National Geographic

I know that many of you think it's sinful to wake up at the crack of dawn (5:20 a.m.) to train for this Tri, but I have to tell you - yesterday's run was incredible! The thermometer read 72 and the humidity was 100%. It was sticky and foggy.

My training assignment was for FARTLEKS, a swedish word for speed play. Remember the episode of Friends where Phoebe and Rachel go running in Central Park? That's kind of the idea for fartleks. It's unmeasured time and distance to speed up your pace. I ran all the way down Masonboro Sound Road and back, speeding up between electrical poles.

I might have looked as goofy as Rachel, but at least I didn't run head first into horse! I did have some company on the run. It was like an episode of National Geographic! I wish I could take my camera out on these early morning treks. This is the closest I could find to what the sun looked like coming over the intracoastal waterway and over the tangled oaks:

My first friend on the run was a tiny turtle about this size. I carefully moved him from the road into a ditch that looked more like home to him.
I passed five rabbits! Usually I see one or two together, but on this run, there were five in a clump of grass on the edge of the woods near Cove Point! Several scampered off into the woods, or across the road, but two big ones stood their ground.


Yes, an Emu. There's a farm off Masonboro Sound with several emus. This one was close to the road, inside her fence and I had to stop and talk. She did not speak to me, but she could have been drowned out by the rooster (somewhere on the same farm) who was crowing up a storm that the sun was up.

TTFN,

Bessie