The girls were running at 2pm but I needed to get a few more miles in.
I headed down the trail about 1:20pm. Straight into the wind.
If any of you have ran Indian Springs in the winter you will understand how brutal that first mile is.
The path is wide open resting in between two plains. This allows the wind to cut right through you.
Even though I was going down hill I was working hard to catch my breath.
The Metropark does a very nice job clearing the 8 mile trail during the winter season. Knowing the trail was going to be cleared I still wore my Yak Trax. The trail still had about a quarter inch of snow on it but I had no problems.
The bummer about the cold weather is, it really drains your batteries. My ipod was on low battery after being half charged and my phones battery was depleting quickly.
My plan: To run the 3 miles to the lollipop circle, then run the 2 mile circle backwards until I met up with the girls.
"Say Hello To my Little Friend"
As I just passed the 4 mile marker, I came out to a open area of the trail. The snow was very high and a brilliant shade of white. The snow glistened as the sun danced off top of the untouched snow.
Something caught my eye on the side of the path where they had plowed a small snow curb.
It was a animal. My curiosity grew and so did my sense of humor, sick sense of humor.
It was a very frozen possum.
I got real close. I bent down to get a closer look. Then I remembered possums "Play Dead". I gently kicked it to his other side. Then I picked it up. He was not faking it.
My wheels were turning...
After running the circle 2 times, I began to calculate how far out Erin was out and how many miles I would be running total.
I knew they should be coming within the next 10 minutes. I cleared a spot on the bench and paused my watch.
I didn't sit more than 3 minutes. I don't sit well and I was getting cold. It was only 18 degrees out. I ran around, looking down the trail for them to come. After a few minutes, I saw Claudia's bright green windbreaker. I started running towards them. Dancing more than running. I was wearing my red Santa hat making me want to kick up my feet and do the happy dance all the way towards them.
I was at 7 miles when I met them. I was so excited to show them my little friend. We came to where the field opened up. "Hey Girls, I cant wait to introduce you to my little friend.."
The girls had NO IDEA. They didn't even see the possum icicle in the snow bank when I ran towards him. I reached down to picked him and Claudia started screaming. "OHH MY G@#! You are NOT picking that UP!!" I was so glad I had used the bathroom, I was cracking up. Erin was holding the camera dying of laughter right along with me. Claudia took off like the possum was coming back from the dead. "Erin, take my picture for Jama, she will LOVE it!" Even though Jama was not running with us, she is my road kill partner. She has a small obsession with dead animal and bones.
By the time we had finished running, I had finished 14 miles. I did that loop 4 times.
My phone died, my iPod died, and I forgot my water bottle at the bathrooms. I didn't want to run another 5 miles to get it. I wanted to get home and get warm.
Good Times! Never a dull moment!
Anita
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