Delightful Morning

Friday, Aug 5, 2011:

Another gallop on the grass trails in the park, early in the morning, with light fog still drifting through the trees and over the trail ahead. The temperature was about 65, not much wind, just a superb August morning.

I ran the full 4.8-mile loop, walking only going down the steepest hills, running up all of them. Finish time was 51:00, for a pace of 10:38, which is three minutes faster than the last time I ran this loop. It’s OK for this kind of trail. The right knee with PFS did hurt a little, which is why I walked downhill, but otherwise it wasn’t a problem.

Wednesday, Aug 3, 2011:

Twelve miles in the park, mostly on grass/dirt trails. I do love running on those hilly trails, even if it is a bit harder than running on flat pavement. The trails were a little muddy here and there, because of all of the rain we’ve had lately - an unusually wet July and already some rain in August.

I took water along, 20 ounces, and one gel. The temperature was modest, but not the humidity, and I got pretty warm. Sunshine said my face was a little red even after my shower, though that could have been from the sun too. The right knee with PFS did hurt some, especially downhill, but it wasn’t a limiting factor. Nice run, though, enjoyable. I had plenty left afterward.

Monday, Aug 1, 2011:

Five miles on the paved trails in the park. I didn’t have my watch, so I don’t know the time, but I suspect it was less than 50 minutes. We were concerned about a looming thunderstorm, so we had our eyes turned westward a lot, but we got back home before it hit. Good thing, too, because it hit so hard that power went out for an hour or so.

Nice run, some pain in the right knee, but easily tolerable.

Wild-caught Pacific cod, organic turnips, rutabaga, parsnips, onions, & strawberries, with organic relish: