I did a trail run yesterday at Angel Island and had planned to share stories and pics about the run -- but I ended up at the run with my camera, minus the memory card - awesome! Oh well, you can just visualize. To start off, I highly recommend trail runs - I run with Pacific Coast Trail Runs, and they are a blast. They have various distances (10k - 50k), have races almost every weekend, and run them all along the California coast. It's a smaller company so you see the same people, everyone's friendly, and they NEVER start on time :) Culien is my trail running buddy who introduced me to it, and we have had some adventurous experiences! Our runs always (always, always) start at the Nugget with bagels and coffee... at obscene hours of the day (about 6am). Angel Island was gorgeous yesterday -- clear skies, great views, perfect temp. We did the 16k, and in typical Culien and Erica fashion, missed the start time... so as usual, we were in no rush. People-watching tends to be the highlight of our runs -- yesterday, we were graced with the presence of a gentleman who had just rolled out of his tent, with his partner, in a cherry red onesie pajama outfit. It was awesome. How often do you see grown men in onesie pajamas these days? We were also lucky enough to have some young hikers cheer us on on our way down, while cheering each other with their beers. Not jealous at all. The best quote of the day came from a lovely female runner, who was not aware that she had to do two separate loops to complete the 16k. So as we were at the aid station, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to refuel us through the second loop, her friend asked if she was ready to get going again. Lovely girl gave her friend the blankest stare I've ever seen, jaw dropped, and said "You mean there's MORE?!?" She didn't realize she had another loop to go -- classic. She didn't look so happy after that.
Other people, on different runs, have also enhanced our running experiences. One of the most attractive was the elderly man (70+) with jean cutoff shorts with slits up to his hips (hot!). On the flip side, we regularly see a young man, who always runs with his shirt off, with a tattoo covering his back that disappears into his shorts. We always wonder where it ends, but we never have any intention of asking. And we always see the tattoo because he's always passing us. There's always girls running in skirts... never got that. On one run, at Stinson, there was a jovial group at the top of a hill drinking mimosas and cheering runners on. They also had signs with slogans like "Remember, you signed up for this!" and "You're only 5 people behind first place!" with the 5 crossed out and a 10 in it's place. It was a nice distraction from wanting to die at the top of that hill. One frightening experience was when we were running in Pacifica, came around the corner, and saw a couple guys with axes on the trail. And by "couple of guys" I mean scruffy men with beards and overalls, lots of dirt on them, with bloody toes, missing some teeth... did I mention with axes? We nervously ran past the first one, then social Culien decided to ask the 2nd one what they were doing. He gave an answer, we just aren't sure what he said because it appeared to be mountain axe-bearing man talk - heavy on the grunts and noises, but lacking actual words and sentences. I think our pace went from 10 minute mile to 7.5 minute mile at that point. But really, the runs are fun! To sum it up, people from all walks of life...
And at the end, they serve soup and chili and lots of junk food. And there's always someplace that serves beer within a relatively close distance, because we always find it. Below is a pic from Stinson, my first 20k -- good times!
On a completely different note, I would like to update you all on my garden experience. I have quite a few plants going strong -- my tomato plant is almost as tall as me (ok I know, not a huge challenge), and my squash plants (I think) just keep expanding. I also have jalapenos and eggplants that are growing, and then a bunch of other plants but I have no idea what they are. I do know that they are clumped together in groups, because if you remember I opted to take the seeds and toss them into the ground in groups. Good plan. It is working out quite well.
Below are some pics... along with some of our flowers.
More to come soon!
Cheers!
