Nature Run On Alki

My run didn't start out great. I stepped in a huge pile of dog poop. Huge. Yellow. Pile. I saw it just before my foot squished directly into it. I tried wiping it by dragging my foot around in the grass, but Mizuno running shoes have this big section cut out of the bottom. It make the shoe lighter but it's sorta annoying because big stones can get lodged in it. Or big piles of dog poop can get get packed into it. So I went in search of a stick to dig the poop out. I found one. As I dug this yellow, mushy poop out of my shoe the smell hit my nose and I gagged. But I needed to get it out, I kept digging. The next wave of poop smell hit me and I threw up my lunch of chicken salad. Digging poop out of a shoe, while revisiting lunch is a great way to start a run. I hope I at least threw up in the driveway of whoever decided to leave their dog's enormous dump on the sidewalk.

After the poop digging and puke session, I thought about cutting my run short. I was cranky. But I decided going down to the water might cheer me up. I got down there and saw a news van. Of course I ran past it in hopes of making the evening news, even though it meant going on the long route. They hadn't set up the cameras yet so I'm not famous yet. But as I ran along Alki it was like some kind of staged nature show. A seagull flew out of the bay with a HUGE crab in its mouth. It landed and let the crab go, because this crab was fighting for its life. I waited for the seagull to look away from its catch then ran at it scaring the seagull away. I wanted a look! And this crab was super weird. One huge claw, and one that looked like a needle. It looked like a tick. I had planned to save its life, but I quickly decided not to touch it. I think it was a snow crab... based on this picture.



As I ran I saw seagulls swooping into the water to snatch fish in their beaks. There were all sorts of birds hunting that I've never seen. Then a pack 3 or 4 sea lions showed up. I slowed down so I could run along side of them. I wanted to make sure they were sea lions so I stopped and asked an older couple with binoculars. The man was really excited about all the birds. I can't remember all the names he listed. But some were very rare ducks. It was hard to turn his attention to the sea lions so I could ask what they were, but his wife was like me and more interested in them. Which is understandable, because between a little duck and a huge sea lion, the sea lion is obviously much more exciting.

I'm excited for winter running on Alki, there are more animals every day and less people chugging Coors and lighting bonfires. I'm still waiting to see a whale... I don't care if it's illogical.