I went on a big run last Sunday. I traveled the length of the loblolly trail to Umstead park and all the way around it, and back, blah, blah. I ended up going a little over 28 miles. Along the way I saw a few blue tailed skinks (over on the right) a couple black snakes (on top right) and to my amazement, a barred owl. When I scared up the owl I thought it was just a fat hawk. Then he landed on a branch and turned his head way around and stared at me with those creepy eyes. It was great. The rest of the run took me through the campgrounds, where some young birthday partiers exclaimed "ewwwww" as I ran through in short shorts and covered in mud from the creek crossings. On the way back I got excited and went through the creek again and then sped up and held around 6 min pace for the last couple miles once I got back on the main path. I spent most of the week near the Chicago airport listening to the wisdom of John Piper and Tim Keller, as well as a cast of other great dudes. I found a decent and kind of spooky trail nearby, with tons of uninterested white-tailed deer roaming around. The squirrels are still grey in Chicago, but it's almost like home. (squirrels are supposed to be reddish).
