Soaked Running Shoes

Yesterday I checked the weather forecast at about 11:00 a.m. and there was a 10% chance of rain during the remainder of the day. So you know what that meant. When I left the gym to go to my car at 6:00 p.m. it wasn’t just raining. There was a torrential downpour with Tropical Storm force winds. My buddy, Kenyon was riding his bike from work to the gym where he left his truck so he could pick up his kids from day care. His wife wondered if he would make it and finally a soaked Kenyon did show up.

I had left my running shoes outside my home to air out and get some sun after a seven mile run and they were soaked.   Do these television meteorologists with all of their computers and Doppler radar expect us to believe their seven day forecast when they are so off base on a seven hour forecast?   I hope not!

This morning my shoes were quite damp as I donned them and set out on a ten mile run.   Within a few miles I heard a familiar ‘squish, squish’ sound accompanying my footfalls as the shoes had went from moist to soaked again.   At least the trails were packed down from the inch of rain which my rain gauge recorded.

There was wildlife to be enjoyed along the trails today.   I saw a group of about twenty wild turkeys that were too numerous to get an exact count.  Two males did have their feathers in full spread as it is mating season.  My fox squirrel sightings continued as I saw two of them and then another perhaps a mile later.    The strangest thing I saw was a snake on the trail which I jumped over.  When it didn’t move I went back to investigate the little black snake and it was dead.   Weird!

Before I knew it I was on the way back and saw a smaller group of about ten wild turkeys followed shortly thereafter by another fox squirrel.  I had to detour around a large tree which had fallen on the trail overnight – probably from those high winds that the weather forecasters had not predicted.

‘Squish, squish’ my shoes sounded as I finished up my run.  I had two generous water stops but still lost three pounds during those ten miles.   I guess 72 degrees and high humidity will do that.  Oh well, it’s nothing that my daily smoothie won’t cure as I’m rehydrating right now!

Fox Squirrel on the Run

Today’s planned ten mile run started out pretty ordinary.   I ran from my home to Wekiva State Park and was glad to get off of the roads and onto trails after about 15 minutes.   I got a drink of water at the youth camp lodge.   Then I turned onto the main trail, hydrated and enjoying the 80 degree Florida February weather.

About a mile later I ‘ran’ into my friend, Theresa Tinsley, as I was on the portion of trail thick with a blanket of pine needles.    I didn’t mind slowing to Theresa’s pace and we ran about three miles together before she continued toward the Sand Lake parking lot and I turned back to make my way home.    My 10-miler had been lengthened into a 12-miler as I was about six miles from my house.     I picked up the pace a bit, faster than Theresa’s pace, but slower than my initial pace.

When I was running back through the pine needle blanketed trail I surprised a fox squirrel.   He was a few feet from me and ran to a tree.  Then he jumped to an adjacent tree.  He must have really been spooked as he went back to the ground, then to a third tree, back to the ground again and finally away from me.

Fox squirrels are found throughout Florida, but they are protected from hunting as two of the three subspecies are listed as protected species.    Sherman’s Fox Squirrel, a species of special concern, is found in the open piney woods of central Florida.   They exhibit color variations and typically have white noses and ears with black faces and feet.   The fox squirrel probably was named after the fox because of its comparatively large size and appearance of a small fox.

It used to be rare that I would see fox squirrels on the run, but this winter I have seen many of them.   Maybe they are making a comeback due to their protected status.   When I saw that fox squirrel today it made me think of the song, ‘Fox on the Run,’ by the 1970s melodic rock band ‘Sweet.’   Their first big hit was ‘Little Willy,’ but I am more partial to ‘Ballroom Blitz,’  ‘Love is Like Oxygen’ and ‘Fox on the Run.’   I’m sure I’ll be humming that last tune often as I see those little fellows scampering around looking for pine seeds to eat.

Where is Winter?

This morning was another in a string of typical Florida winter mornings this year. I went running at 6:45 a.m. That is common for me. I wore no shirt. That has been unusual in past years, but seems to be the norm this year.

I like cold weather. By cold I mean Florida cold – in the 30s and 40s. But when it is 66 degrees and humid in mid-February it has my checking plane schedules for Nome, Alaska! Well, not really – but you get the point. It’s ridiculous that I have to make sure I have enough water stops along my running route to avoid dehydration at this time of year. Ridiculous – yes!   Neccessary – also yes!

Last year was quite the opposite as I recall running on many, many mornings with cold conditions which required sweats, gloves and a knit hat.   Weather reports on television show that in Europe they are having more cold weather and snow than in decades.   So there is the answer to my question.   Where is winter?   This year it is in Europe.   I guess it couldn’t get a visa for the U.S. with our tough immigration policies!

Our summer of six months of heat and humidity is just around the corner.    I don’t want to think about it.   We have had two times this winter where a blast of arctic air dropped temperatures below 35 degrees for a couple of days.    I am hopeful for a few more cold fronts.    Otherwise, I guess I’ll keeping working on my winter tan and including frequent water stops on my running routes.

Virtual Run for Sherry

‘Sherry Arnold – runner, mother, wife, daughter, and teacher – went for an early morning run on January 7, 2012, and never came home.   Sherry’s goodness, courage and strength prevail and she is not defined by the tragic way in which she died.’   Thus read words written  by her cousin, Beth, who’s running blog is entitled, ‘Shut Up and Run.’   Beth organized a virtual run for Sherry which took place today.

Last night I printed off four of the ‘numbers’ for me and any other runners who happened to be at central Florida’s Wekiva State Park for a 7:15 a.m. run.   They easy to download from Beth’s website and print what was the size of a race number with a beautiful picture of Sherry and the words, ‘Running for SHERRY.   Courage, Strength, Grace.   Never Forget.’  My good friend, Steve Koski, and I pinned the numbers to our shirts, took pictures and were off on our trail run.

Along the way we saw beautiful sights – there were places that were burned in a prescribed fire a month ago where new wiregrass shoots were growing amidst a carpet of pine needles.   New life after death.  It reminded us of Sherry who now has a new life with God in heaven.   There were a couple of bucks – one an eight-pointer and one with six points.  They trotted away a bit, but then resumed eating as we obviously didn’t appear threatening.

Steve was running a shorter distance so I was alone for the final four miles of my 10-miler.   With about two miles to go I stopped to get a drink of water from a gallon jug that Steve had stashed behind a tree.  As I turned my head upward to drink, radiant sunbeams fell upon me through the trees.  It was quite stunning a moment.   Sherry is up there now and maybe some of her grace was riding those sunbeams.   I never met Sherry, but today I join hundreds, if not thousands of others across the country and across the globe running for Sherry.

Ooops – I’m Off the Trail

You would think that trail running would be easy. There is a defined pathway through the woods that we follow – right?   Well it isn’t always so easy as I was reminded recently.
  I started out on a very early morning run as I had a tight schedule that day. It was dark when I left my home and I calculated there would be just enough light when I switched from neighborhood roads to trails after about 15 minutes.   Of course I was wrong!   There was barely any daylight which wasn’t an issue for a half mile or so on a white sand road that reflected some moonlight, but then when I turned onto a more wooded trail the lack of light was much more apparent.

I have run these trails so many hundreds of times that I know where all of the big roots and stumps are which I took care to avoid.   But then I entered the area that had been home to a 160 acre prescribed fire a month ago and the landscape had changed.  The blackened earth was covered with pine needles and it was hard to distinguish between trail and random forest.  I ran along and suddenly stopped.   ‘Where is the trail?’ I said aloud.  I looked around and then barely discerned that it was about 25 yards to my right.  Even with my experience the changed landscape and lack of light had fooled me.

I walked to the trail and made my way carefully to avoid a repeat incident.   Fortunately the day dawned and I had no problem staying on the trail.   As the Who sang, ‘I Won’t Get Fooled Again!!!’

Now and Later

If we do part of something and put off a bit of it then it falls into the category of ‘Now and Later.’    I do this on many days with my running as I aim to run 10 miles each day as I’ve done for a month.    I may run seven miles in the morning and then do a short three-miler late in the afternoon. But as a kid there was another meaning of the phrase…

Now and Later was a brand of fruit-flavored taffy squares which were sold in packages containing half a dozen individually wrapped pieces of candy.   There were flavors like grape, strawberry and apple.  But my favorite was the banana flavor.  For a nickel we could enjoy the little taffy squares and budget eating them throughout the day.   Now there are over two dozen flavors as kids get the same enjoyment we did, though it costs at least a quarter for that same pack of delight.

I’ve thought about taking those Now and Laters out on long training runs, but I usually take some raisins along instead.  Recently the phrase took a new meaning as I was posting to my GaryCohenRunning Facebook group about late afternoon exercise and evening beverage consumption.  I noted ‘Tonight’s Beers’ and mentioned which beer I was drinking ‘now’ and what planned bottle of beer I would be drinking ‘later.’   That gave a new adult meaning to the ‘Now and Later’ phrase.    So, whether it’s candy or beer, enjoy some ‘Now and Later!’

The Changing Trail

Since I run on the trails at Wekiva State Park several times each week I really notice everything along the way.    Trees grow, flowers bloom and wither, green grass shoots up only to turn brown in autumn, branches and pine cones fall from trees and older trees die and fall to the earth.    A recent prescribed fire made a sudden change to the trails and now gradual changes are occuring as a result.

My first time running on the trails after the prescribed fire was a shock.   No matter how many times I have in the past done so in the past, it is still eerie to see an area that was green scrub palms, small bushes, little trees, pine needles and leaves totally blackened.   In the three weeks or so since then changes have been very noticeable.

The main change is due to brown pine needles falling from sand hill pines.   At first there were only a few, then more fell until now in some areas they dominate the once-blackened landscape.   A few shoots of green wiregrass have emerged in places as they feed on the nutrients from the burned vegetation.   There hasn’t been any rain so the grass is growing more slowly than after previous burns.

Pine cones are falling and I’m sure the fires burned plenty of cones which releases their seeds.   I look forward to the next few months as the wiregrass grows tall, palm fronds and pine seedlings emerge and spring flowers appear.   Soon the fire will be a distant memory on the changing trail.