Wildness still in those woods...

Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The knee soreness continues to plague me, so I limited my lower body exercises to four 50-yard sprints.  Though the pounding from a sprint is much harder than what I’d get from jogging, it’s less than doing the skips or picnic table hops, so it’s kind of a concession.  I added more to the upper body and core and still pushed myself to 24 sets, which took 70 minutes and was quite strenuous. 

At one point during the workout, I ventured off-trail, and as is often the case, discovered something unusual.  I was on a little plateau above Clear Creek when I noticed that the leaves in an area about the size of a small bedroom were completely flattened.  On closer inspection, I noticed clumps of animal fur.  I continued to poke around until I stumbled over a deer carcass.  It was a full deer…ribs, legs, skull and all and had been ravaged by the carnivores of the Metroparks.  Little was left in this epitome of ‘the circle of life’ and it had me wondering how many different creatures were sustained in their lives from this single death.  These parks are so civilized, yet on fifty feet off the bridle and hiking trails, we can find evidence of the savagery of these woods as they were and have been for thousands of years.  Though I don’t like to see the results, it is comforting to know that there is still wildness in these woods.

We went out to a hamburger joint in Akron for Holly’s birthday though I elected to have a Caesar’s Salad instead of beef.  I’m trying to eat lighter fare in hopes that eating foods that digest more quickly will give my gut less trouble.  It was a solid plan, but once back to Heidi’s place for presents and cake, I managed to down two pieces of Dairy Queen ice cream cake.  I am helpless before it and went down without a fight.

Survival Workout: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150.
Calories burned:  600.