On the trails

Twice over the past few weeks, I've managed to get to a local park which has a trail that loops around a central lake. It's a treat, now, in July- August.

Wildflowers, woods, the sound of a creek running fast under an old bridge...they makes me feel like I've travelled somewhere far away, maybe to the mountains.  Then there's the dark lake, covered in lotus flowers and full of aquatic life. So much change of scenery on one trail!




The first time I went, I did a 2 miles walk- run.  I had a new, light Ospray backpack on, that I wanted to test on the trails. It felt fine even when running downhill. 

At some point, I stopped to eat some wild blackberries. Yumm.  Organic! 😊


I kept seeing mushrooms on the trail...some pretty interesting!


Towards the end of the loop, the trail comes out of the woods and into a sunny, really beautiful opening, with a gentle "hill" covered in tall grass and wildflowers. Every time I get to this point, the sun is usually burning right above me, in a clear blue sky!  I always feel recharged after being in this place. 

The second trip to the park happened last weekend. It was very nice out, low 70s and sunny.  

When I got there, I was feeling a bit unwell but brushed it off. Maybe I ate something bad for breakfast..not sure. 

I managed about 1.5 miles total. The first mile I run-walked and was feeling ok (or so I thought). Then I started feeling unwell again and slowed down to a halt. It was weird. I made it home and that was that. 

Of course I saw mushrooms again, on the trail! And some wood fungus...and some moss...









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hello November!

Image
Long time, no see!  The end of October, as well as the month of November so far, have been pretty busy with walk-running, hiking  and travelling.  I've also incorporated various at home, full body workouts and stretching. First things first, I've been on a local hike with a group of friends, to see the Fall colors in all their splendor. We were not disappointed 😀 We did about 2 leisurely miles, in the evening. I run-walked a Halloween 5K! It doubled as a fundraiser to buy equipment for the first responders in that area, which was pretty cool.  About 200 people attended!🎃 I didn't get too many photos unfortunately.  After the race, I stopped by a local donut shop, to get some Nutella cinnamon goodness. Yummm. I've again gone on some day trips to the West Coast of Michigan...the little towns are so cute in the Fall! The sky was so dramatic looking! 😀 As mentioned in the beginning, I've started doing full body workouts at home and they are kicking my butt! In a ...
Read more

A short 1.2 mile hike

Image
As the weather was so nice for hiking today, I didn't want to waste an opportunity to go on the trails. I snatched the last parking spot at the trailhead. There were car license plates from many states. The trail is pretty shaded, has several bridges and goes up and down some ravines.  I was busy taking photos and looking around and I didn't even realize some guy was right behind me. Not sure how I didn't hear him...hmmm, it was a bit unnerving. But he passed by and that was that. At some point, I saw some sunbathing pigs 😄 It was a short and sweet hike, that took about 40 min including all the times I stopped for photos. So many photos!  1.How do you select which photos make the cut for your posts?  2. Do you prefer running or hiking in shaded areas or in the sun (or perhaps a mix of both)?  
Read more

I'm back - Winery 5k race recap

Image
Hello there!  It's been too long! I am writing this blog on a stormy Fall day, sipping hot coffee and with an old cat curled up at my side. The definition of cozy.  In the past 2 months, I've participated in 3 local races (recap of a Winery 5K race below).  I have at least 3 more 5Ks lined up, yey! Living life to the fullest😀 Alright, so my first and favorite 5K of the season took place at a Winery.  Oh, the beauty of that place! A magical experience for me. The race course went up some sunny, rolling hills, among grape vines full of green and purple grapes, then went into the woods for some more up and downs on hilly trails. It ended back where we started. I had arrived late and parked right by the entrance, having no idea just how big this place was. I must have walked 1/2 mile just to get to the packet pickup, by the main building. Great warm up, right?  There was a big turnout of both runners and walkers, probably over 100-150 people. Some chose to wear the...
Read more