Inspiration Lake - Nice To See You Again!

For the past 2 1/2 years, one of my favorite runs has been to Inspiration Lake, around the lake twice and then back home. It is about 3 1/4 miles round trip.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to do this run so far during my marathon training. The problem is that I have been running early in the morning - before the sun rises - and a good portion of this route is unlit and adjacent to forest areas where some foxes live (these foxes are not my relatives!). I have chosen alternate 3 mile routes for my pre-dawn runs as I don't want to risk running on this trail in the dark.

An opportunity opened up in my schedule today where I had some time around lunch to go for a short run (telecommuting definitely has its advantages!). There are some things at work today that have been frustrating me a bit and the run would definitely help me blow off some steam. The weather was also cooperating - about 45 degrees and sunny. Inspiration Lake - Here I Come!!!!

I must say, it was nice to not start my run in the darkness. I originally thought I was a little underdressed - I wore a long sleeved tech shirt and running shorts with a baseball cap. I was quite chilly at the beginning of the run and as a result my pace was a little fast (always seems to be my issue), but I warmed up and settled in nicely.

I had a few bird encounters. First, there were a some seagulls flying around the lake and one was approaching me as it was starting to hold its wings to glide in the air. I started to wonder whether he was going to use me for target practice. Needless to say, I watched that bird closely until he was nowhere near me. Next, there are a lot of geese that live on the lakes in this area and they cross the street every so often. As I was running I saw two geese on the side of the road just waiting. All of a sudden, I see a car about to approach and the two geese decide to cross the street. It's almost like they were trying to toy with the humans - "hmmm....I really want to cross the street, but let's wait until someone drives by and make them stop for us... Oh! here comes someone - Game ON!".

I listened to Billy Joel's "Turnstiles". I kinda felt like that "Angry Young Man" earlier today at work. Now I'm a lot more relaxed!