A gentle day.

Friday, October 08, 2010

It was another beautiful day for a ride. I’d decided that I must take a day off from running to protect the hip and give it some rest. But as the day dragged on and the weariness in my legs never seemed to lessen, I started thinking I’d just do nothing. I drove to the park with my camera and decided to go on a short walk along a seldom-used trail to the edge of the marsh. I also brought a book and thought that I’d sit and read and wait for something to move or stir on the marsh so that I could take its picture…whatever ‘it’ was.

I made my way to the end of the trail and found a log on which to sit while reading and looking over the marsh. I couldn’t read more than a few sentences though, for all of the sounds that I was hearing and needed to investigate. The quacking of the ducks coming and going was constant. Something entered the water nearby…likely a muskrat, which are abundant. Insects hummed…and landed…on me. Overhead, the scree of red-tailed hawk reached my ears. And always…the subtle swoosh of the wind as it moved over and through the grasses and reeds that make up so much of the land at the edge of the marsh.

I kept the camera around my neck and in the ‘on’ position, but managed only a distant picture of the hawk winging its way across the sky. The log was less than comfortable and after 30 minutes, I stood to bring life back to my legs. I had to get home to make a dinner for Jack and so headed back over the swampy trail to my car. In all, it had been a short hike, but at least I’d gotten out and loosened up legs that were aching from a week of solid, but tiring running.

Hike duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 200.