the call of the wild

So I walked down to Lake Olmstead again this morning and ran around it, which is about 2.25 miles.  This was my first time not running an out-and-back route (when you turn around halfway and go back along the route you just ran), and I was surprised that mentally it was actually harder than an out-and-back...  There was something about being at the back of the lake, looking across it, and realizing that I was only halfway around that made the second half really tough -- even though the road around the lake is mostly flat and I ran a quarter of a mile farther on Sunday.  Go figure.

The Augusta Canal. (Don't swim in there.)

Even though it was a tougher morning than I expected, I still had a great time.  It's so nice to have something other than houses and yappy dogs and lawnmowers to pay attention to while you're running!  At the halfway point at the back of the lake, there was a bridge with the lake on one side and the Augusta Canal on the other, which was really pretty.  Even though the canal is probably full of chemicals and nuclear waste from SRS and other unsavory things.  As long as you don't get in the canal, though, it's pretty nice.  This morning, there was still mist coming up from it, which was really pretty -- although it obnoxiously made it look like it should be a nice cool morning, which it is not.

The coolest thing about this morning's run was definitely the wildlife!  I didn't see anything terribly exciting, but there were two different kinds of ducks (white ones that looked like the Aflac duck and some brown ones that I think were female mallards), some Canada Geese, two geese with red bills (but I can't find pictures that look anything like them, so I guess that one will just have to stay a mystery) and even an egret hanging out in the marshy business at the back of the lake.  Of course, the pretty wildlife was probably balanced out by the two palmetto bugs (translation for Yankees:  giant flying roaches) I found in the house this morning, half-eaten  & disemboweled rodents the outside cat had left for us in the carport, and the squashed frog I saw toward the end of the run, but I won't put pictures of any of those things and we'll all just pretend they didn't happen. 

nice white ducks

Mrs. Mallard

Canada geese

Egret!
 

There was also a German Shepherd roaming around without a leash, but thankfully he did not seem to want to eat me -- he actually seemed pretty freaked out when he saw me and ran away.  Way to go, guard dog.

All in all, it was a pretty entertaining morning!  2.5 happens again tomorrow, and hopefully it will be a little easier than today's run was.  Should be fun either way!  :)

Epic German Shepherd says goodbye