Out for a jog
Yakima Training Center has streets, gravel roads and trails all over, which is nice because I can run a different route and see new sites every time I run. I prefer to run at night. The temps are cooler and the traffic is minimal. I think the lack of visual stimuli helps me zone out. I don't focus on being tired or pain. The stretch of pavement I was on was really dark. I was probably thinking about home or how hot I look in my new jeans, when the clump of dirt I was about to run over moved. It didn't move much, just enough to let me know it wasn't a clump of dirt. The glimmer off of the scales gave away it's identity. The only thing I heard was the scale against scale scratching sound a coiled snake makes when it constricts. I launched. Being 6'4" I can jump. Michael Jordan would have been proud. I don't know if it struck or if it was just as surprised as I was, but I didn't hang around to find out. When I got back to my room, I drove back to see what it was. It was about a four foot rattler. No more running at night.
