PCTR Events Ceremony and Run

PCTR Events Ceremony and Trail Run
(Shell Ridge Trail--7-8 miles?)

This morning found me drinking coffee and eating bagels with some very fit people. As a culminating event for their race series, the race directors for PCTR decided to have a breakfast celebration in Walnut Creek.

It was fun seeing people "clothed"-- I almost didn't recognize Andy and his wife Lori, as the last time I had seen them was at the ridiculously hot Ohlone 50K last year.

I went to this breakfast thinking it would be a chance to hang out with runner people and talk in a more relaxed fashion than pre-race chats, and also for the chance to do a mellow group run. I hadn't run enough races to be even remotely competitive in any of the categories, so I wasn't expecting any awards. Imagine my surprise when Wendell called my name up for a special category of awards that they felt showed "something extra" (depending on who the award was for). I got an award for my performance in this debacle. Apparently twisting one's ankle and complaining about pain is fairly common, but doing 8 miles on a broken foot is not. Anyway, I got an unexpected $25 gift certificate to Zombie Runner, which was a serendipitous bonus from that ridiculous day. (I'm leaning toward a pair of these, probably in zebra or perhaps the leopard print?)

Probably 10 minutes later, my number was pulled for a raffle prize--I won a pair of Vasque trail runners!

After that, a group of us (led by Wendell) took off for a trail run. I had never run this area, and while I felt extremely sluggish and very, very tired (fighting off a sickness, I do believe...), I was quite happy to see this new trail area. Given that Wendell was leading the run, a goodly amount of hills were involved as we ran up to the top of the ridge, a trail that gave beautiful views of Mt. Diablo (yes, I will end up running there someday!) and all around the East Bay.

As can be seen in these pictures, the East Bay hills think it's time for spring--green has carpeted the hills and is appearing wherever you happen to look.
I know we need rain, and I sincerely hope the warm weather we had today is not a portent of a ridiculously hot and dry season to come, but it was SO NICE to run in such a temperate clime today.

Tomorrow's run should be long and slooooooowwwww in Marin. The knee was making itself known today, which did not make me happy. No hurting, but I'm aware of it--not part of the plan. Hopefully it will make it through tomorrow fine-- it will have a couple of days to recover because I have a conference in San Jose next week and will be pulling a few long days without much running.

Finally, a pic of the other Tart of the Trails and me. I think we should get t-shirts made proclaiming our tartness, don't you?