Training Log Archive: Lori

Running with Sam and Presto at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve! We were hoping to sneak in one last run in the green hills, but apparently that was last weekend's run. Today was in the 90's with brown, dusty hills. Alas. We were all kind of dying from the heat and dehydration, but Presto was having a particularly hard time of it out there. He kept lurching towards any shade (not that there was much out there) and then flopping down in it. It was kind of cute and kind of worrisome. We will not forget to bring water again this summer.

Otherwise, it was a pretty pleasant run. We got some nice views of the delta and the wind farms and saw a copious number of cows huddling under a small bush. It was probably the densest voluntary cow packing I have ever seen. I guess it was hot in the sun, but you'd think it would also be hot all snuggled under a bush, too. I suppose cow's aren't all that smart... Presto was a big fan of the cow snuggle patch :-).

Stretching back home. Presto's doing that weird cough/vomit thing again. I'm not sure if it is a dehydration issue or a dust in the throat issue or something more serious, but I think I'll give him the day off tomorrow...

Biking after not-lab! I set out for the same loop as last week. My legs were a bit tired from the trail run yesterday. The beginning of the really steep hill up to Lawrence Hall of Science was a bit of a slog, but eventually my legs gave up and decided that their fate was to go uphill, and it was basically fine. I headed out about an hour earlier than usual, which decreased the number of people getting drunk and high in the pullouts a bit (although there were still quite a number of them). It at least seemed likely that people mostly weren't driving home from getting drunk/high, so that was something. The views were great as always, and the ride through Tilden was very nice. There were a hilarious number of turkeys, one of which flew right over my head! (I still need new brake pads!)

Normal stretching after a fun tele-party.

Running with Presto after not-lab! It was pretty warm tonight, and Presto was dragging quite a bit, but I wanted to get in a bit of a longer run. So, when we got to Tilden, I headed onto the trails. I've been avoiding this trail because it is narrow, but I was hopeful that 7pm on a weeknight would be a good chance to enjoy it. I was correct :-). I saw a few other people out there, but we were able to successfully avoid each other and mostly I only saw turkeys and deer. Presto and I actually startled a turkey badly enough that it FLEW UP INTO A TREE. A rare turkey event.

It was detectably humid tonight, which is weird. Usually it is either cool and humid or hot and dry, but tonight I got the barest reminder of what summer in a place with summer feels like. Some gnats committed suicide in my sweat. Anywho, the run was super nice. It was really great to get out on the trails with the green grass and redwood trees and stuff.

I sort of debated the best way to get home from Lake Anza. I decided that staying on trails much later wasn't a great idea because of mountain lions, but I wanted to stay in Tilden, so I ran back on Wildcat Canyon Road, which was gorgeous. Super fun evening run!

Stretching after some quality Technu time.

Running with Sam and Presto after not-lab! Sam decided his achilles was feeling good enough to try a run tonight, so we all went together. My legs were feeling really good tonight, but we just kept a nice chatty pace up the hill. Presto seems recovered from whatever weirdness was going on before. He hasn't coughed or vomited since Saturday, and he didn't drag at all tonight, which was super nice. The couple of Presto rest days were probably a good call!

Normal abs.

Normal stretching after BAOC happy hour. It was good to see everyone!

Biking around the Berkeley Hills! Presto's been coughing and vomiting a bit for the past couple of days, and he seemed pretty exhausted after yesterday, so I decided to give both him and my knees a rest today and go for a bike ride. My butt was still a bit sore from Thursday, but I hoped it would hold up for a nice afternoon ride.

I headed down to campus and then across town to Tunnel Rd. The climb up Tunnel Rd. was steady and long, but never as steep as some of the sections of Centennial, so it wasn't too bad. I started getting some pretty nice views across the Bay and into the Oakland Hills not too long after starting up the road. I saw a few turkeys and a herd of goats clearing some underbrush. (I guess they can still work even during a pandemic :-).) I eventually made it up to Grizzly Peak Blvd. and got some awesome views of gorgeous green hills to the east and the entire Bay Area to my west. Amazing!

The ride along Grizzly Peak was a mix of awesomeness and terrifying-ness. The views are incredible. The ride is great. But the people in motorized vehicles out on the road fit into 3 categories: people heading to one of the regional parks (usually very pleasant), people heading to or from get(ting) drunk/high in one of the pullouts overlooking the Bay (too: not so bad, from: a bit terrifying), and people out for a joy ride in either their motorcycle or sports car (AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! WHY ARE YOU DRIVING SO QUICKLY WITH SUCH LOUD MOTORS AND PASSING SO CLOSE TO ME!?!?!?!??!). Yeah. A few scary moments, but it all ended up fine in the end.

I rode the breaks pretty hard on the way down the hill, and made it successfully back to my house. (Note to self: I need new break pads!) Fun, fun!

Normal stretching. Legs feel good. Butt is DEFINITELY SORE.