Re: Post your daily exercise routine

26 lengths, think I might've managed another couple but it was getting too crowded and uncomfortable with three of us in the lane.
I hate lane swimming!

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Hi, Ruthio, I just checked in before my run to see how the swimming went. That is a very solid run for having been out of the pool for so long! It's not the lane swimming that bothers me as much as having people there with me . I guess I am the solitary sort when it comes to such endeavors, forever concerned that I am not inconveniencing someone. I suppose that's why open ocean swimming is better...I'm not in anyone else's way!

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Impressive stuff Ruthio, well done....

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

After going to bed with a thunderstorm taken right out Dante’s Inferno, I awoke to the sound of starlings making their first appearance of the winter season. Getting motivated to run is easy when I consider the scale of distances that migratory butterflies and birds make this time of year.

While I did a bit of pre-run stretching, squadrons of migratory birds were arriving overhead on the cold front, noisily announcing the end of summer. Across the grassy marshes they flew, downriver, where the estuarial soup provides their sustenance The local brown pelicans were joining them, making for a celebratory din of hunger, com and celebration, not unlike a busy airport.

With a scene like that, why would I want to go to the sportsplex only to run the dry streets and track? There was a better place, a secret one, but it would mean a short drive and soggy path. Even so, damp shoes seemed like an inexpensive price of admission to check on the new arrivals. With a turn of the key, I was off to a rarely-visited spot where the birds seek shelter from the northerly winds and mother dolphins birth their calves in the mild spring.

Sure enough, there was not a person to be seen along the narrow footpath that winds along the old river. I took off making the first turn a half mile away where the high reeds stand like soldiers lining the trail, eventually giving way to a half-mile long boardwalk that crosses a briny tidal pond. Late in the day when the tide is high, the pond will disappear altogether revealing the adaptive mussels and seagrass that are usually hidden beneath it's murky cloak.

One mile became two, and two quickly tripled to but alas, I have no record-breaking reports like OGF. Legs finally wearing down, and having done my informal census of egrets and terns, cormorants and gulls, starlings and sanderlings, I was ready to leave the flocks to their breakfasting. Days of my childhood came flooding back, to mornings in which when we would dress quickly and race out the front door to explore the nearby woods and creeks. Climbing trees, poking sticks along muddy shorelines, and exploring the hollows of fallen trees were sources of endless curiosity and fun.

How fabulous that this morning run triggered memories of all those carefree Saturdays! I think I need to spend more time looking beneath rocks....

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

What an enjoyable read Surfermom. A nice way to start the day. I agree, I think we all should take time to look beneath rocks and see what we can find and/or remember! Have a lovely weekend all.

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

A brilliant description of your run Surfermom, I was almost with you on every step.
I say almost, because after a late night watching a perfectly acceptable tribute band to Franki Valli and the Four Seasons I set my alarm for six this morning. I was awake before it buzzed a good morning, as I usually am, and presented myself out into the cool crisp Autumn morning. Leaves crackled beneath my feet as I shuffled along, what seemed like a mile long drive from this majestic old stately home, to reach the main'ish road. Squirrells balanced upon fence posts only to disappear into the nearest undergrowth at the sound of my passing.

After a mile or so I turned onto a small country road and was alone with my thoughts and the sounds of nature. I disturbed some resting Partridges nestled in the grass at the roadside, I think we both almost had an anal shock. The road climbed steadily upwards and as the sky lightened over the North Yorkshire Moors with Red Kites circling overhead, It became clear why I interrupt an early morning lie in for a seven mile expedition out on the road....

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

"Oh what a night..." how fun for you and Mrs. Fox. I hope they sang "My Eyes Adored You" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You". Yours was a noble early start too after a long evening, OGF., but I am not surprised.

Beautifully described run, always pleasurable to jog alongside through your prose. I always imagine it as cool, dewy (if not rainy), and getting brighter as you go. Your encounter with the partridges reminded me of this:

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Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Thank you! I hope your workouts are going well Nevada way!

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

I decided that after 15 years or wearing technical running shoes, and orthotics, and specifically padded running socks - all of which were the result off a bout of plantars fascitis - I was going to give barefoot running a go.

Today's route was across a wide beach where the sand is like sugar. While most white sand in the world is made out of coral, the sand here is almost 99% quartzite, eroded from the Appalachian mountains and deposited down river along the Gulf Coast over millions of years.

It felt fantastic, like being a kid again, splashing along the water line for a good five miles, but tonight I'm not so sure it was a good idea.. Back to the all the tech gear tomorrow. I sure am old !

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

I am a much happier man now I have been able to resume exercise after my heart attack which occurred 5 weeks ago. I was checked at the hospital, mid-workout, and my blood pressure and pulse rate were right where they should be, yay! I did an hour of cardio as well as walking the mile to and from the hospital, so all in all I am very pleased.

I am going to resume workouts at the gym I go to, although I won't be doing what I would normally be doing. I'll inform them of the heart attack and let them structure an exercise plan around that so I don't do anything silly. Next on the agenda, back to work...