A new record for Ares

Today is a beautiful morning. As I will be out of town most of next week, I knew Ares and I needed a good run.

We started off with the Riverisde loop, intending to go to Ranchland and turn around. We did a mixture of walking and running (more running) because Ares was a bit under the weather on Thursday and Friday.

It was such a beautiful morning that we decided to continue on a bit further. Before I knew it, we were almost to Carter/Ginter road! So, I decided we might as well run the Ginter Road loop.

It proved to be an interesting, fun run. First, we watched the wild turkeys out in the field. When they heard us coming, they would duck and hide. Then, as we continued on, and near the dip we passed a house where it appeared the dog was loose. So we started running faster to get away from there. Well, we weren't really paying attention to where we were going, and we almost ran right into a deer! It was crossing the road in front of us. Once it got off the road, we stopped and talked to her for a bit. She just stood there, barely in the wood.

So, we continued on. We ran into another dog walker, and told them about our encounter. Then, suddenly, Ares started to tug at the leash. Up ahead, on the right, were two fawns! They ran in front of us, and Ares chased them a bit (on his leash of course). We got a nice sprint out of that one. I'm glad his leash is pretty secure.

That was about it for the wildlife excitement. We did see a few rabbits on the way home. As the run continued, we got our second wind and were able to run most of the time. Ares was thirsty, so when we got by Riverside Park he ran to the water fountain -- he's learning how to drink from the faucet at the bottom of the water fountain.

All and all it was a good run. We had some interest wildlife encounters and Ares set a new record. We went 5.55 miles. I'll get him to 6 miles before the end of the summer, hopefully!

Gotta run ...