Sorry for the lapse in posts lately. The injured leg turned out to be a small blood clot in my left calf. It took nearly 2 weeks to have it diagnosed and another week and a half for my leg to stop hurting. After that, I had to get ready for my vacation, which took two weekends.
I went to NYC on my vacation. The first Saturday I was there, my daughter and I took part in a training walk with a group of women who will be walking in October. Two of them will be walking for their 6th time, my daughter will be on her 3rd and the other 3 of us are novices. We walked in Prospect Park. It was around 5 miles. After looking at some shoes, my daughter and I walked another 4 miles or so. The heat got to me and I had to stop, so we got lunch and then caught a subway home.
On the last Sunday I was there, we got up early and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (my first time) and then down to Union Square. That was at least 7 miles - possibly more, but it was relaxed and unhurried.
At least I didn't slack off completely while I was away.
Weekend of July 31 - August 1
Part 1
I got up early and was out on the trail at 6:20 am. The waning moon was directly above me in the lightening sky with a very bright Venus showing to its left. It was only about 81 degrees, but with the high humidity, it wasn't very comfortable.
The bayou was very high. Apparently it rained a lot while I was out of town. The water was so high, the water from the areas further away from the bayou wasn't able to drain. The water hole near the beginning of the trail had its covering of algae broken (probably from the rain). The grass in the fields at the side of the trail had been cut, but it was very green.
As I walked below the tree canopy, I had to duck several times because the vines had grown so much they were hanging down to about 4' above the trail. In the areas where the canopy was very heavy, the smell of wild grapes was very strong. They were ripe and most had already fallen from the vines. I'm sure they made wonderful meals for the birds, but the ones that landed on the trail were very messy.
There weren't too many people and fewer bicycles than I have ever seen. I was done with my walk. I was by 7:45 and back home by 8:00. It was a good day.as good that I planned
I only planned to walk 5 miles. I have new shoes and don't want to over-do the first day. I used a lot of Body Glide on my feet to avoid having any issues on the first time out. It was good I didn't fo any further, because I rubbed a blister on my left heel and by the time I was done, my foot wasn't feeling too good. Apparently, not enough Body Glide.
Part 2
I got up at 5:00 am again and was very quick getting ready and hit the path by 6:10. It was considerably darker than on Saturday. The moon was still there, but Venus was to the right of the moon and not nearly as bright. The sky was nearly black. When I walked under the first area covered by the canopy, I was a little spooked. It was beautifully cool, but extremely dark. A bicycle came up behind me and the rider spoke very softly when he said "on your left" and it nearly gave me a heart attack. It certainly pumped me fill of Adrenalin and my heart-rate spiked. It made walking a little difficult.
The rabbits were very reticent about coming out to the trail. I guess they are getting older and more wary of people. I think I only saw 3 on the whole walk and they were far off the trail by the tree line.
People were out with their dogs, as usual. There was one small white dog whose owner was jogging and the dog wanted nothing to do with it. Another small boxer mix was carrying a loop of his leash in his mouth and dancing forward and back trying to get his owners to walk faster. The last interesting one I saw was a chocolate lab running well in front of his very tired and sweaty owner. I suggested that the dog had a bit more energy than he had. The man readily agreed.
At the half-way point on my 2nd leg (about mile 2) a woman walked up behind me. I had seen her several times before. I walked with her to the end of my leg (2.5 miles) and we had a nice chat. She is retired and walks a minimum of 5 miles each day. She checks the sunrise so she knows not to get out early. It was nice to have someone to walk with, even for a short time. I'm sure I slowed her down, but she sped me up.
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