6 miles

Six miles up at Whitehall Vineyard. I was shocked to see only 6 on my program for this Saturday, but given the heat and humidity, and my foot issues, I welcomed the break.

I rolled in at (by my watch) exactly 6:15, but the course markers had already finished their spiel and as I hopped out of my car, everyone was just taking off. I ran by myself, which is beginning to be more comfortable. It's time to let my brain do its thing without the pressure of making conversation. The first 1.5 are incredibly hilly, but I did a respectable 23:00 for the first two miles. Mile 3 took me along the Moorman's River up toward the dam at Sugar Hollow. The river was feeling the effects of the drought, and was little more than a gully full of damp rocks. Despite that, I saw 1 heron, 1 magnificent buck, 1 newt, several bluebirds and a bear!

Yes, a bear. Black bears are fairly common around here, but it's still a shock to see one up close. I had turned around at mile 3, and was trotting on down the road when I saw what looked like a giant black dog in the road. It turned its face toward me and I realized it was a bear that had come up from the river. It headed up the bank on the opposite side of the road, thought better of it, turned back and headed back down. I wondered if it wasn't a mama scoping out the other side of the road for her cubs. Thought black bears are (usually) quite docile, I stopped and made sure that I wouldn't be between the bear and any cubs. Even with the complete stop, I still ran mile 4 in 10:20, by far my fastest mile of the morning. Maybe I just need potentially deadly animals stationed every so often along the course to spur me to reach my goals.

My arch still hurts. I think it's time to head back to the shop and try something else. At this point, I'm willing to experiment a little - I don't think I'll be any worse off trying something new than I am right now.