The correct word is tortoise, but I call them turtles

     I like turtles.  Nothing gives me a surge of happiness like seeing a turtle on the trail.  I sometimes gauge my runs a success or failure based upon a turtle sighting.  This may seem totally ridiculous, and it is, but not to me.  For instance, I did a 22 mile run in Brown County State Park this past week.  It was an okay run but I was kind of disappointed that I hadn't seen a turtle.

At one point I came to a bend in the trail and spooked a deer that was knee deep in a small pond.  It jumped to the bank and watched me as I slowed down to a stop and took a couple of photos of it.  The young little guy eventually gave in to it's suspicions of me and took off and disappeared into the forest.
     Deer are always fun to come across though.  Most times they see me first and all I get to see of them is their white tails taking off away from me.  But the deer have nothing on turtles.
     I can't explain why turtles always get me excited.  In some bizarre way I see them as kind of the spirit of the forest.  As if I have the forest's blessing to be there.  This may sound weird, and it is, but I came up with this idea during a long run.  A long run on a hot, summer day.  Do I really believe this?  Not really but maybe.  I usually come up with some kooky ideas on my long runs.
     But the turtles are always a morale boost to me.  On the long run I did last week I hadn't seen a turtle for 18 whole miles and then "WANG !!!"  there was one in the trail in front of me.  I immediately got excited and got a second wind.

I took a couple of pics of the guy, thanked him, and was on my way.  I was actually rejuvenated as I continued down the trail and finished the last four miles.  My run was instantly a success.  It honestly was.  It was my first successful long run without discomfort since pushing myself at the Eagle Creek Marathon a few weeks back.  And most of all :  I had the forests blessing !!!

I usually carry a small digital camera with me on my runs and I've taken lots of turtle pics this summer.

Overall, I've had good training runs this summer but I've always been more pleased when I do encounter a tortoise.  Though I like to call them turtles.