Hiking again today

No running today, went on another beautiful hiking in Marin County North of San Fran. It was a 7.3 mile hike that followed a river down to Stinson beach, and then went back up the nearby mountain, which was pretty steep, but beautiful. Then in and out of grasslands and forests with great views of the ocean. The weather was great, about 50 degrees, hardly any wind. A good way to build up and appatite for the New Years feasting that will be taking place tonight.

5 in Sonoma Valley

All I can say is beautiful...................and hilly.............but beautiful. I ran 5 miles today out at my aunts vineyard and man it was beautiful. It was also very hilly, I was almost done for at the end of my run, of which the last mile was all up hill, kinda steep as well. My legs feel pretty good after all the running I have been doing in the last couple of weeks, hopefully this continues.

7 beautiful miles in San Fran, 3 of them out of necessity

Started out today planning on walking to the Golden Gate Park like I had done on Tursday, and then run 4 miles in the park. Thursday I was all over the place and had to back track a few times. So today I looked at a map and found a more direct route that would get me my 4 miles without stopping and starting.

Things were going well, I felt great, even after the long hike yesterday, the ground was moving smoothly under my feet. I was enjoying the sights as I was running. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimps of the Japanese Garden in the Park. I thought it might be cool to run by that on the way back. So when I made my return trip, I hung a right towards the Garden. I have been there before, but it was neat to see it again. As I ran by, I noticed that I couldn't exit that area in the direction I wanted to go. So I had to run along some fencing until I could get through.

Now I entered the park from the East, and I thought I was till traveling West back towards when I came from. Turn out I was going South, and when I exited the park, I didn't recornize where I was, but I figured I was just north of the street I came in on, so I hung a right, when sent me East, opposite of where I wanted to go. As I ran and ran, not seeing the street I came in on, I noticed that the streets were in the teens, and I knew that 17th street ran into Belvedere which is where I wanted to be. So I hung a left on that, which took me south again.

My reasoning was sound, but not knowing that I was on the wrong side of the park is what got me. So I kept running and running, and 17th was uphill, exactly what this picture looks like. Block after block of uphill running, I finally had to walk until I got to the top, and realized I was in trouble. Luckily, and nice young woman was able to give me directions back, after informing me that I was no where near where I wanted to be. So it was quite a run back, but I did notice that while I was running and not knowing where I was, it was nice, becasue I wasn't paying attention to the running, how tired I was, but just trying to figure out where I was. And I did get to see parts of the city I have never seen before.

No Running Today, Just Hiking

Went Hiking today in the Mount Tamalpais area. It was about a 6.5 Mile hike, beautiful scenery, the best was the 30 foot waterfall you see here. Lots of up and down on this trip, and rocky paths to navigate. I was also wearing some shoes I had just bought yesterday, so they were not broken in yet. It was very foggy today up in the mountains, as you can see, so a lot of the views that you normally get were unavailable, but I think it made the trips though the woods that much better.........mystic almost.

I was going to run when I got back, but it was a pretty strenuous hike, and my legs and feet were pretty sore when I got done, so I think I will run tomorrow morning before we go hiking again. There are so many great places to hike out here, and a lot of waterfalls to see, which are my favorite. This is going to be a great trip.

3.75 Miles, in Cali

Ok, so running in shorts and a shirt might have been a pipe dream of mine. It has been around 50 degrees here, however, when I went for my run this morning, it was 38. So I was wearing about the same outfit I wear when in Michigan :-(. No snow to high step through was the big plus, and the scenery was much better. I walked down the to Golden Gate Park and started my run there. Didn't really know where I was going, took a few trails that I had to back-track on, but it was a good run. Oh, I did forget my gloves, so my hands were chilly. When I got done in the park I was at about 3.25 miles, so I ran back to my aunts place, which is all up hill. That part was rough, great workout though.

4 Miles after the big snow storm

Yeah, it snowed a lot last night, so the path was rough, but I hear it's good for the form, and it definatly is building my leg muscles. This is the last run I will make in Michigan for a while. Next run, no gloves, no hat, just shorts and a warm shirt................in Cali.

2 MIles in Detroit

Went for a run this morning when I got to my sisters in Belleville before they got home. It was chilly, but I did get to run on the road, so no snow. I ran a little too fast, being on the road and got tired pretty quick, and it was the first thing I did that day which is never good for me, so it was a struggle.

4 more chilly miles

Got some new gear from Gazelle Sports to keep me toasty, laced up my shoes, and took off again. People did a little more shoveling today, but there was still a lot of deep snow. I was told at Gazelle today that the high stepping in the snow is good for my form, so that's what I kept thinking about as my shoes were filling with snow.

Shovels of Grand Rapids, Unite

Man, it was freezing out today, and the sidewalks were still not shoveled. I was really suprised that a lot of the businesses sidewalks were not shoveled, being Monday and all. Well, 4 more miles high stepping through the snow, it is hurting my quads quite a bit. But, I'm sure it will pay off for hills come spring.

Man I gotta move

We had a big snowstorm last night while I was in Traverse City, got back around 2 today and went for a run. It was cold, not a big deal I guess, I have ran in colder weather. But man, the snow was up to my knees in some spots, after the first mile, my legs hurt so bad from high stepping through it. I had to change course a little over a mile into it, right in front of Steelcase. The snow was deeeeeeeep. So I cut through their parking lot, into more deep snow, and then back onto 36th street, into more deep snow. So I only did about 3.7 miles, through some deep snow...........Can't wait to get to Cali.

Oh Yeah, pickin up the Miles

Don't know if it was that today after work I started my 3 weeks of vacation, or that I felt really good today, but I got home and decided to go for the 4 miles route instead of the 2 mile route I have been doing. It felt great, it was cold, and the route was icy, but it was good. The knee feels good, even though I am feeling something in it, not pain, just a presense. Looking forward to lots of running on my vacation

Looking for Consistancy

Still trying to get back in the flow, of life, and running. Today I am eating a can of mixed veggies, and a can of Great Northern Beans, same thing I had for dinner. This is all I have in the house. Mmmmmm good. I have been easing back into running, but have been unable to do it on a regular basis with the holidays, work travel. Friday is my last day of work until the 7th of January, so I am planning on getting my diet and exercise back on track. I did manage to run 2 miles last night, wasn't too cold, and I feel good today. I think the extra weight I am carrying is making the runs a little tougher.......see if I can take care of that with all of the holiday food around.

Friggin Cold

Today was a doozy, after another week off due to traveling for work, I was ready to go this morning, till the air hit my lungs chilly. I think it's about 20 degrees and icy. Made it through, my MP3 player died about 2 minutes into it. Made it through, legs felt ok, just the lungs hurt. I am hoping that I can start getting back into it now, full time, even with the chillies. 2 miles.