Ran my first 20 miler of the year this morning. With most marathon training plans this would have been my last with 3 weeks to go. I took quite a few short breaks along the way so it would be easier on my body and hopefully avoid the injury bug again. On my long runs the past 2 weekends I have run up past the reservoir then I hit the canal and take it for miles. Between these last 2 runs I have seen quite a variety of wildlife at close range. I have run right up on a few deer that were standing down in the canal watering. I also had 4 sandhill cranes and lots of ducks come out of the canal at close range. I've also seen a few pheasants, a flock of 18 sharptail grouse, a flock of 30+ Hungarian Partridge, a large blow snake, a garter snake, lizards, and numerous other critters. Ave pace was 7:39 not counting my nonrunning time. | 