Hiking And Gunfire!

   Ooops, sorry, just one of those blog post titles which almost forces you to click on the link, who knew I would stoop so low?!

The first 4K was all on sidewalks.
Til they ended...

   Will get to the "gunfire" a little later, if I remember. First, though, the story of my 12K hike today!
   It's Saturday and beautifully sunny and, as I am still not running as per my doc's instructions, I went out on another 12K hike. If you have been reading faithfully, then you will need counselling remember that last weekend I was doing the hiking thing as well, due to having injured my knee running about two and a half weeks ago. This weekend, I simply reversed the route from last weekend.
   Doing this had me hiking

Made it to where the Kains Woods
trail officially begins but
it's still sidewalks

on sidewalks for the first 4K, before I was actually into a forest. Today, my plan was to run through Kains Woods, then zigzag over til I got to Warbler Woods and this would then get me pretty close to home.
   I used the urban poles again today. They seem to work just fine for hiking, although I may need to check into different tips for them, as they don't get a lot of traction once you're actually on a trail.
   It wasn't nearly as warm this week as it was last, and there was a cool breeze, particularly for the portion of the hike out in the open, on sidewalks. Still, warm enough for shorts and I just threw a tee over top of a long sleeve tech shirt. Being cooler also meant that I only used up about half of the water I brought along. 
   

Ah, where the "trail" part
of the trail begins!

Being such a nice day, I ran into a fair number of people out on the trails. Most of the pleasantries were quite perfunctory but then I ran into a Dad who was out with his two teenage (or early twenties) daughters and we actually stopped and chatted. They looked at all my gear and asked what I was training for! I kind of smiled to myself and just explained the medical end of things and they then mentioned that they'd actually seen me out on the street before they got to the woods. Nice to know that people are paying attention, I guess, although I'm also wondering what they said in the car...

The narrowest entrance to a trail
I have ever encountered. I  put one
of my poles up for reference
and I'd estimate that the entrance
is only about 14" wide. I need
to squeeze through sideways
and my butt and my belly both
touch the posts. I'm not small
but I'm not huge either! Hard
to imagine a heftier person
being able to make it through!

   Last week, I had a bit of an issue with blisters but I neglected to mention the weird rash-like marks on the tops of my feet and toes when I'd finished walking. They looked just like a really bad sunburn but they didn't itch or hurt and they weren't raised up or anything. I had already put down the blisters to the work socks I'd been wearing that day and, after this rash thing, I was pretty sure I was allergic to whatever was in the socks as well. They got tossed.
   Most of my running socks are all the of the no-show variety but I did manage to find a neon yellow pair of Under Armor athletic crew socks and so I wore them today. Quite comfy, no blisters and no strange rash! They're a winner!
   

Just to prove I was there.

It occurred to me at some point as I was hiking the woods that I'm starting to like it a little too much. Not that there's anything wrong with enjoying hiking but, at the same time, I know that I'm only hiking right at the moment because I'm not

Beautiful trails in Kains!

supposed to run and that pretty soon I'll be back to running and I'm wondering if I'll end up torn between the two. Running is fun but it's also hard,  whereas I always get the feeling I could hike pretty well all day long and still get many of the same benefits. Hmmm....I guess we'll see!
   Oh right! GUNFIRE!! When I heard the gunfire the very first time, last fall, I initially thought it was the sound of hammers coming from nearby construction sites. After awhile, though, and with a little checking, I realized it was just the sound of skeet-shooting from the nearby London Hunt and Country Club, just on the other side of the river from Kains Woods. I

Through the tunnel....

suppose it's nice that they no longer chase the foxes with the horses and the hounds but, at the same time, it's kinda weird to be out enjoying a hike in the woods and for there to be constant gunfire at the same time! Jeesh!

...and into Warbler Woods.