My poo-rific running companion.

Now don't get me wrong. Most of the time, Neko is the best running companion I could possibly ask for. I offer as evidence:

1) She never has "other plans" when I want to go for a run.

2) She has no work commitments to stop her from taking mid-day runs.

3) She never thinks I'm running too fast or too slow.

4) She's always in a good mood.

5) She never drinks any of the post-run beer.

6) She never insists on running shorter or longer distances than I want to do.

7) She never tries to talk to me when I'm sucking air running up a hill.

8) She thinks I'm the greatest running companion every time we hit the trails.

However, not a single one of my other running companions have ever done what she did today. Two miles into a 7 miler, I look over and my brilliant canine has rolled in dog poo. She was so happy as she ran up, too, it was hard to be mad at her... but it has to be one of the most disgusting things EVER!! (I must say, if any of my human running companions ever did this, they'd be off the list with the quickness...)

Hot Trail, Happy Dogs

Briones Regional Park

Pereira-Deer Creek-Briones Crest-Abrigo Valley Rd (4.5 miles?)

After hosting a Rioja tasting party

last night, it was time to give the puppies some attention. I didn't want to run too far because we're running looooong tomorrow on the Ohlone Trail, but the border collies needed to move!

I parked by the side of the EBRPD Bear Creek Staging Area entrance, but still on Bear Creek road so as to avoid paying the entrance fee. From there, I ran up Deer Creek to Briones Crest. This led straight up to a rolling trail that offers 360° views as I ran along the ridgeline. The lack of foliage meant this was a very hot run however, and I would not recommend this

as a summer run, particularly if you are going to take dogs for longer than an hour. It's not even May and it was very warm already this morning. My running companions were panting two miles into the run. (This did not stop them from enjoying every minute of the run, however!)

Once off Briones Crest, the trail drops fast into the canyon, passing by two group campsites. In my former life as a middle school teacher, I took a group of 6th graders here once for a very successful beginning backpacking trip, and if you are ever looking for a place to take a group of kids on an overnight, this is a wonderful option. We stayed at Maud Whalen and from the look of Wee-Ta-Chi this morning, I think MW is the better campsite.

Again, this run might get very warm in the summer--I would keep it as a spring or fall option, unless I was training for a race in a hot climate. Briones is a great place to run with dogs though--they can be off leash if they are under voice control, making some very happy dogs today. Neko even found a marshy pond to jump into just before we got into the car. Fun. Smelly wet dog in car.

As a final note, one of my favorite blogs has a much longer description of "Brionesland" as he calls Briones. Read it for some history about and gorgeous pictures of this (yet again) underutilized East Bay park.

La vida es un carnaval...

Ended up running on the treadmill in San Jose today. I hate the treadmill. I hate the gym. It's rather confining, and people don't seem to know what to do with someone who is actually sweating. Someone needs to let certain members at my gym know that 5 minutes of the treadmill won't technically do much for their level of fitness. (10 points to the older gentleman who comes with his sweats pulled up so high he might as well have been in "Revenge of the Nerds" and then tucked into his long ankle socks. You, sir, rock the Casbah.) 

But I DID have a Celia Cruz moment and almost started dancing in the gym. I have been known (by Neko and some cows) to have a salsa moment on the trail when this song comes on. Despite having to take Neko to the emergency room yesterday (she's fine now), this is how I'm feeling:

Todo aquel piense 

que la vida es desigual,

tiene que saber que no es así,

que la vida es un hermosura, hay que vivirla.

.......

Todo aquel que piense que la vida siempre es cruel,

tiene que saber que no es así,

que tan solo hay momentos malos, y todo pasa.

Todo aquel piense que esto nunca va a cambiar,

tiene que saber que no es así,

que al mal tiempo buena cara y todo pasa....

One of the greatest compliments I ever got from a student was when he said this song reminded him of me. There's more to the song and if you don't know it, get thee to iTunes! I do realize there aren't a whole lot of salsa dancing trail runners out there... but you never know!

Getting Started

A blog! A blog! Well, I'm not feeling very original, seeing as how my best friend, a coworker and my aunt all started blogs in the last two months as well... but mine is all about trail running! Trail running! Yay! In the Bay Area, no less.

After running a glorious 3 hour run on Sunday and realizing that there were no blogs that covered all the trail running options in the Bay Area, I decided that I would take on this challenge. With the help of the fabulous Jen, we're going to create a comprehensive website, but this will be the starting place for content... and a few more of my musings, like where the best place is to eat after you run, or places that are more dog friendly than others... (yay Neko!)

As of right now, there are a couple of great websites on trails in the Bay Area-- Bay Area Hiker and Marin Trail Runs are great, but Bay Area Hiker does not have enough over 10-mile trails over 10 miles (in my opinion) and Marin trails is just that--Marin.  

Thanks to Ian for his very funny title... and get your minds out of the gutter, people-- you will see no compromising pictures of me or anyone else-- but you might see some grimy runners. 

So yeah-- here it goes... and pleeeeease-- send me ideas of great runs. Tomorrow I'll start out by posting the run I did on Sunday, but I'm open for trail runs in the Bay Area that you, gentle reader, recommend because they are unique, challenging, gorgeous, have a great food/drink option at the end or some other fascinating portion of Bay Area history.