Second 20-Miler

Today's Run: 20 miles from Patrick's Point to Westhaven and back
Today's Weather: perfect: 68 degrees, sunny, no wind
Today's Hero: Peter, for driving me two hours away from smoke and bears, and for playing with the girls on Agate Beach for 3 hours while I ran
Today's fuel: Gatorade and 3 Scooby-Doo "fruit" snacks. Was it enough? No, with 4 miles to go I was wishing I had a Snickers.
Today's post-run treat: Redwood Yogurt in a waffle cone.
Today's Friend: Zan, who let me shower at her house and let Lauryn sleep on her bed.
Today's Day Dreams: a future blog entry about my past running partners, and the very unlikely possibility of buying a vacation home near Trinidad with my parents and Peter's parents; I'd spend every weekend on the coast so I could have more long runs like today's, and go to church with more than 12 people on Sunday.

Funny Stuff

Part of my "newly-discovered passion" for running can be attributed to Runner's World magazine. My mom got me a subscription for Christmas a few years ago and I realized that not only do I enjoy running, I enjoy reading about running and everything related to it. One of my favorite sections of RW magazine is called The Newbie Chronicles, where a man in his 40s decides to become a runner. I recently read his first two articles to my parents and was reminded of how much I enjoyed them. So here they are:
The Very First Step
The Second Time Around
Why Should I Run?
In Good Company
An Inconvenient Truth
Couch Bound
Get Serious
The Secret Life of a Runner
Small Miracles
Interval of Insanity

Running Wild

It's been over a month since I almost stepped on this during an early morning run.Fortunately it was dead or else I would have been in a world of hurt. It wasn't far from the ranch either which made it easy to go back and take a picture.

In San Leandro I was cautious of other people while running, they seemed to be the only real threat. Here, I've been most concerened with the wild animals. A few weeks ago Peter drove me up river for a long run home. On the way we saw a herd of elk cross the road. Two weeks ago, on another long run, a big bear crossed the road less than 75 yards ahead of me. I was near my turning point and thought about turning around then but instead I waited until I was conviced that he was far enough up the hill to pose any threat, and I kept going.

Last Saturday I ran 20 miles on Indian Creek Road, which doesn't have much of a shoulder and is somewhat residential. I realized then that unleashed dogs, especially pit bulls, and careless drivers are more likely to hurt me than a wild animal.

Unfortunately none of these runs are suitable for an ipod so instead of listening to music, I think about blogging my experiences. Which is why I've decided to start a blog about running: it will give me something to think about while running.