Trails are still a mess...

Saturday, February 5, 2011

I started the day by attending a meeting for becoming a Park Ambassador for the North Chagrin Reservation. It was held in the Happy Days Lodge in Streetsboro off of Route 303. As I approached the building, I noticed a statue outside but was disappointed to find that it wasn’t ‘The Fonz’.

I discovered that they are looking for volunteers in 10 different areas and we were to pick three that interested us most. I went for ‘public speaking’ where I’d have the opportunity to spread the word about the values of the Park, working with educating visitors about invasive plants to the Park and a third thing I can’t remember right now. They would also like me assistance with their Junior Ranger program and teaching people about the value of Leave No Trace camping and hiking techniques, which I’d really love to do. My feelings are that the more people use and respect the fabulous park systems we have in greater Cleveland… both the Metropark systems and the National Park…the more likely we are to always have them. In fact, the more support they gain from people using them, the more likely they are to continue to improve and expand…both things for which I can advocate.

I made my way to the Metroparks after the meeting for a run. I wasn’t sure what to expect and had hopes that the trails would be more packed than they had on my previous run.

They weren’t. I labored for 36 minutes and was thinking I’d make it to 40 when I felt a little twinge in my right achilles…so I immediately backed off and called it a day. Still…it had been a very difficult run and my legs were extremely tired.

Though I’m not counting it as workout time, I did have some snow to move. I also began the process of trying to break up the two-inch pad of ice that is covering my driveway. Why…I don’t know. It just bothers me that its there and I can’t wait for the warm days to do the melting. I pounded at it for about an hour and managed to get down to the pavement on about a third of the drive. About some things, I can be a little OCD.

Run duration: 36 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 145.
Calories burned during workout: 600.