A walk in the woods with John Muir...I mean Jimmy

Thursday, April 15, 2010


“Hey…John,” I heard across the parking lot as I got out of my car. It was Jimmy. He’d just finished a run. I’d done mine earlier, but was back for a hike with Dakota and to burn some extra calories and maybe get a picture of my eagle. I told him this and he agreed to go for a walk.

We were walking my off-trail, marsh loop. Jimmy knows a little bit about everything and a lot about nothing. He’ll ask those kind of questions your average 4-year old will – the ones where you just go ‘where did that come from?'. We were talking eagles and the massive nests they build – when I mentioned they can weigh up to 2,000 pounds.

“The eagles?”

I turned to look at him. He was serious. I was frightened.

“Jimmy…really…a 2,000 pound bird?  How… in…the…hell…would …it…fly??”

I slowed it down so his comprehension could catch up.

“Oh…yeah…the nest,” he chuckled.

It was an enlightening hike from there…he’s always entertaining. We talked about coyotes eating dogs, mountain lions eating him, Dakota chasing squirrels and never seeming to figure out that they can climb trees, and owls that attack you if you call them and they find out you’re a human and they’re not getting sex. Good stuff like that. We also talked about Saturday and my birthday triathlon.

“You’ll never do it all,” he said.

“Seriously? You think something can stop me?”

“Yeah. You’re an old man and old men can’t do that much.”

“Care to join me?”

“Before noon? Nah. I’ll be sleeping.”

I had done a run before meeting with him. Kind of a taper day before Saturday. It was very warm again, but I seem to be acclimatizing because it gave me no trouble. I ran an easy 46 minutes and figured starting with a 55-minute run Saturday in the cool morning air would be a piece of cake. It’s the 55 mile bike that has me a little worried. That and the guy who’s riding it with me.

“Do we have to ride this Saturday? It’s going to be raining and 43 degrees. Let’s wait until next Saturday,” John whined over the phone later that evening.

“Where do you get your weather reports? The Plain Dealer and the Weather Channel both have it as 49 degrees and sunny,” I replied.

He had no good answer and no wait to dispute that next Saturday could be worse.

“Look. You don’t have to go, but I have to do this thing Saturday. Everyone expects it and I can’t seem like a wimp…not doing it because it’s a little chilly!”

“I’ll be there. I’ll be there. I might complain some, though.”

Oh really? How do you know when John’s complaining? That’s right…his lips are moving. Wish me luck.

Run duration: 46 minutes. Hike duration: 55 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 135 running. 75 hiking.

Calories burned during workout: 775 running. 350 hiking.