Happy belated New Year everyone! With the new year comes a transition between
introspection and family, into “The Grind” until spring. I’ve used a bit of that introspection time
off to catch up on blogs, and I’ve found a common theme: Why do I run (such
stupid distances). For me it is simple:
adventure and competition. I do get a
kick out of racing, but I will focus on the adventure portion for this post.
What other endeavor allows us to experience so much in a day
or a run, while allowing for the mental clarity to truly live that
adventure? What people might take 2-3
days to experience while hiking with their worldly goods on their backs, I can
live in an afternoon. True, hiking
allows for other types of adventure, but running allows for more of it. Running can be a feast for the eyes and mind.
The following describes some of the things I’ve learned on
my many adventures while running. But
first a couple of updates:
Kettle 100 – I’ve
signed up for my first Hundred! I am
pretty pumped. The base training has
started, with hills and speed to start in February. Funny thing, I am not so worried about the
discomfort thing during this race, but more the bugs. It will be spring. I hate black flies. I need a plan…
Diet – The
low-carb diet has started with three weeks of mainly fruits and
vegetables. Things are going pretty well
so far. I will incorporate more protein
and fat in two weeks. My only craving is
really popcorn and chips. Potato chips
are vegetables, right?
OK. Here are some of
the things I’ve learned on my many adventures while running:
Owls are cute –
While in a forested section of the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine, on a
misty moisty morning, with two of my brothers, I was stopped by a commotion in
the trees above. After a bit of
searching, we found the source; two parent owls teaching two (ball of fluff)
owlets to fly. It was mesmerizing. Whenever the owlets tried to land on a
branch, they promptly did a 180, flipping underneath the branch, wildly
flapping their wings. The parents? I’ve never seen such indifference. They just watched as their chicks fluttered
and rotated from branch to branch, unfazed by the possibility of a 30 ft
plummet. We watched them for what seemed
like hours. They never did seem to get the
hang of it.
Fawns are super-cute
– Most visitors and campers at Willow River State Park in Wisconsin tend to
flock to a 2 mile section of trail between the campgrounds and falls. The remainder of the park tends to be
sparsely visited. I like that (selfish,
I know). In one remote forested portion,
the main trail winds through a thick stand of pines. On one cool, spring morning while rounding a
bend in that trail, I saw two enormous eyes staring back at me. After stopping cold, I worked out the tiny body
of a fawn lying in the center of the trail.
As it was not moving, it must have been born just moments prior. We both remained in place playing don’t blink for several minutes before I
figured the fawn was not going to budge.
Mom was nowhere in sight.
Finally, I chose to bushwhack around; the fawn was obviously
terrified. After my first loop I thought
to run an abbreviated second loop to check for the fawn. It was gone.
You just never know what’s around the next bend.
Turkeys are stupid
– The Glacial Drumlin Trail is an east-west Rail-to-Trail in southern Wisconsin
between Waukesha and Madison. The trail
tends to be thinly lined on both sides by trees, with fields of corn, soy, etc.
outside of this leafy corridor. There is
a great 5-mile section just outside Lake Mills with nary a road crossing, and
opportunistic wildlife in the farm fields.
Once, on a summer long run, I was spied by a flock of turkeys in a
potato field wolfing down scraps. They
could see me through the thin line of trees bordering the trail. In true turkey-fashion, the alarm went up and
the whole flock ran for cover. Of
course, the only cover was that tree line along the trail; where I was. Running to the trail now, the stupid birds
led me perfectly such that, as they passed through the tree line and onto the
trail, they ended up directly in front of me and underfoot. I’ve never heard such squawking and gobbling,
all gigantic eyeballs and floppy neck things stumbling over each other. The alpha that got them into this mess
probably heard it after that! It is hard
to laugh and run at the same time. And
to think Ben Franklin was a fan of the turkey over the eagle.
Eagles are clumsy
– Why do eagles try to fly through densely wooded areas? They are clumsier than turkeys when trying to
alight onto trees, and have no room to launch themselves. Talk about noisy too. Proud and graceful in the open, eagles are
anything but in the trees. Maybe Ben was
onto something.
Spearmint smells great – Along the Glacial
Drumlin trail, there is a 200 yard section of wild spearmint. I often think of smell as the weakest sense,
but the smell of that spearmint is so captivating and almost overwhelming that
it can dominate the others. The
fragrance seems to last for about a week each year, with the remainder of the
year being a subtle background odor. I
can smell it now just thinking about it.
Willow River
waterfall is a gem – The falls along the Willow River in the Wisconsin
state park of that name can be quite beautiful.
I run past this gem many times each week, and it is ever changing
depending on the season and time of day.
On summer afternoons bathers can be seen filling the plunge pool, and
peeking behind the falls themselves under the overhang. On humid mornings, I can barely see the falls
through the mist that covers the trail.
It is in the winter, though, that the falls takes on a completely new
façade. Depending on how much freezing weather
we’ve seen, the falls can be seen partially to fully frozen over, with the
water still flowing beneath. A dichotomy
between the roar of the river and the motionless ice. The shape the ice takes is ever changing,
providing a beautiful break location for every winter run.
Geese, Ducks, Swans
– The lazy waterfowl that choose to winter over in Wisconsin and Minnesota need
to compete for the limited open water space this time of year. And they don’t share nicely. The swans bully everyone. The geese need a runway from which to
takeoff, and barring the availability during a panic, just blast through
everyone else. And the poor ducks just
try to eke out some space. An idea for a
reality TV show?
Wildflowers –
I’ll save the best for last. There is a
section of the Ice Age Trail in the Southern Kettle Moraine south of ZZ, where
a runner is far from roads and manmade structures. Seemingly endless prairie. If you hit this section at the right time of
year, the expanse of wildflowers is breathtaking, with a corona of pollinating
insects buzzing industriously throughout.
I think the Kettle 100 runners will experience this in June. I hope so!
I guess I can find adventure in the little things. Probably comes with advanced age. I
know, I need to get out more.
