Y’all called me out on my New River trivia yesterday! Turns out my source (a high school cross country coach) was a bit misinformed. The other river I was thinking of was the Nile. However, according to my research, the New River is one of a few major rivers in North America that flows south to north. Most do flow to the south. There are numerous other rivers across the world that flow north, but it is more common for rivers to flow south. My research also told me that geologists consider the New River one of the oldest rivers in the world. So it’s still cool in my book.

This evening I headed out for a 3 mile run after a long day of work. I made it a progression run with splits of 10:17, 9:48, 9:26. My ankles and lower legs are really sore from walking around, up and down hills, in flip flops all weekend. I don’t think the hour of going down the water slides and walking back up a huge hill on a concrete path barefoot helped, either. Funny thing is the faster I ran the better my legs felt. I also had a huge bull stare me down the whole time I ran by him (that helped me pick it up some, too). Of course he had gone further out in the field by the time I took a picture, but he’s the second one on the right. He’s much more impressive up close.

I had my tree picked out that I would be up in about two seconds if he had decided to come through the fence. Although, I don’t know why he would since he had all those females to hang out with in the field. Speaking of cows, they were out in the field behind our house last night. Scout decided she needed to run them off.

She’s very brave when there’s a fence (or two) between her and the cows.

She will bark and bay (howl) at them to run them off. I caught her mid-bay with her nose straight up in the air after she ran this cow away from the fence.

She kept at it until all of the cows started heading back away from the fence. And then she did a victory dance in the yard and came back inside.

Since this is a running blog, I will end on a running note. I am thinking of doing a weekly marathon training recap each week on Mondays. There are a few bloggers who are training for big races that currently do this, and I think the recaps are a great way to sum everything up. I will give it a try next week and see how it goes. I apologize in advance if it’s a flop and turns out boring.

What’s your favorite type of run: progression, tempo, speed work, easy, or long run? I know there are other types, but I want to know your favorite from the options.
Long runs are my favorite, progression runs are second.
Any tips on doing weekly marathon training recaps without boring everyone to death?

**I wrote this post yesterday, but our internet connection at the campground wasn’t fast enough to publish it. So you get to enjoy two posts today instead.**

This weekend we went camping at a nearby campground for my birthday. Although my actual birthday was last week, we had to delay the trip until this weekend. Since we were only about 40 minutes away, we were still close to the New River State Park Trail, which is the trail where I usually do most of my long runs. I got to see a new section of trail yesterday that I hadn’t run on before.

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the day yesterday was spent at the campground. It was a pretty nice place. They had a pond where you can paddle boat or do some catch & release fishing. They also had two pools and four water slides, 18 hole miniature golf, and a sizable arcade. Not a bad spot for the weekend.

We spent time at the pool and went down the two large water slides on inner tubes. The first one we went down was the black one and Barry and I used a double tube. About the third turn on the way down our tube flipped and we both fell off. It wasn’t too bad, until the very end when there were speed bumps to slow you down. Those things weren’t meant for anything except an inner tube to go over.

 

 

 

Hank and Scout had a good time this weekend as well. In addition to going for walks they did a little napping…

Hank napping on one of the benches at the kitchen table.

…. as well as a little sleeping.

Scout sleeping on the couch.

The chickens are another week older and another week closer to laying their first eggs! Agnes tried out the nesting box. And by that I mean I put her in there and took a picture. She promptly jumped out and went about her business right after I snapped this photo.

Agnes is our biggest chicken and this box is the perfect size for her. They like it to be snug so that they feel like their eggs will be safe. This week I discovered a new favorite food of theirs: spinach!

“What do you have for us today???”

I didn’t know how well this would go over, because they haven’t liked the other vegetables I’ve tried. They seem to have more of a taste for fruit. However, they appear to be big fans of leafy vegetables.

We also got around to installing a “window” in the front of the chicken coop this week. This will allow for more ventilation, as well as let the chickens know when it’s time to get up since they will be able to see the sun rise.

They were very interested in their new window. It is right next to their roosting poles, and they like getting up on the poles and looking outside.

I also got a video of Agnes (the larger, white one) and Cecilia (with the crooked beak) on the roosting poles.

Barry took a picture of me holding Agnes to show how much they have grown. For comparison sake, here is one of our chicks at 2 weeks old:

And here is Agnes earlier this week. Huge change in just 14 short weeks.

We decided a “straight on” picture didn’t do her size justice so we also took one from the side. Agnes loves to be held, so she didn’t mind one bit.

Funny story- she pooped on me right after he took this picture. It got on my shirt and shorts and dripped down my leg. Lovely. Not my first time getting pooped on by a bird, though. When I was a kid I was at Chincoteague Island with my grandparents and a seagull pooped on my head. My grandma stuck my head in the sink!

On a side note, this is a blog about running and I just used the word ‘pooped’ three times in the above paragraph but wasn’t actually talking about running. How ironic.

In other chicken news, unrelated to my chickens, my in-laws sent me this clipping they saw in a magazine:

Diapers for chickens so that they can be kept inside? Nope. I draw the line at dogs.

Have you ever been pooped on by a bird or other animal?

What do you think about the chicken diapers?

First off, thanks for all of your input about bathroom breaks and running in the heat on Wednesday. Y’all gave me a lot to think about, and some ideas on how to try and address the problem. Also, it looks like we’re all road tripping to the Manitou Incline. Sweet! I’ll see y’all there!

You will not believe what I did this morning. I got up and went for a 3 mile run BEFORE work. Crazy, right? Who am I? It was definitely cooler out than it is during the day (68 degrees), but since I ran in the morning I got to deal with 100% humidity. It was also really foggy/hazy outside.

The road to nowhere

I saw that white Pitbull I have told y’all about before that has “attacked” me in the past. By attacked I mean he has chased me down the road and jumped up on my back with his front paws while barking and growling. Not sure if that counts or not, but either way I avoid him. I snapped a quick picture before turning around to head the other direction.

He almost looks friendly in this picture, and I think it also looks like he’s tied. But he has been loose in the past and trust me, he’s not so friendly looking when he’s running after you with his teeth bared.

I first found out about the Manitou Incline, in Manitou Springs, Colorado, in a Runner’s World article from last year. Ironically enough, I read about it while sitting on the runway waiting for my plane to depart after spending a week in Denver. I probably wouldn’t have been able to go to the incline, but it was ironic that I was reading about it as I was in the process of leaving Colorado.

The Manitou Incline is a one-mile climb lined with railroad ties. People flock there every day to climb, and often attempt to run, the incline. It used to be illegal, which didn’t matter to incline users, who used it for over 20 years illegally. But as of February 1st of this year, it is legal!

The incline has an average grade of 41% and a maximum grade of 68%. The record for fastest run up the trail is 17 minutes. The average time it takes to hike up the trail is 45 minutes. There was a really neat graph in the RW article comparing the Newton Hills of Boston to the Incline, and it made Boston’s hills look like speed bumps…. but I can’t find it, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

The incline has its roots as a former cable car railway, which was used to carry materials to pipeline construction on Pikes Peak. But the rails were removed in 1990.

In the Runner’s World article it said that as you climb, you look up and think you are almost to the top. But then you find that it is actually a false summit and there is still roughly 1/4 of a mile to go!

The one mile trail climbs 2,000 vertical feet. Once you get to the top you can enjoy the view while you catch your breath and revel in your accomplishment. Then you have to make it back down without tripping!

Had you heard of the Incline before now?

Who’s taking a road trip to Manitou Springs to climb the incline with me!?