A Night in t he Woods

Over the course of 27 hours this past weekend I:
- shuttled 11 different adventure racers (at between 2 and 5 at a time) in my car,
- drove 400 miles through the Catskills in upstate New York,
- went white water tubing down a surprisingly difficult creek in the company of a bunch of drunken college kids, one of whom was standing half-naked, potbellied and very drunk in the middle of the river screaming "ROBERTO, ROBERTO" looking at each passer-by to see if they were Roberto and then saying disappointingly, "you're not Roberto,"
- saved Abby when she was caught in a strainer (which is not like a colander) in the aforementioned creek,
- started what would have been a 6 mile walk with two people wearing bike helmets, bike shoes, soaking wet clothing, hydration packs and carrying kayak paddles,
- scrounged around the woods multiple times in the dark to find anything (sticks, napkins, energy bar boxes) to keep our campfire going,
- loaded 70 bikes on and off trucks many times,
- slept in the back seat of my car for only a total of about 90 minutes,
- made a host of awesome new friends,
- had a total blast,
- the whole time thought "when can I do one of these crazy things"

All in a day (and night's) work for a volunteer at The Longest Day (and Night) Adventure Race.

A Day at the Zoo

Today is National Running Day, so to celebrate Abby and I went for a run. Revolutionary concept, I know. We actually took it upon ourselves to make it a two day celebration: two runs and a frozen yogurt breakfast.

Yesterday morning, we met for a run. Well, really we were meeting for the chance to have dessert for breakfast, but it seemed that it would be a good idea to run first. We met in Manayunk and decided to run on the tow path as opposed to our usual trail route. What we didn't know was that it would turn out to be a day at the zoo.

About a mile out, we passed a Canada goose along side the road guarding her goslings. We've both spent enough time running along the river to know to avoid these angry geese, especially when they've got their babies. So we ran quickly by them.

Soon after we came upon another animal: a large turtle sitting in the middle of the road. A turtle? Huh? I'd never seen a turtle, especially as large as this one, just chillin on the tow path. We discussed the oddity of this, ran by him. Oh, and we named him Buddy. We turned around shortly thereafter only to come upon Buddy again still in the middle of the road. Many biker, in addition to runners, were out on the path and we worried about Buddy's safety, especially being that he looked like a rock.

I spoke to Buddy trying to coak him out of the road as Abby took it upon herself to literally kick him in the ass.

"Is he a snapping turtle?" Abby asked as she approached him.

"I don't think so," I responded, as she gave him a careful nudge and he arched his head, sprung forward and looked generally pissed off. We both took a quick step or two backwards, giggling the whole while. I continued to verbally coax Buddy. Abby decided to give it one more try. A quick tap on the rear produced a similar although more agrivated response from Buddy. Abby and I took off running, sprinting really, in an attempt to get the hell away from our angry new friend. After sprinting several hundred feet, between laughter, Abby noted "we probably don't have to run so fast, turtles don't move that fast." We slowed down and looked back only to see our Buddy in the same exact spot as he had been when we started.

So much for trying.

Running back on the same path, we encountered our geese friends again although this time Mama Goose, Papa Goose and all the little Baby Geese had taken up residence strewn about the path and grass along the side. Hum, what a pickle. Well versed in sprinting from animals by this point, Abby and I negotiated the easiest and safest path around the goose broad. Mama Goose hissed loudly at us as we ran past. I made the ultimate mistake by looking back and making eye contact with a ticked off goose mama. Luckily, she didn't launch at me and have my leg for breakfast.

With only a mile or so left before the coffee shop where our frozen yogurt breakfast awaited us, we mananged not to encounter any more animals.

A turtle, some geese, dessert for breakfast and always wonderful company and conversation (including discussion of our tendency to give names to everything, alive or inanimate- case in point: Buddy)- a great way to celebrate running, even if it was actually National Running Day Eve.