Fluffed.

Running down by Baldwin Lake in Berea yesterday (my second run of the day), I spotted this guy. So of course I had to stop and try and get a picture of him. I think I annoyed him because he fluffed up at me. I also got a picture of him stalking along the water and just standing looking all impressive.

I also went exploring very briefly in an old cemetery and took some pictures of a few graves of Civil War soldiers buried there. For example, Drummer Hiram Vaughn who served with the 65th Ohio Infantry. The 65th Ohio had a fairly impressive combat record. Here is their combat record from Larry Stevens’ fine website Ohio in the Civil War. After the War, Vaughn was prominent with the G.A.R. locally.

As you’ll notice, I’m a member of Flickr.  I use it to store my digital photographs.  Some areas that might be of interest to my Civil War visitors include my best of the Civil War sets, sets from Gettysburg (working on adding more), and two “kitchen sinks” sets — every picture I’ve taken digitally at Sharpsburg and at and around Gettysburg.  Of course, there are “throw away” shots in the kitchen sink collections, but if you dig through there are all sorts of different angles and shots of the battlefields in there, especially at Gettysburg.

(I’m basically trying to distract myself from worrying about a “routine” CT scan on Monday. There never seems to be anything “routine” about my CT scans, hence the anxiety.)

Signs of Spring: Wildflowers

We have been blessed here in northern Ohio with two gorgeous days in a row — and by gorgeous, I mean it’s picture perfect and warm enough to wear shorts (even when you’re not running).

I’ve taken advantage of the nice weather and run pretty much all over the place.  The picture to the left is along my favorite running trail — the needles from the evergreens make a nice soft carpet for running on.  As usual, I take my camera along just in case I see something worth shooting.

(I carry my camera — a very thin Olympus point-and-shoot model — in an ipod case strapped to my arm.)

There are signs of new life and spring everywhere.  It’s hard to believe that a month ago there was two feet of snow on the ground.

Here are a few wildflowers I stopped to take pictures of along my running route:

Along the suburban areas of my regular running route, I also passed quite a few nice gardens with beautiful spring flowers:

And then of course there are deer everywhere.

signs of spring in Ohio

Signs of spring in Ohio … Even if it is 37 degrees right now and raining …

Jenny versus Beelzebub

I knew it was going to be an “interesting” day for a run when I walked out the door and a turkey vulture was circling overhead. Its still nice and warm out, though the wind is picking up.

I drove back to the Nature Center and ran about 2.5 miles today. The warm weather combined with the wind combined with chemo-after effects combined with a cold — what a combination! — kept my mileage down low. Amazingly, everything seemed slightly more green than it even had seemed yesterday. That’s pretty darned cool.

I took off down the path and saw more of my “friends” the geese. Here’s some more geese images.

The geese today were even louder and more obnoxious than usual.

As I came around a turn to enter what I call the bunny trail (its marked with a gray bunny rabbit — its actually called the Wildlife Management Trail), I had my first encounter with Beelzebub. Not the demon out of Paradise Lost; no I am talking about Beelzebub the Goose from Hell.

The first time past I had no major problems with Beezlebub other than he fluffed at me. He very begrudgingly moved over to the side to let me pass. Still he was nasty enough that I nicknamed him Beelzebub, remembering Satan’s right-hand man from Milton’s Paradise Lost. See, I can occasionally put my liberal arts education to at least some use.

As you can see, where I run is absolutely beautiful and has great views of the Rocky River.

Anyway, as I circled back off the bunny trail — having cut the run somewhat short due to the beforementioned reasons — I encountered Beezlebub again.

Oh and by this time was he ticked.

He fluffed at me. He wouldn’t get out of the pathway. Then he lowered his head and hissed at me. I had to beat a hasty retreat and circle back down another way.

I then saw him chase a dog.

That is one angry goose (which is why I have nicknamed him Beezlebub). I’m glad I didn’t get any closer.

St. Angela Fun Run

I ran in a local 5K race today sponsored by a Catholic Church. When I say local I mean local. The race started a block from my house. I was not going to do the race, and was not preregistered, but I woke up early this morning and figured what the heck? How often do you get to run a 5K that close to your house? Homefield advantage, baby!

It was a decent day for running. The temp was perfect — probably in the low 50s with clear skies — but the wind was kind of gusty (18 mph out of the east-southeast which is an unusual pattern for here).

The race went well. I wore my Mizuno Wave Riders. The only problem was the kids. This race attracted tons of them and they were not well versed in race etiquette (some for that matter did not seem versed in <em>any</em> sort of etiquette at all!). I had a great finishing kick.
I was not expecting any hardware. However, for some reason I stuck around anyway. I was outside jogging around when a woman told me they were looking for someone with my number. I went back inside and they needed my age. So I told them and they said I should stick around so I did. Because of being told to stick around, I was expecting a third place medal which would be awesome — I don’t take home hardware, like, ever. But it turns out I actually WON my age group. NO WAY. I got my picture taken, a big (kinda ugly!) trophy, and a gift certificate for a free pizza and wing dinner from a local place. REALLY COOL! That made suffering through winter kind of worth it.

So all and all it was a great morning.

break on through

I am definitely a warm weather runner. Well, maybe not a <em>real</em> warm weather runner, but since the Cleveland temps have risen high enough that I can do most of my runs in the 50 degree range in just a t-shirt (or at worst just a longsleeve tech shirt) and a pair of shorts, my running has become inifinitely better.

I’m not fatigued. I feel strong. I can hold a much faster pace — even into the dreaded wind.

Other than the temp, I have made three other changes that I suppose could also help account for my better running. First, every night I have been working on those gosh darned knots in my calves. The left one is the worst — there is a spot about mid-calf where if I press it just makes me want to yelp. I’ve been massaging that spot, pressing on it as hard as I can, etc. Since I have started to do that, my legs feel much better when I run. They aren’t quite as tight and they have much more spring. They do not feel constantly tired and fatigued.

Second, I’ve started drinking more water right before I run. I used to stop drinking two hours before running because sloshing stuff in my stomach grossed me out. Now, I’m drinking a small amount right before I go out. I notice my mouth isn’t dry.

Finally, I’ve started doing two or three runs a week on the dirt. Really the only two good dirt trails near where I live are the bridle trail between south Mastick hill and Cedar Point (approximately three miles one-way) and the dirt “bunny” trail (the Wildlife Management trail) behind the Nature Center. The latter trail requires running laps to get a decent distance, but running five or six laps on an almost perfectly level, packed dirt trail through the woods is not the same as running laps around a track. I don’t have a Garmin, so I’m not quite sure how long the trail is. But I’m going to guess each loop (by how long it takes to run and using the Google Map Pedometer) is somewhere between 2/3ds and 3/4ths of a mile. So its not that bad a loop to run. (Plus the loop is about as flat as you can ever find — perfect for tempo runs and stuff like that) I think the dirt running is helping my legs — its such a nice break from concrete.

I think I may finally be breaking on through to the other side with my running. I am feeling strong and I even have the confidence to push the pace a bit. What a change from just a couple weeks ago. Wish I knew why my running suddenly improved, but I guess I will just take it!

uniquely midwestern

It must be spring. I heard a siren that told me it was spring. So it must be so.

On Tuesday, I decided to run down in the Valley. I ran from roughly Mastick (on the bridle trail to where it fords at Cedar Point where I picked up the asphalt trail) to the end of the all purpose paved trail near Berea Falls. Anyway, around ten o’clock and on my way out, I heard the most god-awful siren. Sounded kind of like a cross between a police car and an ambulance and it was LOUD.

Started looking around for a reason. The weather was calm — slight wind, mostly cloudy, no rain forecasted. Could the airport — Cleveland Hopkins is very close to the Valley (planes constantly are going over ahead at low altitude) — be under some sort of attack? (Oh where your mind wanders post 9/11) Was an emergency vehicle coming for some sort of huge five alarm fire? (I kept turning around to check — no dice). Should I be continuing my run?
I decided to keep running. I figured if something bad was going to happen, well, what was I going to do about it anyway? Plus, perhaps the problem was behind me. I was probably five miles away from the car; there was no way I was going to make it back in time to avoid disaster. So I ran on and tried to mentally prepare for an air raid. Or something.

Eventually the siren stopped right after I crossed the Barrett Road ford. I continued on my run. It was a good run. On the way down the steep hill after the Falls, I saw a red-tail hawk. I was so close I could have reached out and touched the hawk. It did not fly; it just was content to let me run right on by.

It turns out the siren was one of the cities — must have been Berea or Brook Park given my location — testing their tornado sirens. I missed the news the night before so I didn’t know they were testing them.

I guess the tornado siren is something uniquely midwestern — I’m sure places like Oklahoma and Kansas have them too. But when I heard a siren going off in Gettysburg and said to my friend — who grew up in the Hudson Valley of New York and now lives in southern New Jersey — that it sounded like a “tornado siren,” he said “huh?” Apparently he’d never heard of such a thing. I can recall tornado drills in school. Obviously he never had those either. Thats when I realized the tornado siren must be uniquely midwestern.
Anyway, spring is tornado season (so is summer) so I guess hearing the siren means spring is definitely here. Today it was 70 degrees when I went running. I broke a sweat and soaked my shirt for the first time since 2005. (I also wished I had brought water with me) Oddly, most people I passed in the park were trying to run in longsleeves or, stranger still, longsleeves and long pants. How odd.

The warm weather isn’t going to last, but I’ll enjoy it today. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 50s. Any day its not snowing is ok with me. I prefer the 70s — I like being warm, but I’ll definitely still take the 50s.

a hint of spring

There’s a hint of spring in the air. It is Cleveland and it is very early March (and thus there could be at least one more large snowstorm), but the hint of spring is all around. Evidence:

1. The days are getting longer — there’s more daylight in both the morning and the evening. Stays light considerably past six now.
2. There are robins everywhere. (Big, fat fluffed up robins. But robins nonetheless.)
3. It was warm enough to run in shorts today (though I saw several other runners and I was the only one in shorts).
4. The snow isn’t sticking around as long.
5. The angle of the sun looks like spring.

All this of course makes for a happy Jenny. This is close to perfect running weather — well, ok, my perfect running weather is probably around 50 degrees (I can comfortably run in shorts and a t-shirt and that point), but still. I’m trying to look at the bright side!

its supposed to be April.

It is April. And yet. When I woke up this morning and looked outside there was snow. And not just a little dusting or cosmetic coating on the grass or the tops of the cars or garage either. No. We’re talking about full-blown snow. Like a snowstorm. Granted not THAT bad a snowstorm by some standards. But it is not supposed to snow in April. I know that it always does, but still its not SUPPOSED to do so! Anyway, that wrecked my run. It was NOT supposed to snow until tonight. I was cold and unprepared (mentally) for it and my run was therefore slow and labored. I did not enjoy slipping and sliding on the sidewalks or the road. It was not a fun run. It was one of those days where you ask yourself, why am I runner? I am glad I did it, though, as I am enjoying my bit of a “runner’s high” even though I didn’t push my pace like I normally do. Oh well. Perhaps my body could use a bit of an easy day — though it was mentally anything but an easy day.