It was great to be back on the Lime Creek trails today. Breezy and cool but sunny none the less. I started a bit conservatively and found another load of cans and bottles because I've been gone for a few days and they seem to accumulate! But eventually I got on a roll and ran some significant stretches.
I had begun the morning dog-sitting my son's new puppy then went to the cardiologist for a checkup before ramping my training up for the Black Hills 50. So far, so good with the doctor but we're scheduled for a stress test later this week as a precaution.
I took some time to research a natural phenomenon that I had noticed last week. A very bright orange slime growing in the oozing sap of a tree that had been cleared from around the old brewery.
Turns out, this is most likely caused by a yeast. There was a good discussion of this in an article from Cornell University....
"Root sap gets stirring in the Spring, and even if the stems are gone, the roots may still be alive and pumping liquids, unaware there is no top to feed. Any self-respecting microorganism knows a free meal when it sees one, and soon the watery slime is translucent and greasy with yeast and bacterial and filamentous fungal growth."....
The resulting stem is quite bizarre when seen from the trail.
7 miles in the AM and additional mile or so scheduled tonight.
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