There were a lot of 'races' going on this morning. The first one being the race to complete the post run meal preparations before Amy arrived - mission accomplished: crepe batter made, strawberries cut, Nutella ready for action, bananas set to peel. Amy arrived punctually, of course, and we set out around 7:30 (hoping to beat the heat - yet another race, of sorts).
Tinicum was on the menu for the day. Before leaving, I consulted with Amy about our strategy given the heavy rains yesterday evening and the likelihood of a soggy and possibly muddy course. My main concern was the 'interesting part' of the first loop. Experience has taught me that this part of the trail is most likely to get thick with mud and since the path is narrow to begin with, there isn't a lot of wiggle room to try to avoid it. She was reluctant, but I talked her (and me) into doing the 'interesting part' - reasoning that we hadn't had a lot of rain lately, so the rains from last night probably did not make the conditions too bad. Plus, the worst that could happen would be that we'd have to walk (**gasp**) and that we'd get muddy. So out we went.
True to its name, the 'interesting part' of the loop offered lots of good stuff. A machete would have been helpful to contend with the recent explosion of foliage. Given the 90% humidity (of course I checked), the rain was still clinging to the brush and as we ran through, it felt much like I imagine a car wash would. Before we reached the second bridge our shorts, legs, and sneakers were drenched, squishy drenched. Fortunately though, there was no real mud to speak of.
No, it wasn't the mud that stopped us in our tracks, it was the large turtle on the side of the trail that did it. She appeared to be actively laying eggs! So cool. And she was huge - Amy estimated about 10 to 12 inches lengthwise. Not too much farther, we saw an even larger turtle just off the side of the trail. Throughout our run, we spotted several more (and, yes, we were keeping track) some laying eggs, some just chillin' out, and even more nests, some of which had already hatched eggs strewn about (which looked like ping pong balls). We looked around briefly for some of the hatchlings, but to no avail. I'm sure they were long gone by the time we set foot on the trail.
As we ran the second part of the figure eight loop, we noticed that this was bunny territory. We counted those too. Amy was clearly pulling for the turtles to win - and they did have a strong lead, but I knew that the rest of the path was more hare habitat and did not have a good feeling about the turtles' chances of remaining ahead. Clearly, the rabbits had advantages too - they hop about and dart across the path and are, therefore, more easily seen and plus they multiply like, well, you know.
In the end, the bunnies were victorious: 8 to 6, I believe. The last mile or two was tiring, as usual. After we finished, I turned to Amy and was about to ask her if she had been peppered by the occasional gnat cloud. No need to ask. She had several dozen more 'freckles' in the form of gnats plastered to her neck and face. I knew I probably looked about the same - which Amy (and later the mirror) confirmed. There was even one or two in my teeth. Mmm... protein.
All in all a great run, our time was slower than I've done in the past, but that includes bushwacking and stopping a few times to check out the wildlife. A little over 9 miles in 85 minutes.
After showering and picking the gnats out of our teeth, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast. Crepes Reba: strawberries, bananas, and Nutella. Also on hand was some delicious and WAY overprice fig-spread from Whole Foods - which, along, with a touch of butter, made for a delicious new crepe. I also learned that Amy is addicted to powdered sugar... good thing I had just a little on hand. Next challenge: how to incorporate poultry seasoning into crepes. Hmm... I'll figure something out.
Tinicum was on the menu for the day. Before leaving, I consulted with Amy about our strategy given the heavy rains yesterday evening and the likelihood of a soggy and possibly muddy course. My main concern was the 'interesting part' of the first loop. Experience has taught me that this part of the trail is most likely to get thick with mud and since the path is narrow to begin with, there isn't a lot of wiggle room to try to avoid it. She was reluctant, but I talked her (and me) into doing the 'interesting part' - reasoning that we hadn't had a lot of rain lately, so the rains from last night probably did not make the conditions too bad. Plus, the worst that could happen would be that we'd have to walk (**gasp**) and that we'd get muddy. So out we went.
True to its name, the 'interesting part' of the loop offered lots of good stuff. A machete would have been helpful to contend with the recent explosion of foliage. Given the 90% humidity (of course I checked), the rain was still clinging to the brush and as we ran through, it felt much like I imagine a car wash would. Before we reached the second bridge our shorts, legs, and sneakers were drenched, squishy drenched. Fortunately though, there was no real mud to speak of.
No, it wasn't the mud that stopped us in our tracks, it was the large turtle on the side of the trail that did it. She appeared to be actively laying eggs! So cool. And she was huge - Amy estimated about 10 to 12 inches lengthwise. Not too much farther, we saw an even larger turtle just off the side of the trail. Throughout our run, we spotted several more (and, yes, we were keeping track) some laying eggs, some just chillin' out, and even more nests, some of which had already hatched eggs strewn about (which looked like ping pong balls). We looked around briefly for some of the hatchlings, but to no avail. I'm sure they were long gone by the time we set foot on the trail.
As we ran the second part of the figure eight loop, we noticed that this was bunny territory. We counted those too. Amy was clearly pulling for the turtles to win - and they did have a strong lead, but I knew that the rest of the path was more hare habitat and did not have a good feeling about the turtles' chances of remaining ahead. Clearly, the rabbits had advantages too - they hop about and dart across the path and are, therefore, more easily seen and plus they multiply like, well, you know.
In the end, the bunnies were victorious: 8 to 6, I believe. The last mile or two was tiring, as usual. After we finished, I turned to Amy and was about to ask her if she had been peppered by the occasional gnat cloud. No need to ask. She had several dozen more 'freckles' in the form of gnats plastered to her neck and face. I knew I probably looked about the same - which Amy (and later the mirror) confirmed. There was even one or two in my teeth. Mmm... protein.
All in all a great run, our time was slower than I've done in the past, but that includes bushwacking and stopping a few times to check out the wildlife. A little over 9 miles in 85 minutes.
After showering and picking the gnats out of our teeth, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast. Crepes Reba: strawberries, bananas, and Nutella. Also on hand was some delicious and WAY overprice fig-spread from Whole Foods - which, along, with a touch of butter, made for a delicious new crepe. I also learned that Amy is addicted to powdered sugar... good thing I had just a little on hand. Next challenge: how to incorporate poultry seasoning into crepes. Hmm... I'll figure something out.
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