Heniz Refuge Revisited

Back in April I ran at Heinz Refuge. There are no mile markers and I don't wear a watch. But I know that the funny looking figure 8 that covers most of the refuge is approximately 8 miles. There is also a smaller loop of 4. In April and again today I did the 8. Today, I did it in reverse since thanks to new maps posted through out the refuge it was not hard to find the reverse route. The forward one I can do from memory.

What a difference a season makes!! One section, referred to as the woodland trail on the map, is a peaceful alternative to the main path in fall, winter, and early Spring. In summer - especially after the hard rains we had on Thursday - it's sneaker sucking bog. The photo is of my shoe at the end of the run. By then it had dried out considerably and at least two layers of mud had been knocked off by footfalls.

The less popular trails of the refuge are also quite overgrown in summer. The grasses grab your ankles for a significant tripping hazard. I did mange to stay upright.

All in all I had a lot of fun!!

I was however, bone tired at the end. I'm going to chalk that up (hopefully) to something other than I'm old and shouldn't be doing this. I did have a long hard work week and yesterday I felt like I was getting a summer cold. I didn't feel it this morning but I'm using it as an excuse for the fatigue anyway. 😏

Keep Smiling Keep Moving
-Paula