8-18-07 Don't know, but it was fun.

I have NO IDEA how far I ran last night - but I'm going to claim 7 miles. We went out a little earlier than we have been (about 6 or 6:30), so we weren't out so late. After my horrid run on Friday, I was determined to do at least 6 miles. Steph and I ran the 1st 2 miles together and it was very hot (weather.com was reporting 94 degrees). I put a jug of icy water at the 2 mile mark so we could stop for a moment and cool off before we parted routes - that was the best idea I've had in a while. At least it was overcast, so it was hot, but not burning and the water stayed cool for us. I did make a point to put BodyGlide everywhere I could think of - even on my nipples (more on that later). After we cooled of ( we stopped for about 2 minutes - but I wasn't worrying about the breaks since it was so oppressively hot) Steph turned back and I continued on to the 3.4 mile turnaround point. One the way back, I encountered someone in a truck on the side of the road that was having a fit over the deer he'd just seen slip into the wood line. I told him to hang around the tennis courts right at sundown, and the whole family came out of the woods to graze. When I got past the tennis courts my mileage tracking went to the gutter. I turned to go down by the boat ramp, and once I made the turn, I saw the sign for the hiking trails through the park. I've always wanted to run the trails, but I don't know how far they are, and I've been trying to be pretty specific on my mileage. I decided to toss the mileage and take the trails for a while. I took the trail that led back to my turnaround and put me out of the woods in the midpoint of the softball field. I turned back and ran all the trails I could find. Trail-running was a blast. I had to be much more attentive to my footing - watching for snakes and not twisting my ankles. It looked like someone had taken a bike down the trails - tire marks. I didn't encounter anyone else, or any unwanted wildlife. I figure the trail was about 1.5 miles - but I'm just guessing. I can't map it on gmaps because I can't see the trails from the satellite.

I did see some great wildlife out there. I got to see a family of redheaded woodpeckers and a family of deer.

However, it was so humid that my wicking shirt did not help very much. It stayed pretty wet, and started to rub on my nipples again - I guess I'll have to start wearing band aids on them. I taped up my toes, so I didn't have bloody feet when I got back.