News from the Trail

Today I ran over five miles and it felt great.  I was getting worried because every run I completed in Texas felt like drudgery.  I was beginning to believe that I was severely out of shape. Now in retrospect, I think my Texas running was likely hindered by the horrible stomach bug I contracted and sore skiing muscles.

Today's run felt like I was in the middle of a Twilight Zone episode.  From the very start it was weird.  I turned to park at my favorite spot only to find the building a pile of rubble.  Apparently it was demolished during my vacation.  I grudgingly found a new place to park.

A few minutes down the trail I saw another mom running in my direction pushing a baby jogger.  I always take notice of other mom joggers but as she grew closer I realized she wasn't pushing a small child.  Instead, strapped in her stroller was a small white fluffy dog.  A few minutes later I passed a woman running miles with her running dog - a tiny, enthusiast, fluffy Pomeranian.  The dog situation seemed a little out of control.  One man had a huge Labradoodle leashed to his waist.  The energetic dog literally dragged its owner down a hill.

Humans seemed to also be acting strangely.  It was trail cleanup day.  I love volunteer work and I love the trail but these volunteers were fording rivers up to their stomachs to retrieve garbage, in 40 degree weather.  That is some die hard volunteerism.

When I reached my turn around point someone had tagged bright red graffiti on the barrier wall stating, "I HATE COMMUNITY SERVICE!"  I couldn't help but laugh. The irony and defiance spelled out in the lettering seemed hilarious.

Finally, with only a mile to go I passed a man running in a full Spiderman costume complete with mask and fake muscles.  I couldn't believe it.  To make things more strange, Spiderman was accompanied by a very normal looking running buddy.  Would you be willing to run with a guy dressed as Spiderman?  I think I would have said, "Dude, NO - I only run with Wonder Woman. "