it's getting super webby in these early morning sessions with us warming up. My new pepper spray also arrived, so I was walking around with better protection.

As we warm up, wildlife is also going to be more prevalent. I was hoping to spot those geese again that I saw yesterday but instead, I got something that I know is out there but I've never seen. As you might imagine, living in a forest means all kinds of creatures...including snakes...both venomous and nonvenomous. I am part of a snake group just so I know how to identify what I encounter. In fact, there are five kinds of venomous snakes typically found in our neck of the woods. I know some people are very anti snake (trust me, I'm that way with spiders), but they are incredibly beneficial creatures that do an phenomenal job with pest control. Today's encounter...a copperhead.

I had to enhance the video so you could see it better. For reference, this pic I took down at the lake was only about 20 minutes before the snake video and my phone was in a mode to auto enhance this to bring in more light. i.e. it was pretty dark out there.