Running journal, Thursday, 2006-03-09

Running journal, Thursday, 2006-03-09
Resting heart rate: 62 bpm (60 second test)
Day: Thursday
Date: 2006-03-09
Weather: Partly sunny, thunderstorm, funnel cloud, 5 m/s wind ;)
Temp: 12.78 C (55 F)
Time: 14:45-17:00
Terrain: flat with mild hills
Comments: Walking day today and Lanna volunteered to come along. One nice thing about walking with Lanna is that she knows more about bird identification than I do, and she does not mind teaching. Walked the Pioneer Express Trail on the north side of Lake Natoma, then took Main Ave (dirt road, really) north to the intersection of Sunset Ave. Then we took the Shady Trail back to Lake Natoma. While we walked back, a rain shower burst above us, and we heard several loud thunderclaps with sights of lightning to the south (about eight miles, if you consider our counting the elapsed time between lightning-sighting and thunderclap reasonably scientific). When we reached the trail, I was getting a bit wet, and a biker and his female biking companion passed us. The male biker said to me, "Forgot your jacket." :P I didn't mind so much. Then to our shock we saw the formation of a funnel cloud to the south, my first sighting. A female biker traveling westbound slowed and gaped at it with us, then shared our sentiment by admitting she felt scared. Lanna didn't seem scared so much, but I was mentally calculating where to flee if it touched down and headed our way. Happily, it remained frozen, and after ten minutes it dissipated. To the south-east, we saw dense sheets of rain from the thunderstorm system stretching in liquid arcs from the clouds to the ground. Lanna noticed the heavy rain-drops transforming the lake water into a shimmering surface. As we watched the storm progress, we heard several wild turkeys from atop the bluffs. We caught sight of them as three or four of them fed themselves. We continued, the rain abetting. When we reached the Nimbus Dam, we saw a number of additional wild turkeys climbing out of sight on the top of that bluff. How about that, half a dozen wild turkey sightings in one day. :) A jogger ran past us and shared that, "You'll see a lot of them around here." :) On the walk back to the car, Lanna noticed green herons sitting on a wire crossing the American River next to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery. At my car, I noticed to my dismay that the seatbelt track on my Ford Escort decided to malfunction. :P With a deft flick of the wrist, I disconnected the wire activating the track motor. I have replaced it before so replacing it again is no challenge, it's just a consumption of time and energy. I felt happy walking along the lush Shady Trail, listening to the rain in the treetops, hearing the roar of the electrical storm, feeling the rain on my skin, seeing the funnel and the turkeys. It was a remarkable walk, and we went at a pace that did not irritate my muscles.
Time: 135 minutes (2:15)
Goal Time: n/a
Distance: 6.92 km (4.29 mi) http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=52024
Total Distance For Year: 225.9 km (138.1 mi)
Weight (after run): 80.0 kg (176.4 lbs), 19% body fat
Any irregular feelings, aches, pains, heart rate, and so forth?: None
Foods eaten today: WestSoy Plain soy milk, Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice, olives, Trader Joe's Maple Pecan Cluster cereal, spaghetti and marinara with spinach. Not necessarily in that order. ;)