What a special morning , most of which happened on my drive to my trail head. As I enter the other side of the Provincial park, I have a 2km drive to reach the trail head which would be the start of my run today. As I get about a km in, I see a gorgeous ring-necked pheasant pair cross the road, the male in all his glory and his dowdy Mrs following closely behind as they scurry into the bushes. A white-tailed deer then bounded in the bushes beside them. Another 500 metres or so I come across a large flock of sharp-tail grouse that are in a barren field beside the road. I slow right down as a few make it on to the road. Lo and behold, what do I see?!? I was treated to a spectacular sight! I had happened across a lekking ground and the males were in full dance mode. They were putting on quite the show - their little tails in the air exposing this gorgeous white flash of feathers, their wings held out and down from their sides, their feet just a-stomping as they go in a tight circle. They were very focussed on their courtship dance - I wish I had the foresight to pull out my phone and videotape them but I was so preoccupied with not hitting any of them as I crept along in my truck, I didn’t think of it until I had safely passed, discreetly slipping by this amazing display. I had hoped they would still be there on my drive back after the run, but alas, there was no sight of them an hour later. I finally get to the trail head, in complete awe of what I just witnessed, get out of my truck and Pow!!! The sounds!!! Wow! There were so many different types of birds, all singing away to each other across the different areas of the park. It was so loud, and there were so many different songs as all the different types of birds contributed to the chorus. It was almost overwhelming. I quickly got my gear on, performed a few quick dynamic warm up stretches and headed out on my 8k run.
The run itself was fairly unremarkable. I chose to run the beginning part of this trail as an out and back due to the runnable hills it has at the beginning in hopes of mimicking what my trail race next month should be like. It is a new trail race a few hours away from me so there will be no reccy runs happening but I finally found some information on the course. They claim there are no steep climbs or ridiculous elevation change but instead rolling hills. I spend most the summer climbing ridiculous hills that I find I maybe resort to walking a little earlier than I should when running easier hills. I had hoped this would be a good test run to push me to power through the runnable hills and not give in to my walking gremlins as easily. I’ve only ran this trail once last year but my memory (and peeking at the elevation chart from my run last year) was correct... for the first 3k. I had a steep climb near my turnaround point but had brought my poles to test out the built in pole holder of my hydration vest once again. I’m still not happy with how the poles stow so have decided more gear is in order 🙄 and will order the naked running belt to carry my poles and phone in addition to a pair of dirty girl gaiters to help keep debris out of my shoes from the same shop. Maybe my shopping will then be done? Nah, who am I kidding? There will always be more gear that I’ll want.
On the running portion of my adventure today, I spooked up another white-tailed deer, flagging his tail as he darted into the hills, saw what I believe to be a plover fly by and many, many blackbirds beside the trails. I could hear many other birds as well and saw a few other little brown birds but am uncertain what they may have been. Regardless, a lovely 8k run, full of spectacular sights, and the promise of more shopping. Yay!
I got back to the boat, had a nice hot shower and made hubby his favourite breakfast for Father’s Day - Eggs Quesadilla 😋. What a great morning! I hope all the fathers out there are enjoying their day!
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SaskAlliecat
Graduate10
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Thanks Granspeed. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Those grouse were for sure the highlight of my day!
Great run Ali. How wonderful that you saw all that wildlife. I need to google lekking 😉 those poles sound annoying. I do want to see a photo of you in naked belt and dirty gaiters. Just to calm down my imagination 😱
I know 😂. The brand name draws your attention, that’s for sure! I’ll post a pic once I get them. The naked running band is really like a flip belt but less stretchy more customized in its fit. It has a holder on the back for a jacket or z-poles and a spot to hold your bib number. I didn’t think I needed another running belt with my vest but it’ll be a more secure way to hold my phone too. Ibfound carrying my phone in the front stash pocket with a full water bottle, I was worried it might flop out of the pocket. The gaiters are a nice light fabric gaiter but have lots of neat funky designs.
I did a report during my Biology degree on Sage grouse and their courtship behaviours so it was really neat to see it in action. The Sharp-tailed don’t have the huge cheek pouches like the sage grouse but the display is still remarkable. Sorry, my (not so) inner geek is showing again 🤓
Wow what a dose of nature you got all in one run there Sask! Sounds lovely all round. Yesterday as we ran through High Park, we came across two families of Wood Ducks which we never see normally. I got one fuzzy pic of a male. The mamma was a bit too quick with her ducklings. Saw an Oriole last week and the usual Jays and Cardinals. No foxes or hawks since the winter tho. Using the poles must be an interesting experience. I’ve been reading lately about a few Ultra runners and how they deal with them.
I really like the poles when climbing steep hills but carrying them for a longer stretch when not needed gets tiring (plus I like having my hands free). I haven’t been running with them lately because the trail I’ve been running mostly up to now I won’t likely use poles on that section on race day due to runner congestion (it is the start of the course) but remembered how nice it was on the uphill climb to keep the body upright, the lungs open and power up the hill. I’ll probably start carrying them again and get used to using them. On the 20k course there are a few stretches where they definitely aren’t needed so would like to have an easy way to stow them away.
It sure is nice to get that dose of nature while out running. All the birds are spectacular.
🍿... Great read Sask. Looks like rain is imminent! Should be good for your oasis, or is this a different place? It all looks awesome... as usual. 😄
It did look promising, didn’t it? It it really didn’t amount to much, just a few little sprinkles. We had thunderstorms all day yesterday with some heavy rain at times but the ground soaked it up pretty quick so the path was fairly dry still. The forecast called for rain all day today as well so I went out early to try and only get hit with a bit at the end of my run but it didn’t really come. Oh well. It is very patchy, so some areas likely got decent rain.... I hope.
Thanks Jan. It really is nice to feel and experience nature in all it’s glory while trying to minimize my intrusion as much as possible. I’m sure I annoy the driver’s that get behind me on the road into the Provincial park, I drive slow so as to not disturb the wildlife as much as possible.... and I’m gawking so much trying to get a glimpse of anything that might be out there 🤓
I'm always glad to bring you along on my runs. They are so pretty and fun; I just wish you could actually join me. I think you'd love it.
The recipe I hi-jacked from a meal I always order when I go out for breakfast with my work. It's so easy and my hubby loves it so it has become a regular summer breakfast staple. It was also a great post run meal - protein ✅, carbs ✅. Perfect! I'm glad you were able to find a recipe. I hope you enjoy it as well.
Haha! No doubt! It is probably a good thing I didn't know what those grouse were saying; it might've made me blush 😂. I felt pretty special though to have seen it.
Life has been fairly emotional and challenging in my house lately so it is nice to get out there, disconnect from society and reconnect with nature. Life affirming is a good way to describe it. I look forward to my weekly runs out there.
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week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
