Canker Worms

Time: 26:25 (PR)
Avg HR: 156
Peak HR: 175
Distance:3.3 miles
Start Time: 7:07 AM
Training Effect: 3.9
Temp: not sure . . .
Date: 5/22/07

I was out late today. I'm having motivational issues, and feeling tired right now. I feel good when I get out, but it's hard to get out there lately. I need to explore new routes I think. Once I got out, I hammered it -- I knew I didn't have a lot of time so I went on my short loop and went pretty fast.

Running is such a habit, and really our lives are so habit-filled, that when I run at different times, or change it even a bit, you see different people going about their routines. This morning, the crowd was totally different than the one I normally see -- lots more kids heading to school, a different crew of walkers and runners. Interesting.

What I really want to write about though are the Canker Worms -- those little green inch-worms you see dangling beneath deciduous trees. In December, they emerge from the ground as moths, mate and plant their eggs in the trees where the caterpillars hatch in early May and then eat everything they find. They are non-native invasive species and they ravage trees. We lost a Maple on our property because of them -- they ate it so badly one spring that it was weakened and broke during a fall storm. I now spend $400/yr getting the trees sprayed to prevent damage and it works -- we have much less damage than last year. Where this pertains to running is that each run this past week, I've come in with one of these things on my shirt, and I think I swallowed one the other day. It's totally gross, and something else to think about (avoiding) while trotting.