It has been a busy week at work with an even busier weekend on call coming up but I still managed to get my 3 runs in this week - a short speed interval run on Monday, a (not so) easy coulee run with hubby on Wednesday (ah yes, I remember what running with hubby is like - one speed - but I ran behind him trying to do my own thing) and a 5k solo run out at the lake on the trails this morning, in the haze from the Northern forest fire smoke that blew in yesterday. The run today was supposed to be an easy 1.5k warm up run, followed by a faster middle 2k, finishing with a slow easy 1.5k cool down. I figured the easiest way to do this was to run the 5k course for the BFF trail race. It starts on the Horseshoe which I've written about before so I knew the first 1.5k would be slow (ok maybe not easy though, as I climb, climb, climb then run the ridge), followed by a quicker, downhill middle section, then the final section through the meadow trail with some undulating hills and a little stream crossing that my trail running partner and her family are responsible for creating. After the first year of the race when her son ran the 5k and it just ended in a boring 2k road run after the Horseshoe where he finished on the wrong side of the finish line, they took it upon themselves to scout out a way to make the 5k more like the rest of the race distances. The race directors were excited to have them on board since they were so busy with the longer distances that this distance became the forgotten middle child of the race series. She's done an amazing job in giving the final 2k the same feel as the other distances and a great introduction to trail racing, so they named this 5k race course after her and her family "The Fletcher 5k"...but I digress....
So I knew last fall after the race was finished a beaver had done a number on the bridge Denise and her family had beautifully built to cross the little stream. In addition to gnawing on the bridge and destroying it, he also built a dam flooding the area, turning this nice little crossable stream into a pond. I had hoped with the drought we are in, it would be back to a trickle and but I was wearing rose-coloured glasses and was sadly mistaken. I got to it, saw he had built a smaller dam followed by a monstrosity of a dam that looked large enough and sturdy enough that I was tempted to run across it (the children's song "I'm going on a bear hunt" instantly came to mind ..... A river! Can't go over it 🤔...well, I could if I ran over the beaver's dam, but being a veterinarian and having dealt with a dog in the past that was on the losing end of a scrap with a beaver, and seeing how territorial and aggressive they can be even in the marina, I thought better of it.......Can't go under it (nope; you're right).... Gotta go through it (No way! I remember the post from the race directors in the fall where Denise and her family were wearing chest waders taking the damaged bridge out and, if my memory is correct, they were thigh deep - nope, not going to happen). New verse....Guess I'll skirt around it. Now, this would have been a HUGE deal for me a few years ago because I am a very regimented person. I like a plan, follow a plan and I don't like to stray away from a plan in all parts of my life. However, after spending a couple wonderful years running with my more carefree trail running partner who isn't a huge fan of structure and likes to "go with the flow", I have learned to let go a little bit, see these hurdles as the molehill they are and enjoy the adventure that free styling it can be.....and we call it running Fletcher style 🙃. So that is what I did. I took a look around, saw lots of animal trails leading all different directions, knew the relative direction I was trying to go, so off I set off. Now, I also really hate ticks, and thought today was a good day, given it was 15 degrees C to expose these ghostly white legs to the world. I was still sporting my long knee high compression socks, and had generously sprayed my legs with bug spray given how horrific the mosquitos were 2 nights ago, but in the back of my mind, I knew there would be lots of stopping and looking for ticks. Fortunately this adventure was near the cool down portion of my run so there was lots of stop....look around...figure out a course to run...check the legs for ticks....run to the next viewpoint.....see where to skirt to next to get in the vicinity of where the trail should reemerge....check for ticks again.....repeat. I did make it back on the trail for the final 65O metres or so and had an enjoyable, albeit slow, run. There has been absolutely no recent rain in the area so the ground was bone dry, making running on the fine dust tricky on the descents, but I enjoyed seeing all the deer prints along the trail of the Horseshoe....so much so, I had to stop to click a picture of my shoe print next to some deer prints 😁. I saw lots of birds on this run, some carnivore scat on the trail, heard a noise near where I had almost stepped on the snake last week which sounded like it was likely another (or the same) snake slithering into a grass and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little grey fluff dart into the grass just as I ran past on the trail. I didn't bother going back to check it out, not wanting to scare it further, but I suspect it may have been a little bush bunny given the size and colour. All-in-all, I had a great week of running and am ready for whatever the on-call gods throw at me this weekend.....well, almost ready for anything...the on-call gods have not been kind to me this month 😢...hence making sure I ran, regardless of how tired I was.
Here's hoping everyone has a great weekend of running, and perhaps, maybe run a little Fletcher style....footloose and fancy free, going where your heart and feet want to take you.
10K in the bag! 
A little run in the hills 
