Falling!

Yesterday was a beautiful morning for my seven miler at Russian Gulch (which turned out to be just shy of eight). I was out by myself, and decided to venture down the new trail and make up my loop that way. Perfect temperature, sunshine through the trees, mostly dry ground, happy runner!

I was moving along pretty well - at least better than I expected considering how sore my rest day run was (two easy miles in town). I went to core class before yoga on Tuesday, and my hips were mad at me, it seems I have them stuck in ultra-shuffle mode. Will be interesting to see how they respond when I get back on Bugsy...

Happy feet in Superiors :)

As I was running down the unfamiliar trail, it occurred to me that aside from some hungover stumbles on our New Year's Day run, and hitting a sunken drain cover in the dark last week, I haven't fallen in a long time. I should have known as soon as that thought passed through my mind that I needed to watch my step. Sure enough, about ten minutes later I was headed down the hill, caught my foot on a route, and went into my best Superman impression. Except Superman doesn't land on a sideways foot and twist his ankle. Ouchieeee. I waited until the shooting pain in my leg subsided, then gingerly tested weight bearing ability. Ouchiee. Waited a few more minutes, and I could put it down carefully. I tried walking a few steps and it was painful, but doable. Running actually hurt les, so I very carefully made my way down the hill to pick up the creekside trail. It was so cold down there, which helped me keep moving, albeit slowly.

By the time I got back to the dirt trails, I was moving reasonably well again, and able to run the rollers. I was behind a couple of girls hiking to the waterfall who had no idea what was going on in their surroundings (really smart in mountain lion-y areas...). They were in my view for third-ish of a mile, and I still scared the hell out of them when I called out to let them know I was there. Pitchy screams are not what I'm looking for in a quiet trail run lol.

This morning I left early to meet some FogDodgers at Van Damme State Park. They run at 7:00 Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 8:00 on Sundays. This time of year 7:00 has us starting in the vague shadowy light of the moon, until the sun rises around 7:30. It's another pretty trail that follows Little River into the forest. We headed out about three miles, then back again.

It's mostly flat, so a great place for a steady run, and nice to have company. You have to watch your footing on the many wooden bridges that can get slick, and some rockier sections where ankle rollers lurk for clumsy runners (such as myself). The beach was gorgeous when we got back to the car park.

A 'Wicked Benedict' (sausage patty and tequila/lime/cilantro hollandaise) with a friend was the perfect way to round off my morning :)