The Eagle Has Landed

Interesting how even with the switch back to Daylight Savings Time, our biorhythms remain much the same.  Although the clocks in our house read an hour later than usual, I settled down to run at nearly the same time as past days, according to the sun.

I was encouraged by how the run was going today.  While I cruised out to the Badlands area, I had spotted an American Bald Eagle flying along the river.  By staying close to the bluffs above the river I eventually found it resting in a tree and took time to get a few photos.  Unfortunately for me, I wasn't quick enough with the shutter to get a shot of it as it stretched its wings to again take flight.

My intent was get a longer run in today and concentrate on more running than walking.  The plan was working well except for my tendency to be distracted by trash along the trails, especially recyclable and redeemable containers.  So I took a few breaks to gather trash.  I am disappointed by how much trash can show up in such a short time on trails that I frequent almost every day.  The season lends itself to easy spotting of these cans and bottles.  Other than a few remaining leaves from last fall, there's not much cover for the trash to hide.

Today's haul

Before writing today's blog entry, I looked at the stats page and was totally blown away by a sudden increase in hits.  Most were on yesterday's post about how to make homemade energy gel.  It became apparent that the increase came from a link in George Zack's blog, Hang Nine. George has a very popular blog and generates a lot of traffic. Thanks for the mention GZ!  I have found the gel recipe to very economical and useful when running for long periods of time on trails.

12 miles running today with a two mile recovery walk. I had planned a possible 15 to 18 miles run but settled for the 12 due to the extra time I took for the cans and bottles. So 65 for the week, which surprised me because of the struggle I was encountering midweek with motivation and overall tiredness.  Next week I'll be sure to stretch my long run to my goal distance.