Chicken Playing Squirrels and A Skirt Ambassador

I have been wearing my running skirt to the WTP for the past several weeks. People rarely comment on it although last week, one person did.

I am not sure why tonight was different. Maybe it was because there were less than 100 women rather than the nearly 300 usually there. I had so many people ask me about my skirt tonight. Several ladies said they have thought about it but worried about comfort. Don't worry! They really are comfortable..more so than skirts shorts (no one caught that error for a few days!) by a long shot.

Tonight we actually ran the Women's Distance 5K course. It is mainly out on the W&OD with a few little detours off on the side. It is a nice course although I don't much care for the incline at the 2.5 mile mark. It is not steep but it does go on for a bit to get you up and out of Sugarland Trail and then up and over the Fairfax County Parkway.

I went out entirely too fast although it didn't feel fast. I was running under 11:30....way too fast. I made an effort to slow down. Slow down? Why??!! Because this was a training run and I would rather run it easier than run it like a race. I ended up running at a 12:24 pace for the run. I would like to actually bring up my miles and bring down my time just a wee bit for the actual race.

It is hot and humid here, just like in Tennessee. The nice part is that I live right near a very shaded trail. There are parts of the run that are not shaded but big parts are shaded. Of course, there are also these annoying little black gnats too. Yuck!

Kaitlyn and I ran the Sugarland Trail last week and had a squirrel play chicken with us. We were almost up to the squirrel, who apparently was not aware of us (and we had not seen him) He started to dart out in front of us, which startled me and caused me to do the girly shriek thing, jumping back. He back up when I did and we stared at one another for a split second. Just as I started to move forward, he decided to try darting forward again. I waved my arms and he scampered off into the woods rather than crossing the path. Not even 2 minutes later, there was another squirrel sitting in the path, looking at us approaching. This stinker decided to stare us down until we could almost touch him before scampering off. Bold little squirrels in Virginia.

Did I mention that Lorrie, who I met in Cincinatti, convinced me to try running with a hat? I don't like wearing hats. She was firm in the belief that if I would try it, I would like it. She encouraged me to get a mesh hat. I found a lime green Runner Girl hat that I liked but I object, on principal, to paying nearly $20 for a hat after shipping is factored in. So, I resorted to eBay, where I got a Nike mesh hat, sherbert orange. I would like to find it in raspberry or lime but sherbert orange works. I have worn it a few different times and I have to say, it is not making my head nearly as hot as I though and it is really good at keeping my hair out of my eyes, sweat out of my eyes and the sun out of my eyes. So, for now, I will keep wearing it.