First Day of Fall?

I hope not, but it felt like fall this morning. Gray sky, very breezy, 64 degrees. Excellent running weather, actually, and I enjoyed a great 8.2-mile run before breakfast. Time 1:24:08, for a pace of 10:18, which is really quite a bit faster than I’ve been going lately on these grass trails. Don’t know why, but maybe two days off from running helped. Certainly the cool breeze did. I did stop the watch briefly to examine a waterfowl viewing blind built by the Boy Scouts. Nice place to bring a camera. And I stopped a couple of other times just to appreciate the view, but didn’t stop the watch.

No pains, that’s very good. Last week I had a little warning signal from the right hip, most likely the ITB but possibly a bursa. After realizing that the trail tends to lean more to the left than the right when I take the big loop clockwise, I’ve gone the other direction for the last two runs and the right hip has been quiet. I’ve also had a little trouble with the right knee, which I think is a floater in the meniscus, but nothing today. I wonder if the knee is also sensitive to the tilt of the trail. Why not?

I saw no one on the trail today except a father and son walking together. I ran up behind them, and unfortunately startled the father rather badly. He really jumped. He laughed as I passed by, saying he imagined I was a bear. But I learned a lesson - I should have alerted them before I got so close - all the more important in such a solitary location. Whistling a tune would do it, but I can’t whistle on the run. I’ll just have to yell.

Except for my little road along the railroad tracks, I’ve never been too interested in training on dirt or grass trails, preferring blacktop. But this summer I’m certainly enjoying the park trails. Not sure why the difference. Today I saw a fawn, rabbits, blue heron, great egrets, canada geese, ducks, red-winged blackbirds, and a bluebird. That’s part of the attraction. It’s a masterpiece.


Recent lunch: Gluten-free pasta with really good stuff in it (but I don't remember what), organic chard with a little shredded cheese and possibly a few cranberries under the cheese, organic pecans, organic red cherries.