Look at those long legs!

Much as I'm a big fan of environmental responsibility, I'm not as involved or knowledgeable as I would like.  I figured that the cranes I had been watching grow from little fuzzy chicks to sizable adolescence in the swamp I run by every day had flown away by now.  This morning on my run I heard the neatest sound, e voila!  There, on the back edge of the swamp, were the pair I'd been watching, and their two chicks, now nearly the same size as mom and dad!  


Sandhill cranes stand about 4 feet tall, and when they fly, have wingspan exceeding 6 feet.  They live for 20 years or more, and keep the same mate for life.  They migrate between the northern states and Canada to the southern US and Mexico.  Some of the migration flocks are in excess of 10,000 birds.  I recently learned from a naturalist friend that there is a very large migration stopover here in Southern Michigan.  The Michigan Audubon Society works to provide safe haven for the thousands of cranes who fly by each spring and autumn at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Audubon Sanctuary.  There is even a Sandhill Crane & Art Festival in Belleville Michigan celebrating these magnificent feathered creatures.  


Take a moment to watch this video of a pair of cranes and listen to their song, which I have often heard on my morning journeys.  I have no need for ipod and earphones with this music to entertain me as I run.


Até amanhã... 
8/23/11 - 3.3 miles | 33 mins | 5.7 mph | 334 kcal

All star break

There is a reason they call it Peach *Mountain* .
It's the highest point around.
Photo by Mark Bialek of the
University Lowbrow Astronomers

I feel like I'm having an All Star break, like the major league baseball players do. I began my running adventure on June 12th, and ran every day for 63 days.  Then I took two days off, in prep for Alison's and my bike adventure, and another day off yesterday to recuperate, particularly to be sure my knees had a day of recovery.  Today, after four days without running, I went back to "regular season", and the final 45 day push until the big run.  The break was great, and the endorphin rush from the marvelous trek on Tuesday is still strong.

Here's a bit of trivia:  Alison and I were *biking* at the same pace world class runners *run* marathons.  But imagine this:  RUNNING 100 miles in one day.  There are a number of ultra-marathon races world wide in which people actually voluntarily run that far!  The women's record holder in the Western States 100 mile endurance Run, one of the more famous races, is 17 hours 37 minutes.  OMG!  Having just biked 100 miles, I'm in complete awe that any human could *run* that far. Being a rather competitive person somewhat known for taking on interesting challenges, I have to be careful when looking up these statistics.  I see there is a bracket for my age, and that the record for women aged 50-59 is 21:58:37.  NO!  I'll do some crazy things, but rest assured I'm never going to consider running the Western States 100 mile ultra endurance race.  I'll stick with equipment for anything over the distance I can run in 6 hours.  What's even more amazing is that the folks who run that race start in Squaw Valley, California, at an elevation of 6,200 feet, and the run the first 4 1/2 miles UP-hill, climbing 2,550 feet in the first 5% of the race!

I love mountains.  I've always considered Michigan too flat for my taste.  During the last 10 or so miles of our ride on Tuesday, I was thinking that maybe this state isn't quite as flat as I always thought it was.  It turns out that the road to Greenfield Village really is a little easier than the road home.  In fact, it rather seemed like we were ascending Pike's Peak rather than Peach Mountain, the local landmark near home housing the University of Michigan McMath-Hulbert Observatory.  It turns out the the difference in altitude between Henry Ford Museum (591') and home (955')  is 364 feet.  Yes, we really did climb a 36 story sky scraper that last few of miles!  And those crazy people running uphill in California:  They have it right.  Get your uphill running done first when you're fresh.  Don't leave it for the last few miles when you're already toast.

I learned a lot about my fitness level on that bike ride.  I've never been an especially fast runner.  My forte is endurance, not sprinting.  That was true when pedaling, and I expect it will be true when running in the race.   Even though I am still a bit stiff today from biking, I'm very glad to be back in my running shoes.
Até amanhã... 
8/18/11 - 2.0 miles | 22 mins | 5.3 mph | 223 kcal