RUN: 5.2 miles @39:16, Viera Wetlands

Tonight I drove somewhere to run. The place was a recommendation of a couple strangers I met on a past run. Turns out, the place is a secret garden.

On the west arm of the roundabout, alongside the Brevard County South Central Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, is the Viera Wetlands, an integral component of Brevard County's wastewater reuse system and a nature preserve of sorts. It consists of "200 acres divided by berms into four cells of approximately 35 arces each, plus a central lake", each cell "designed to maintain differing depths of water, reflecting diverse wetland conditions".

It's beautiful and filled with wildlife. There are a couple observation decks and numerous benches along its paths, which handle one-way traffic, and near dusk there were a good number of cars there either slowly driving around or parked on the side of the path. I can't believe that it's taken me almost 5 years to find out that this was here.

I could probably go on about it, but I have to get through this entry.

So, this is where I ran tonight. The perimeter loop is about 2 1/4 miles and the loop around the central lake is almost 1 mile, but I just ran a rag-tag route, while listening to my iPod. The terrain was perfect (firmly packed dirt) and there the air was clean. The paths ahead reminded me of some running parks I've been to and having all the birds there made the run even more special -- thankfully I didn't see any alligators. It was the right level of chilly outside and the setting sun provided a nice light and a beautiful red-orange and purple horizon all around -- a wonderful background for my little over 5 miles. I could've run more if I had put on some BodyGlide (I was starting to chafe between my thighs), but it was also good that I didn't overdo this introduction.

I considered not blogging this run for fear of jeopardizing the newfound intimacy of this place for me, but really... who reads this blog? [NOTE: I do not have a viable sweaty ceddy picture for this run because of the outdoor lighting situation.]

Here are a couple pictures of the wetlands: