August 29
This morning I got up early and walked to my 8:30am class. I was struck by the distinct lack of students in the hall or the designated classroom, especially since I arrived at exactly 8:30, when typically at least half of the students have already arrived (It is not uncommon for students in any class for a fair number of students to arrive during the first fifteen minutes or so of the scheduled lecture time). I checked my unit outline, and sure enough, there was no lecture in that class this morning. I guess I should read that thing more often. I was slightly annoyed that I had gotten up so early this morning, but greatly pleased that I could just go back to my room and relax for several hours.
On my walk back from another class later today, I noticed both adult Masked Lapwings in the grass near the entrance to the courtyard for my building. This pair (presumably the same birds) had previously been incubating egg(s) on the roof of the building, and abandoned their breeding attempt after a long day of stead rain (I imagine on a metal roof, the water rushed right down the grooves and likely soaked the eggs, and also the feathers of the incubating parent. I saw both birds hanging around on the roof, but no longer sitting, for several days after the storm. Today as I walked closer to my building, I noticed that one of the adults was sitting in the grass, and right in front of it was a little baby lapwing wandering around looking for food! I walked a little closer, and the parent that was sitting stood up, yelled, and walked toward me, revealing a second baby lapwing that it had been brooding! The little lapwings are quite cute and fuzzy. They would have made for some excellent photos, but I did not have my camera with me. Since I had only a short lunch break, I decided lunch was more important than going back out and getting some photos. Perhaps they will still be in the vicinity tomorrow (it's unlikely such tiny little baby lapwings will have much desire to wander too far in one day/night).
On the way back from my final class this evening, there was a group of 5 or 6 kangaroos (I couldn't tell as some were in taller grass) about 50 feet off the trail that I walked on. Again, I didn't have my camera so I wasn't able to get any pictures. They 'roos were happily grazing the grass at the edge where the mowed lawn meets a tall weedy field.
As the sun was nearing the horizon I decided to go for a run this afternoon. It was about 5:20 when I set out for my run, and I recalled how when I first got to Canberra it was completely dark by that point. I ran for about 25 minutes, doing a flat out-and-back run again. My form was a bit off again today. For some reason whenever I have an injury that could be serious if I don't take care of it (such as plantar fasciitis, or an inflamed IT-band), even when my injury is not causing any pain, there is often a subconsious inhibitory response that won't allow me to fully extend or use that joint or limb in it's normal, full range of motion. Yesterday and today I did not have any pain in my foot, but this subconsious registering of "not quite fixed" feeling kept me from landing normally on my foot, sort of favoring to distribute the pressure on the outside edge of my foot, instead of absorbing it through the arch (which was previously sore). Today I noticed, however, that this inhibition wasn't as strong, and after I got loosened up for a few minutes of my run, I was almost landing in a way to distribute the force of impact through my foot as I normally would if I were not sore/injured. Pretty much what I'm saying is that my foot's almost completely better, and another couple days of running on level-ish surfaces should see me running completely normal again, without any pain. Yay! Maybe I'll have to schedule another race in the next several weeks. I'm definitely going to run something shorter than a 14K though, until I get my distance built up more.
On my walk back from another class later today, I noticed both adult Masked Lapwings in the grass near the entrance to the courtyard for my building. This pair (presumably the same birds) had previously been incubating egg(s) on the roof of the building, and abandoned their breeding attempt after a long day of stead rain (I imagine on a metal roof, the water rushed right down the grooves and likely soaked the eggs, and also the feathers of the incubating parent. I saw both birds hanging around on the roof, but no longer sitting, for several days after the storm. Today as I walked closer to my building, I noticed that one of the adults was sitting in the grass, and right in front of it was a little baby lapwing wandering around looking for food! I walked a little closer, and the parent that was sitting stood up, yelled, and walked toward me, revealing a second baby lapwing that it had been brooding! The little lapwings are quite cute and fuzzy. They would have made for some excellent photos, but I did not have my camera with me. Since I had only a short lunch break, I decided lunch was more important than going back out and getting some photos. Perhaps they will still be in the vicinity tomorrow (it's unlikely such tiny little baby lapwings will have much desire to wander too far in one day/night).
On the way back from my final class this evening, there was a group of 5 or 6 kangaroos (I couldn't tell as some were in taller grass) about 50 feet off the trail that I walked on. Again, I didn't have my camera so I wasn't able to get any pictures. They 'roos were happily grazing the grass at the edge where the mowed lawn meets a tall weedy field.
As the sun was nearing the horizon I decided to go for a run this afternoon. It was about 5:20 when I set out for my run, and I recalled how when I first got to Canberra it was completely dark by that point. I ran for about 25 minutes, doing a flat out-and-back run again. My form was a bit off again today. For some reason whenever I have an injury that could be serious if I don't take care of it (such as plantar fasciitis, or an inflamed IT-band), even when my injury is not causing any pain, there is often a subconsious inhibitory response that won't allow me to fully extend or use that joint or limb in it's normal, full range of motion. Yesterday and today I did not have any pain in my foot, but this subconsious registering of "not quite fixed" feeling kept me from landing normally on my foot, sort of favoring to distribute the pressure on the outside edge of my foot, instead of absorbing it through the arch (which was previously sore). Today I noticed, however, that this inhibition wasn't as strong, and after I got loosened up for a few minutes of my run, I was almost landing in a way to distribute the force of impact through my foot as I normally would if I were not sore/injured. Pretty much what I'm saying is that my foot's almost completely better, and another couple days of running on level-ish surfaces should see me running completely normal again, without any pain. Yay! Maybe I'll have to schedule another race in the next several weeks. I'm definitely going to run something shorter than a 14K though, until I get my distance built up more.
posted by itsbenrael at 11:18 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home