Thomas and I ran a 5K race this morning. We got there early, so were doing a warm-up, part of which was near a lagoon. I saw so many female red-winged blackbirds! I guess I hadn't been looking for them before, or maybe because they aren't that distinctive or colorful, they faded into the background. But when I looked at them more closely, I realized how beautiful they really are -- the different brown colors, the patterns on their chests, etc.
I kept pointing them out to Thomas, and he was getting frustrated with me, I think. "Thanks for pointing out a really common bird! Why are you getting so excited? They're not rare!" But that didn't stop me -- I kept pointing them out!
There were also geese aplenty. Some of them were hanging out on the paddleboats docked in the lagoon. What characters!
The race was very poorly organized. They didn't have a timing system (at the last minute, their timer realized he was double-booked), the course was not marked well (so we ran a little extra), and they started 30 minutes late. In addition, they were cursed with very bad weather for May. It was almost freezing, with gusty winds.
Despite all that, I had a fantastic run! I can't verify this, because there was no timing system in place, but two spectators and Thomas told me that I was the first woman to cross the finish line. How exciting! I'm planning on working on my speed over the next few months to see how fast I can go with proper training.
Happy Migratory Bird Day!
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2 comments:
I think we saw you heading out. It was around 8 am. At least you had fun seeing the birds even if Thomas found them to be too common! :)
That's around the time we were leaving! I always look for you guys when I'm in that neighborhood, but have only seen you once or twice. I need to be more observant!
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