Saturday's Group Run Report: You all know how hot it was Saturday morning, but, amazingly, it was easily tolerable for our group trail run on the Flatwoods trails. We parked at Trout Creek and then ran north on the levee before dropping down onto the wooded trail into Flatwoods.
We had walkers who went three or four miles, runners who went 12, 13, and 17 miles, and everything in between, including a 12 year old, running with his mom and thinking ahead to his first 5k. Good for you, Jeremy! It was all good. Loved meeting seven new people, too. Well, six new people, and reconnecting with a friend from high school days. That was awesome! So good to see you, Diane. Looking forward to next week!
Wildlife Sightings: A couple of us spotted black racer snakes. Linda had to pause and wait for one to move out of the way. One slithered across the trail in front of me while another remained coiled right next to the trail. At first I thought it was a discarded tire tube. I believe they are mating now; we always see many at this time of year. Wendy saw a baby deer and an owl. No sign of the huge deer I saw while running there Friday morning. It was the biggest deer I've ever seen. I didn't know deer could even get that big, but Andres tells me that particular deer is kind of famous out there, the king of the trails. Cool! I'm honored to have shared the trail with that beautiful animal for a few moments.
Bikers: Quite a few off road bikers out there by the time we finished, but they are always polite and careful. I think we share the trail well. I like that we all appreciate the beauty, take care of it - very seldom see trash out there - and take care to be safe. Bikers will almost always shout if you don't see them, and they yell out how many others are behind.I never mind jumping aside while they pass, and they always should, "Thank you!" or some encouraging words.
A Side Note. If you haven't read it, you might enjoy reading my post, "The Motivating Power of Words," about an incident a few months back when a biker called out encouraging words to me at Flatwoods.
The Trails: No standing water on the Main trail yesterday; however, Wendy did a bit of exploring on her 17 mile trek and discovered a more obscure trail named Cypress something that she described as "... muddy and boggy with fallen trees, and fantastic." We usually take the Main Trail through Morris Bridge Biking area, but she took side trips on Grandpa, Ridge, Gator Bait, Indian, and more. Those are great trails, some challenging areas due to palmetto roots criss-crossing the path and the occasional log, but that's great training for picking up your knees. It simulates a popular running drill.
And, of course, anytime you run on varying terrain, you're also training balance and working core. Thus, the benefits of running are magnified. When you get home, you're really tired, but wonderfully so :)
Next Weekend, we'll be at the Bayshore, May 29th. We'll meet at Patriot Park at the intersection of Bay to Bay and Bayshore. There is water there and parking, but no bathrooms. We'll run to Ballast Point Park. That's a lovely park with a pier and bathrooms, then back, and those wanting more miles can head in the other direction on Bayshore Blvd. We'll plan to leave at 7 a.m. Looking forward to it.
Then the next week our group run will be off road again on June 6th, SUNDAY, 7 a.m., at my very favorite trail, Lake Rogers Park, in Odessa, on North Mobley Road.
