Taking a Walk in the Park

As we did last year, Linda and I have signed up to walk the IMT Des Moines Half Marathon; some folks just never learn I guess. Saturday was a nice day for our first "training walk" to prepare so we hit a trail near downtown.

We started at Gray's Lake but we didn't take the usual loop around the lake. Instead, we walked along the trail that follows the south bank of the Raccoon River. An old iron bridge has been converted for pedestrian use so we strolled across there and made our way up by Principal Park, home of the Iowa Cubs. The statue of woman and child in the right side of the collage is just outside the ballpark.

Our loop took us up and into the Farmer's Market crowd. It wasn't as heavy a crowd as sometimes, it still changed our pace. We got behind a younger man and his bulldog, Tank, for a while. Tank reminded us of an entry in the Drake Relays Most Beautiful Bulldog competition. When we stopped at a corner, people wanted to pet him and asked his name. Seperated by the better part of a block, two passersby commented that Tank reminded them of Meatball, apparently (hopefully!) another bulldog... well known bulldog!

The return route took us back across the iron bridge and back to the lake. It was enough for a starting walk. Not too much but certainly a reminder that there are miles to go to get ready for this gig.