Imagine this:
I am having a wonderful hike over my lunch break today. Soaking in the nice weather and enjoying the sites. I am working on ideas for OSG and Glo Bakery as I walk and listen to my Shuffle.
I see some beautiful waterfalls and then head back on my route.
What happened at mile 3.5 you ask?
SNAKE!!!!!!!!!
[Note: Not actual picture!]
I saw a HUGE garden snake. Only 5 feet in front of me was the biggest garden snake I have ever seen- it must have been 2 feet long! I yelped, turned around, and ran.
I said to myself NO WAY AM I GOING BACK THERE.
And I ran in the opposite direction. And then it hit me. That was my EXIT. I had to go back and face my fear.
What does this snake think it’s doing anyways? I thought angrily. Doesn’t it know that this is CANADA?! We could have 2 feet of snow tomorrow for all it knows!
I knew what had to be done.
I turned around and decided to go through the snake infested war zone. I turned off my music and ran like hell. I ran so fast I don’t think my feet hit the ground. And I didn’t stop until I was out of the danger zone.
Sometimes you HAVE to run even though you don’t plan on it. :)
I only wish I had brought my camera. Although I probably wouldn’t have had the guts to take a picture anyways!
The Hike:
- Duration: 1 hour 11 mins.
- Max heart rate: 145 bpm (SNAKE!!)
- Avg heart rate: 110 bpm
- Distance: 4.67 miles
- Average pace: 15:14 min/mile
- Feel the burn: 311 kcals
Aside form the snake sighting it was a great hike and a fun example of cross training. :)
Breakfast was a green monster in a new Dollarstore Stemless Martini glass:
I also had a bowl of Nature’s Path Synergy Cereal + Soy Milk (not shown).
I packed a ground flax banana sandwich with me on my hike:
After all that excitement, I was starving for lunch when I got home.
I came up with a delicious open faced sandwich, I’d like to call:
Hold The Chips Dill Pickle Sandwich
Ingredients:
-
3 sprigs of fresh dill
-
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
-
black pepper
-
balsamic vinaigrette
-
1 cup mashed lima beans (1 cup lima beans has 11 grams of protein and 10 grams of fibre)
-
2 pieces whole wheat toast
-
on 1 piece only I had tomato paste for cancer fighting lycopene boost!
This combination of ingredients was wonderful! The sandwich tasted just like a bag of dill pickle chips. I’m not even joking! I used to be obsessed with dill pickle chips when I was young so I was pleased to find a healthy alternative. :)
With my new favourite tea mug:
Some large cantaloupe slices with a side of Sketchie:
Some dill pickle ‘chips’ on the side, drizzled with some white vinegar:
And for dessert: Two of my mini vegan banana walnut cake balls:
I can’t get over how warm it is today! Just awesome spring weather we are having. I might have to bring the laptop outside and get a bit more sun while I work.
This morning I finished my up and coming interview with a health website and I also completed the price list for BG GB. This afternoon is studying for my food handler certification and organizing my orders this week.
See you tonight for a recap of this morning’s post, the BBBC for the day, and my first planned dinner!
Today’s question: What is the scariest or most exciting animal you have ever encountered while outdoors??
I must say I am a huge chicken with strange animals/insects even though I spent a few years living in Florida. We used to have alligators in our back yard!
My heart stopping exercise moment happened on a bike ride. I was cruising along a back road that had swamp on either side. I was just thinking to myself “This is kinda the type of area they find bodies in” when I heard a strange splashing noise.
My heart leapt into my throat and it took a moment for me to focus and realize it was just a group of beavers in the swamp. I’m not sure who was more scared – them or me!
Snakes freak me out too! I found two in our back yard this weekend. And one almost slithered right across my foot. I screamed like a little girl until my hubby came running. LOL!
That is terrifying…I can’t stand snakes!! I haven’t encountered too many scary animals outdoors, besides a pack of raccoons while walking back from the campus lirary one night.
EEK!! I am not a fan of snakes!
(Dine Out, Fight AIDS. April 30th. www.diningoutforlife.com)
Ah! I would have done the same thing :)
I almost got bit by a snake at camp one year, and I booked it out of there!
lmao!
LOL, that’s hilarious. I would totally have done the same thing! I remember when I studied abroad in Australia, we saw a spider bigger than my hand on our tent one night. That was fun.
Oh I’ve seen many a snake down by the river in my hometown. One time, though, we thought we found a dead body because we saw bare feet sticking out from under a blanket (which was terrifying), but it turned out to be 2 teenagers engaging in some illicit activities. And it was November, and cold! So weird.
I had an outdoor summer job, and one time there was a mamma bear and three cubs maybe ten meters away from me. I just backed up and made sure they went in a direction that wouldn’t hurt any fellow workers. After the initial, ah! bear too close! it was more just cool than anything.
I’ve run into a few snakes on runs and bike rides as well… Thank goodness they slither away quickly.
I was chased off a sidewalk by an alligator once…
Ooooh my goosh!!I would have freaked if I saw that SNAKE!
When hiking up in Tobermory last summer Steve was begging to see a snake…. I couldn’t stay far enough away, I was dreading coming along one!
Ps- for the record… each time I tried to type snake… I typed snack instead…
lol…foodie much?? ;)
YIKES! The outdoors are so nice to enjoy for some exercise, but I think we tend to forget all of the creepy creatures who are joining us! ;)
What was all on the banana-flax sandwich? Is that almond butter as well? Looks delicious!
That recipe for the sandwich looks amazing! I’m totally borrowing it to try for myself :D
I’m terrified of pretty much anything that is not a pet. I freaked out by a little wobbling duck in front of me. On the second date with my boyfriend we were on a walk and there was a deer in front of us and he kept on walking towards it. I about had a panic attack and grabbed his hand pulled him back begging him not to walk that way. I haven’t lived that down. And now: the other day I saw a pack of like 10 wild turkeys wondering through the neighborhood. I don’t know what to do!
My heart rate would have jumped up that high too! I’m beyond terrified of spiders, so when I was getting the lawn mower out of the shed today I refused to look up at the ceiling. It was the first time I’ve mowed the lawn this season (and the first time I’ve been back in the shed), so I’m sure there were some BIG spiders up by the roof. All I could picture was one falling on my face when I looked up!!
oh my goodness! The same thing happened to me yesterday on my run! A snake was about to cross my path on the road I was running on. I hightailed it outta there! That thing was really long too. I’m not up on my snakes but it was all black so I guess it means it wasn’t poisonous. But I was still freaked out!
AAAAAH SNAAAAAAAAKE
I can’t stand running into snakes on hikes either! Way to be brave.
Once I was walking my dog at the park and a group of deer leaped in front of us and kept going into the woods. Which would have been fine but my dog took off after them! My heart rate probably looked like yours- she was dragging me through the woods after these deer as I was struggling to keep up and trying to dodge branches and trees! Quite the change of pace from our normal, leisurely walks!
Spiders. I hate spiders and last time we were in Italy we decided to go for a hike…much like yourself. We stopped for a rest break and started to actually LOOK around and we were surrounded by the biggest, grossest spiders EVER. Still gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it!
While bike riding on a trail that was very bumpy and dusty we came across a snake adn I didnt know which way to ride and I was a little shaky. I picked my feet up as I went by him so he couldnt jump up and bite my feet. lol I almost ran him over!
Once on a hike we got the evil eye of a very protective mother deer. I felt bad for her she went nuts that we were walking by her babies. I thought she was going to charge us. YIKES!
:) love the outdoors! lol