Hiking The Avon Trail: Hike Three

   Yesterday,  I managed to get in my third hike on the Avon Trail, in an attempt to get the end-to-ender done this summer.
   My lovely and angelic wife, Doralyn, agreed to travel with me in an hour-long convoy to a spot on Line 110, just east of Stratford. We then parked my car there and Doralyn drove through the country sideroads til we reached the starting point of the day's journey, where she dropped me off or, as she likes to describe it, "left him somewhere in the woods"!
   My journey started at the 30.7K marker of the trail and would take me on to the 48.8K point, by the time I was done. It was a pretty good day for hiking, cool and not too sunny. I found myself encountering all sorts of different terrain today, as you'll be able to see from the pics! Wherein I walked the walk!

My starting point today at the Ironwood Section//Bimini Loop. It's a little bit of a sidetrail
but is also part off the Main Trail and so had to be done. Very pretty in there!

Doing the Bimini Loop, named, I believe, after the nearby Bimini Church Camp.
Or maybe vice-versa....

Yet another stile to climb. And more to come later on!

Across the road from the Bimini Loop and back onto the main trail.

A very slow-moving creek with a very slow-moving carp in it.

Downstream (upstream?) view of the Line 20 bridge.

The farmer's bridge over the creek

How I got over the electrified (maybe) fence!

A sea of periwinkles (look close!) One of the prettiest sections
of any trail I've been in the last two years!

Beautiful in an entirely different sort of way and indicative of the
different types of terrain I encountered today.

View from a creek bridge

Long-deserted deer stand

Out of the woods and on to.......some road somewhere

Took the worst possible pic of a pretty little village called Harmony

Off the road and back into the fields. This section was about the least-fun of
a section I've ever been on. It was about half a kilometer of thigh-high
wet weeds with almost no actual "trail". Soaking wet after this!

Back onto the roadway

And back into the fields. A very long farmer's track, leading to
those woods way off in the distance.

Bridge Over Untroubled Waters

Trail through a very long and narrow tree "copse" between two fields. I learned a new word today!

Whaddya know?! A BENCH! Yay! And there were more!

Gotta love train track pics!

Approaching Highway 7. A short jaunt along the highway......

....and I turn north on Road 110 to get back to my car! Yes! Whew!

How far I went and how long it took me.

Back at it again (again)

   After about a month's worth of not running, due to some extreme cramping issues and then about three week's worth of a nasty head and chest cold, I finally made it out again yesterday.
   As I am wont to do lately, I headed to nearby Kains Woods. My plan was to walk there, run 5K in the woods and then walk back. It was in the teens here in London and was simply a great day to get out for a walk/run and a lot of other people had the same idea. This is one of the best parts about running here---meeting other people, even if only very briefly. It's just not quite the same as running into people out on a   neighbourhood road or sidewalk where you meet people on their way to work, or the store, or school. In the forest, you're all there for essentially the same reason, to get away from it all, and it becomes a bit of a bonding sort of thing.
   One of the last times I had spent any great amount of time running through Kains, I had kind of overdone it a touch and had attempted some 10K runs I was not prepared for. Nasty, nasty cramps ensued afterwards. I gave it a couple of days of rest and then tried a shorter distance but found my left quad seizing up after only about a kilometer and a half. Then I got sick. This gave my old legs the recovery time they needed, although I did make it out for a couple of long walks.
   I also brought up the subject of cramping with my chiro, and she suggested starting on a regular dose of essential fatty acids and magnesium. This I've done. My family doctor, after recent bloodwork, suggested iron, which I've also done. 
   So yesterday I walked about 2 and half K til I got to Kains and then I started running. The wooded part of the trail is about 4 and a half K so my plan was to run to the end of it and then turn around and start running back, til my Garmin had me at 5K.
   About a hundred meters into the run, I developed a sharp pain in my right ankle, so sharp that I had to stop and hop a little. I imagined the bones and tendons in my ankle having the following conversation---Hey, what the hell is he doing?! Get out of my way, tendon, you're pissing me off! Up yours, bone, keep it up and you're gonna make me snap! What, is he RUNNING again? Oh crap! Okay...let's just see if we can get him through this ONE MORE TIME.....And at this point, things down there more or less got back to normal!

Now look up, look WAY up...and you'll see a couple of bald eagles!

   I did stop a handful of times to take pics and drink. At one point, I had just finished taking a pic and a young lady who was walking the other way with her two dogs, asked me if I knew that the eagles were back. I looked at her kind of blankly and indicated that I had no idea what she was talking about. Apparently there is a pair of bald eagles who nest across the river from Kains and if you're a regular in the area then you're probably aware of them. Me, I've just started exploring the woods and had no idea about them. They hadn't been seen lately but now they were back and she very sweetly volunteered to backtrack a little and show me where I could best view them. Unfortunately, the zoom lens on my phone was not able to catch the best pic (then again, it's a Samsung, so I guess I should just be happy that it didn't blow up!) Pretty cool though.
   The rest of my run was uneventful. Passed about 20 people out walking in the opposite direction and then, when we all turned around and headed back, I passed them again. Once I hit 5K, I stopped running and then walked the rest of the way. By the time I made it out of the woods, my legs were feeling it. Yesterday evening, however, cramps were really not an issue so I don't know whether it was the new vitamins or me just being a little more mindful. What I really need to realize is that running through a forest takes more of a toll than on the streets. I'll need to remember this. In the meantime, here's a bit of a photo dump from yesterday!

Sometimes hard to see the trail this time of year!

The ever-present Thames River

I've walked past this dozens of times and must have thought it was
a large rock or something. Closer inspection tells me it was some
sort of a man-made thing at one time.

On the other side of the river, you can catch a glimpse of the
London Hunt and Country Club (careful how you say that!)

Brand new boardwalk! They treat us well, in Kains Woods!

Long out of the woods now---this tunnel takes me under a busy road.
I generally try not to go "into the light" but this is one of the exceptions

   

Wherein I Encounter A Viking Ship (But No Hobbit House)

   I finally headed out for a run today, after a little over a month of only occasionally throwing in a long walk or two. My only goal when I left the house was to run---it didn't have to be fast and it didn't need to be continual. All I really needed was to run.
   This was kind of a refreshing approach because any of the last runs I'd done that month ago were all performance-based. I'd been desperately wanting to get my 5K times down and, slowly but surely, that's what was happening. And then I stopped running. Not sure why.
   It's still very autumn-like, weather-wise, here in London and today was a great day for running. I wore shorts and just a couple of layers up top. For some reason the top of me gets cold much faster than my bottom half and I need to be warm at the beginning of a run but still be mindful of the fact that I will warm up, eventually.
   There are a couple of cool things I wanted to be able to show you all today so I took just a bit of a detour from my usual 5K route. I wanted to show you the little hobbit house but when I ran by there was a pickup parked right in front of it, so that was kind of a no-go. Too bad, too, cuz I had to run up a freakin' hill to get there.
   There is, however, a miniature Viking ship right around the corner and I was able to get a pic. I'm a little far away due to the fact that there are no sidewalks on that side of the street . As have most viking ships, it's fallen into a bit of disrepair, its sail lies, bedraggled, atop its stern.

   From here, I just continued to run along at my very slow speed and was kind of loving it. I did time it and it ended up being a little over 42 minutes. I could not have run any more slowly but that was fine with me!

   I needed to make sure I took pics today because Crystal of Running With Rhyno fame had strongly suggested I run yesterday. But I whined and fussed and she said I could run today but needed to provide pictorial proof. So here it is, Crystal! Even a tiny bead of sweat on my left cheek, a bit of a foggy-breath effect, and a dilapidated Viking ship in the background...

   I can always tell when I've gotten into a better headspace with my running---I feel like going out again the same day. Today was one of those days because tonight I definitely feel as though I could run again. My plan is to hopefully feel like that again tomorrow and to maybe go hunting for that hobbit house I told you about!

A happier-looking me!

 

Finding Nemo...er...Nathan, I mean

   Well....over a month later and I'm blogging again...
   In my last post, I spent some time glorying in the recent running success I'd been having and how I finally had the feeling that the whole running thing was back on track.
   This was obviously the kiss of death as I have not run since.
   Kinda hard to put a finger on just exactly why this has happened---I just simply have not felt like running.
   Part of it, I think, was that I spent four days in Sault Ste. Marie, essentially eating at one kind of restaurant or another, all of which served huge portions. That, and just generally being thrown way off my routine made it especially hard to recover when I finally made it back to London. And nothing has really changed since!
   I have forced myself to get out and go for long walks, however, so, for better or worse, I am now a walking blogger!
   A couple of days ago I headed out into nearby Warbler Woods, as part of a 5K route I've had mapped out for quite some time now. My idea was to walk as briskly as possible and maybe even to run up a couple of the hills I knew I would encounter.
   One or two of my long, purposeful strides, however, nearly had me flat on my substantial ass. This time of year, of course, forest pathways are covered with leaves and there has been enough moisture in these parts to lay down a slick layer of mud underneath. This layer of mud was then camouflaged by the layer of leaves covering it and several times I took a step only to find myself sliding an extra six to seven inches, unexpectedly. Suddenly, I was actually happy I wasn't trying to run through it!
   This time of year, the woods are entirely different and quite spectacular in their own way. Without a leafy canopy, you can see much deeper into them and get a much better sense of the topography involved. If only the footing were better...
   So I walked until I normally make a  hard left and start on the trail which ultimately leads me away from the woods. When I got there, though, this was the sign and the fence which blocked my path:

A bent sign, to boot! Hiker rage??

   This was annoying and I briefly contemplated totally ignoring the sign, thinking to myself "what possible ecological damage could I do?" It then occurred to me that if everyone thought that same way we'd be in big trouble, so I relented. I also knew that if I just followed my original path I would soon encounter a series of very steep hills. Normally this is not a problem for me (I run them all the time) but in those slippery conditions I just didn't want to risk anything. So I turned to go out the same way I came in.
   And am I ever glad I did because I found Nemo!
   Well, no, not Nemo exactly but possibly a cousin named Nathan.
   I was walking past a tree and noticed a small blue box resting at its base. The box had an inscription on it so I bent down to read it. Here is the box:

   When I realized what I was holding, I very reverentially placed the box back at the base of the tree. No "Curse of the Mummy's Tomb" for me! Actually, I thought this was pretty sweet and kinda cool to find so I was glad in a way that the blocked trail had sent me back this way.
   The rest of my walk in the woods was pretty uneventful and I was happy that I had at least worked up a sweat. Hopefully, walking is only a pre-cursor to actually running again. I'm pretty sure that it is. Fingers crossed.
 
   
   

Hellacious Hills

   In my last post, I sort of described why I hadn't been either doing much running or blogging about it. Due to the sudden insertion of ball hockey into my life, the legs lately just haven't had the oomph required to get me out there.

Entrance to Warbler Woods

   This does not mean, though, that I have been at home simply sitting on my butt. A couple of times lately I have headed out for long walks through nearby Warbler Woods, in an effort to keep the legs moving and, perhaps even more importantly, enjoy the arrival of Spring! Yay! We're now at the point where things have actually dried up enough to make a walk through the woods an enjoyable experience. This time of year, as well, the leaves haven't blossomed yet and you can see deep into the forest, which is kind of cool.
   On these trips, I began by following the same path I take when I'm on a run. I leave my house and am at the woods in about a kilometer. There's a two kilometer stretch through the woods, I come out on the other side and then another two kilometers on pavement to get back to my place.
   I changed things up a bit though the last two times by foregoing the the final 2K on pavement and simply darting back into the woods after I popped out of them and taking a different route back through.

SNAKE! (upper right-hand corner...)

 
   Okay, this different route back through is hellacious. Warbler Woods is somewhat bowl-shaped insofar as you go down into them and climb back up out of them. My normal route has me encountering one really nasty hill but then I end up running around the upper rim of the bowl without descending into its depths. Going down into the depths brings you face-to-face with at least six hellacious hills, all of which are even more hellacious than the one hellacious hill I was already (kinda) used to.
   I was exhausted several times and, mind you, I was just walking. I can't imagine running these things. They were all pretty well straight up with bendy curves in them and it wasn't even all that easy going down the backsides of them, due to their steepness.
   

A fine example of a Carolinian forest!!

These woods are quite popular with hikers and casual walkers but I couldn't help but think that there should be some sort of disclaimer posted at the entrance, indicating the degree of difficulty. Or maybe it's just me...
    I remember thinking a couple of times at the summit of the latest hill that I was just as winded as if I'd been running. At the time, I thought of this as a good thing, figured I was at least out there getting exercise if I wasn't actually running.
   Also, the first time I did this new route, I stopped several times to rest. The second time, I vowed I would just plow on through, which is what I did.

Part of the trail

   Toward the end of my second walk, things started to catch up to me. At one point, I snagged my toe on a root as I was descending one of these hills. Nothing major that wouldn't normally have been handled by a bit of a hop and a skip but I discovered my legs would not do that hop and a skip for me. It seemed like the legs would not bend at the knee and all of the sudden it felt like I was walking on stilts instead of legs and I envisioned tumbling head first onto the trail and just rolling and rolling and...but I caught myself, thank goodness. It was then that I started to realize the toll all this ball hockey and walking had taken on my legs! I managed to get out of the forest the second time and was left with about a kilometer on

Bit of a boardwalk through
the boggier portions.

pavement to get me back home. Walking on flat pavement was not an issue, it seemed. Back at home, though, I was faced with the four steps of my wooden porch. Normally, I can spring up them. Not the other day. I pretty well needed to crawl up them and afterwards, sitting on the newly-conquered porch, I resolved to give my legs a couple of days off. No running, no ball hockey, no walking. I compromised a little by doing some yardwork the following day but even that was not pretty.
   In the midst of all this, I was ironically invited to do a squat challenge, by Crystal, intrepid leader of the Canuck Running Bloggers. Ha ha ha, I can't even really sit on the toilet or get dressed properly, let alone do a squat challenge!! Did I mention that I think I might have overdone it??
   I am pretty sure that I will return to these Hellacious Hills, however. It occurred to me as I was walking them that they would be perfect for hill repeats. They're evenly spaced enough that recovery time would be accommodated and they're different from each other, so you wouldn't get bored either! If you survived... 

How I Got To Where I Am This Very Minute

   I ran today for the first time in a long time. It's been so long that I can't actually remember when the last time was. I suppose I could dig out the Garmin and check back but the fact of the matter is that it's not coming to me right now.
   I should be able to go oh, yeah, I ran yesterday and that was a hard one or maybe even enjoyed the rest day after that long run on Tuesday but none of that is coming to me.
   I did go for a 10K walk last weekend and that was quite the workout but, prior to that, I don't remember any runs.
   What this all means, of course, is that I'm not running enough. And there's been no cross-training in the interim, either. If that's not bad enough, I've more or less abandoned my gluten-free lifestyle, giving me more access to more carbs more often. All of the above has simply been a recipe for disaster, of course, and my body's showing it.
   Last night, I had a perfectly good chicken dinner with fresh veggies. It filled me adequately but then, as I was passing through the kitchen, I noticed a cooked turkey burger sitting, unwanted, in a frying pan on the stove. It looked lonely so I ate it. And then felt awful afterwards.
   So now we can add "poor choices" to everything I've already told you about and you get a pretty good idea of the dire straits I'm in!
   

How to take a sidewalk and
turn it into a trail run. From
my run today.

Earlier on today, I was standing in front of the bathroom mirror (should they be outlawed?) and asked myself if it would be appropriate to do a "selfie", without my shirt on. Ostensibly, it would be the "before" pic and at some point (later and about twenty pounds less) I would post the "after" pic. Then I thought to myself but what if there's no "after" pic to show people. The "before" pic would simply become "the pic" and would just fester there in cyber space. My boobs also rival many women's and I understand there are obscenity guidelines....so no selfies today. You're welcome!

You lucky bastards!

   I ran 5K today in around 40 minutes, about as bad as it's been. My goal is eventually to get under 30. Last summer, I was running around 34 and 30 seemed reachable. Today, a sub-30 5K seems way, WAY off.
   But no big deal; because I can walk, it doesn't matter so much how the running's going and I know way too many people who can't walk. As far as tomorrow goes, I can certainly get out and run again---nothing can really stop me and, if I choose not to run, I can go to the gym and if I choose not go to the gym I can go for a long walk or if I choose not to do any of these things then I can sit here and soak in the world somehow!

My 10K Walk Huge Photo Dump!

   My plan had been to run 5K today but I spent the day yesterday doing yardwork and it felt like every bone in my body ached today. The thought of jarring those same bones around by running was pretty intolerable.
   What I thought I could manage, however, was a long walk. As a bit of a trade-off, I figured that a 10K walk might take the the place if a 5K run, workout-wise. And it does, right...?

   So, because I was walking, I thought I would take some pics along the way. Anything that looked pic-worthy was fodder for my phone camera so there are a lot of pics, couple with my sometimes-whimsical commentary! On the plus side, you don't have to sit there and listen to me ramble on! So here we go!

My street. I love the trees!

Commissioners Road. Busy street but still lots of greenery.

Commissioners and Oxford. A busy intersection and I am on the wrong side of the street!

The McCormick Home, one of the best places for seniors in London. How
convenient, I won't even have to leave my neighbourhood!

Where the rich people live---I'm not even sure I'm allowed to be in the general area...

The Oxford Street extension bridge. It's all downhill, that's why I want to run it so bad!

This pic is a little out of order, it's the pond just before the bridge.

View of the Thames River, from the bridge. All sorts of
visions of my phone falling over the railing!

Had to make a choice here! Which path do you think I picked?! 

Sad part of the walk. A couple of months ago, a 19-year-old girl was killed
here in an early-morning accident. I drive by this every day.....

The VERY nondescript  entrance to the London Hunt and Country Club,
home of several high-profile gold tournaments. You need to be
very careful how you pronounce it....

The track at St. Thomas Aquinas high school. I kind of lust after it.

This was about halfway and I'd forgotten fuel. Thank goodness for the corner drugstore!

Used to live here!

Construction work. Because this is summer. In London.

Riverside Drive, one of the most scenic roadways in London.

Hmmmm...I wonder what goes on in there?

I started singing "Follow The Yellow Mark Road". In my head, though.

But don't follow it TOO closely or you'll get smucked by a car.

I love junk pics. Should have done this one in black and white

Obviously some lazy bastards around.

I don't remember being here! (but maybe that's because of the alcohol...)

The bridge into Byron, where I live. Byron used to be a small village
but then it got annexed by London. Great place to live!

Another view of the river, from the Byron bridge.

The sign, announcing I'm home! Well, apart from the kilometer and a half I still had to walk...

Did I mention it was summer? In London?

   So there you have it, thank you for viewing my huge dump! (giggle)
   Hopefully, the next time around, I'll actually have some running to tell you about!

So did you pick the correct path I took in Pic #9?
Leave your choice in a comment and I'll let you know!