It was cool, clear and crisp at 8 this morning when I took this picture. I had just arrived at the Hippodrome, the Nantes racetrack, and was making my way across the turf track to the inner track used for the trotters. It’s where I do my running three times each week. I looked to my right and a little steam was rising from the grass. In the morning sun, it was quite beautiful. I held out my cell phone/camera, looked into the sun and snapped this picture. I did not bother counting to three.

That’s the grandstand behind me. It’s hard to believe, I know, but nary a person was there to watch me run. It would have been a good day to watch me, too. I set a new time record today for myself (time, that is, in terms of duration, not speed). I ran 6 laps on the inner part of the trotter track in just over 47 minutes. My goal is to make it in 45 minutes by the end of the month.

To be clear, there are actually three tracks here, two grass and one made of a finely crushed pinkish colored rock. That’s the one I run on. And as I said, it’s the same one that’s used for the trotters. By trotters I mean harness racing, horses pulling drivers in little sulkies. No, I’m not pulling a sulky. I said I RUN, not trot.