An easy 4.5 this morning on my little loop. It wasn't fast, but it wasn't all that slow either.
QOTD: What is the most interesting thing you have seen on the trail or road lately?
This morning I saw some really bright eyes on the trail with my headlamp. It wouldn't move. I got closer and closer, and I realized it was a whippoorwill. It finally flew up right under my feet and landed just off the trail. I made the turnaround at the house, hoofing it to get back to my turkey listening spot for daybreak, and the whippoorwill was right back in the same spot, middle of the trail. He flew in front of me for a little ways and turned off to the right. I made it to my spot in plenty of time, but I didn't hear the turkey I heard a couple of weeks ago. I'll listen again in the morning, but I won't waste much time over there if I can't be sure he hasn't moved on.
LB2
No running, working this afternoon and evening.
LB2: I had no idea a birds eyes would shine with lights.
QOTD: Haven't seen anything interesting while running for a long time. Did see something interesting at the gym the other day. Had a guy in there that I've never seen before. Early 20s, thin as a rail, multi colored hair. Some strange difficult to describe mannerisms. He was there when I got in and was doing some bench presses. After I started my routine he pulled out a mask that looked kind of like a gas mask. (Mr Google says it was a altitude training mask) So he put this thing on for some of his lifts and when lifting he was making a high pitched wheezing sound. In between sets he would set bolt upright on the bench, feet flat on the floor pointing straight ahead and read a book while trying to get his breathing under control. I spent about 1 1/4 hours in the free weight room doing a variety of lifts and he just worked on bench pressing. I would have liked to talk to him but his demeanor and posture screamed "I'm NUTS" so I didn't say anything. I moved on and went to the machine room and he showed up over there about 15 minutes later and was still going with a lifting routine when I left so he was there for well over 2 hours. It wasn't any one thing that was strange, it was the total package.
Just got up from my morning nap. Now that I'm really old I need more naps. 🎂
Oh yeah, I did 20 miles early this morning.
qotd: not that I've been able to see them, but we have a crazy amount of owls around here this year. In some places we have 3 or 4 hooting away in a matter of a few hundered feet, I know it's mating season 'cause I looked it up, but I thought they were territorial as well. I guess horny trumps all !!!
tbd.
10 miles Estatoe - NorthSlope trails.
qotd orange newts. After birth in the river these little orange newts crawl up the mt to grow up in the springs then go back to the river for the adult part of their lives. Northslope is a good place to see them in the spring. They are orange because that warns the preditors they are poision.
6 miles on the road with the running group. We did run through Rock Creek, but I know that really doesn't count.
Sandy-- watch out for those owls! We have a trail around here that posts warnings every year as folks get 'scalped' by territorial owls. Usually just before dawn, fyi.
qotd: Oh, I had a great answer to this question a bit ago but for the life of me, I cannot remember what it was, so I'll go with #2. Last week, it was black dog day. Every dog was a black dog, different sizes and kinds, but all the same color. It just stood out in an unusual way.
sandy How to call an owl. Who's fixin' biscuits for you Who's fixin' biscuits for you all. Use that cadence only all whos.
If you are from up north it won't work.
LB2 I use an owl call before dawn to locate turkeys. If you use your turkey call too much they know something is fishy because you aren't moving like a hen.
I can get three or more owls stirred up every morning around here. The smaller barn owls will not talk back because they are afraid of the big owls.
18.1 hilly miles at Lake Sonoma.
QOTD: a turkey has moved into our neighborhood. I had heard this from friends and my hubs, and I saw said turkey for the first time on Thursday. Strolling across the street as I was heading out for a run. A turkey might not be too unusual for many folks, but wild turkeys are unheard of here. Until now.
5/11/24 Grizzly Peak Marathon, Berkeley, CA
7/20/24 Tahoe Rim Trail 56 miler, NV
9/21/24 Mountain Lakes 100, OR
running under the BigSky
17 miles in the mountains- gorgeous day- mid 60's
qotd: nothing highly unusual, saw my first mountain blue birds today- that's a good sign
2023 goal 2023 miles √
2022 goal- 2022 miles √
2021 goal- 2021 miles √
LB2: I had no idea a birds eyes would shine with lights. QOTD: Haven't seen anything interesting while running for a long time. Did see something interesting at the gym the other day. Had a guy in there that I've never seen before. Early 20s, thin as a rail, multi colored hair. Some strange difficult to describe mannerisms. He was there when I got in and was doing some bench presses. After I started my routine he pulled out a mask that looked kind of like a gas mask. (Mr Google says it was a altitude training mask) So he put this thing on for some of his lifts and when lifting he was making a high pitched wheezing sound. In between sets he would set bolt upright on the bench, feet flat on the floor pointing straight ahead and read a book while trying to get his breathing under control. I spent about 1 1/4 hours in the free weight room doing a variety of lifts and he just worked on bench pressing. I would have liked to talk to him but his demeanor and posture screamed "I'm NUTS" so I didn't say anything. I moved on and went to the machine room and he showed up over there about 15 minutes later and was still going with a lifting routine when I left so he was there for well over 2 hours. It wasn't any one thing that was strange, it was the total package.
1. I had never really thought about it until yesterday.
2. I've seen people run with those masks. In my opinion (which is worthless), I don't think they do much to account for lower saturation of oxygen at higher altitudes. He may need to work out in one of those hypoxy tents.
sandy How to call an owl. Who's fixin' biscuits for you Who's fixin' biscuits for you all. Use that cadence only all whos. If you are from up north it won't work. LB2 I use an owl call before dawn to locate turkeys. If you use your turkey call too much they know something is fishy because you aren't moving like a hen. I can get three or more owls stirred up every morning around here. The smaller barn owls will not talk back because they are afraid of the big owls.
We have lots of Barred Owls down here. And yes (or no), I never make a turkey sound until I am set up and ready. I like hearing owls get stirred up about as much as I like hearing turkeys gobble. Sometimes, the owls can really save the day.
I overslept, woke up at 5AM. I'll make a round through the woods to check on the gobbler or ungobbler again this morning. I think my father in law and I are riding up to the national forest to sight in his new rifle. They have a pretty nice shooting range up there. I may have to split today's run into a morning and afternoon session, which suits me just fine.
Heading out for about 6-7 miles. Weather is pretty nice. The dirt roads should be soft so it will be almost like running on trails.
They've done a few studies on them and found they are worthless except for people with lung issues.
Tim
12 miles on the Battlefield Roads since we got more snow last night after long rain, so trails are a mess. Saw way too many cars and buses and brought me back to marathon days since this was one of my regular runs. Only thing is I used to run it faster, so I'm now either an efficient untrarunner or just a slow old man.
Sandy - Happy belated birthday.
LB -
QOTD: I don't remember if I posted this already or not, but saw a guy walking 2 cows. Had a cart and everything. I was on my way home from the trail head and got my phone out just in time.
“Paralysis-to-50k” training plan is underway!
finished up a nice 7-ish mile run in the mountains- gives me 40 miles for the week and 10,000'- that's a pretty good week for me
Did the 2nd half of my b2b 20s this morning. I was about 6 min slower today than yesterday, but I felt much much better today than yesterday. Typical, the first 5 mi were spent trying to get going, the middle 10 we're pretty good, then the last 5 were a grind. But it's all about those last 5, the mental games and pushing through the sluggish lags. Today it was a touch warmer, but it was a little less humid.
It was either the conditions, or Beijing duck is a good pre-run dinner to have. Also the play we went to turned out to be a musical, but it was really good DW said that was the surprise. It was a bunch of love stories set in different dinner settings... now before you freak out and start giving me a hard time.... just know the German dominatrix / leather get up of the guy in the German restaurant scene was pretty out there and the humor of it all was great.
Thanks for all the useful Owl info, we've had a few dive-bomb us, but I think it is the local rabbit population (we have a ton of them too) that should be worried.