It was a chilly 50 or so degrees and all I was wearing was a thin running shirt and shorts.  No gloves.  It was little chilly heading up the mountain.  My arms were glowing a bright red from the cold.  My finger tips were a little numb.

Since I was running solo, I started hearing and seeing mountain lions stalking me in the woods.  I just knew that I was going to get eaten alive.  I made all kinds of plans of escape.  Climbing a tall tree seemed my best plan of defense.  It’s a good thing that the mountain lions did not see me.

The glorious sun rise saved me from getting eaten alive.

Mission Peak had a half dozen people congregating on top enjoying the colorful fall sunrise.

Last week, I purchased a pair of Vasque Blur trail running shoes.  What a difference a real trail running shoe makes.  The rocks were not bruising my toes.  It was much easier to hop on rocks as I traversed down the loose trail.  The annoying problem of pebbles creeping into my shoes did not happen at all this morning.

It was a very peaceful 2:19 run. I finished off the run by raiding a local fig tree in the parking lot behind a real estate office. By the looks of all dropped figs on the pavement, the birds and ants were the only eating the sweet fruit.

I usually consume 1 liter per hour when the weather is moderate.  On hot days it’s double.  I have been using the Nathan dual 22 ounce bottle hydration fanny pack.  It usually will get me in between water stops.

Water is always more important than fuel on runs.  Given a choice, I will bring water over food.  I can run 8 hours without food.  If I tried running 8 hours without water, I would collapse from dehydration.

[ReviewAZON asin="B000MZHTSY" display="fullpost"]

After running for nearly an hour I was at approximately 2100 feet and was able to see lightening dance across the Eastern horizon.  It was like no other lightening show that I have ever seen.   The lightning colored the distant sky a deep effervescent  purple.  It was like looking at a National Geographic magazine.  It was one of those “Wish I had a camera!” moments.

The lightning show went on for over an hour.  I mentally counted the interval between the lighting and the clap of the thunder and estimated that the lightning was a safe 15 miles away.  I did not want to get caught running on Mission Peak in an electrical storm.

I had no running partners today.  I decided to run solo as my last 2 runs have been with wounded runners.  I needed a full run with limited walking.

Every run comes with irritations.  I had a near miss with a skunk.  The skunk was behind a fence and started running with me.  Then stupid little creature ran under the fence toward me.   We nearly collided until the skunk disappeared inside a water culvert.  The nasty mosquitoes were waiting for me when I hopped the gate to get on to the trail.  I took a few swats at the pesky little bugs and never gave them a second thought as ran faster than they could fly.  After escaping the mosquitoes, I commended myself on my flight strategy.  Then I thought about another minor irritant-poison oak.  I have not been struck with poison oak all season.  I do my best to avoid brush ups with this irritating plant.  While running down, a poison oak bush ambushed me!  Let’s just hope that my scrubbing in the shower removed the toxic oils.

[ReviewAZON asin="B002HSQ5XO" display="inlinepost"]

I met up with my 3 favorite running friends-Andria, Nadia, and Izzy.  We usually get together every Saturday morning for a nice long trail run.  I have been running with Nadia for 7 years, Izzy for 5 years, and at least five years with Andria.  We are really not an official running club.  We all get along so good and it’s easy to schedule our runs for the wee hours of the morning.  We would love to have a few more people join up with us.  A few guys have tried running with us and could not hang with the early hours!

We left Mission Coffee at 5:45 AM.  I ditched my LED runner flashlight as I noticed a little bit of first light illuminating the distant mountains.  I was actually enjoying the warmer weather.  We had full shade running up Mill Creek road.   The higher up we ran the hotter it became.  I had drained a full 27 ounce Klean Kanteen water bottle in the first hour.  Have you ever tried a Klean Kanteen?  I will never go back to plastic running bottles after using one.  I started using a Klean Kanteen about a year ago because I was concerned about the toxins that leak from plastic water bottles.  I always detested the awful plastic taste that comes from hot water out of a plastic water bottle.  I don’t miss tasting whatever brand of soap that I washed my water bottles out with.  Ever put a sports drink in your water bottle?   It will taste like a weaker version of the drink for months!  With the Klean Kanteen, I always have fresh tasting water!  It fits right into my water bottle fanny pack too.  I must say that I do miss squeezing my plastic water bottle over my head and face when I am really hot.

The skies were clear and it was beautiful-until we started getting attacked by mosquitoes!  This is California.  We are not supposed to get stung by those pesky little things.  The buzzing in our ears was so annoying.  Growing up in Minnesota, I was used to mosquito bites-but not on my runs!  I must be honest, trail running near Mission Peak on hot days, we always get bombarded with biting black flies.  The mosquitoes were not near as bad as the biting flies.  Guess what?  There were no biting flies today!

We had a great trail run.  It was a tad slow because of the heat.  Next week, we plan on running at Redwood Park in the Oakland hills.

[ReviewAZON asin="B0019N2DO8" display="fullpost"]

I met Andria at Mission Coffee and we immediately started running up Mill Creek Road. We decided to run the the horse ranch. The trail is rarely used except for the occasional runner. The fog was thick. Visibility was less than 1/8 of a mile.  We ran past a flock of wild turkey and scared a few deer. When there are only 2 people running, we tend to see more wild life. I actually was able to capture 2 deer running with my Flip video recorder.

The East Bay Regional Park District is so is so incredible to run in.  The trail head is only 3 miles from my house and it offers hundreds of miles of panoramic trails to run on.  There are several developed springs to keep hydrated.  There are even out houses (rarely used by me). It’s a trail runner’s dream come true.

We had what I call a nice and easy run.  The run was approximately 13 miles.  My legs still felt a little sluggish from running the Ohlone Wilderness trail race 2 weeks ago.  The motivation for a fast paced run is just not there.  We ran because we enjoy trail running so much.

When Andria called last night to confirm our run, I was hiking with my family up the same trail that we run on.  She had an invitation to run on the flat trail with her girl friends.  She chose hill running with me!  I was so happy.  It is way more fun to run with 2 people.

Our run was approximately 13 miles.  It took us 2 hours and 42 minutes to complete the run in the fog.  I am now kicking back with a hot cup of coffee and spinning a few yarns about my run.

I met up with Steve Bradley at 6OO AM ready to hit the trail and do some running.  It was 53 degrees and I was scantily dressed in just a t-shirt and running short because I knew that within an hour we would be hot.  It turned out be quite a reunion at the start because we saw 5 of our other lady friends (2 separate groups) getting ready to trail run up Mission Peak.  Steve and I were feeling quite studly with an entourage of 5 women.  This quickly dissipated as 2 of the ladies broke off from within a minute of their arrival.   The other group of 3 ladies left us after 40 minutes.  Back to Earth for Steve and I.

The spring flowers and green grass was better than visiting an arboretum.   The last dowsing of rain extended the wild flowers for at least another week.  I am always amazed at how beautiful the area is that we do our trail runs on.

Our first destination was Mt. Allison, approximately 2500 feet.  I completely lost track of time.  Not that it really matters.  We have a total time goal in mind and we stick to that for our trail runs.  I snacked on dried cherries, apples, and figs.  I lost interest in the high priced runners snacks and usually mix up my own.

Steve was in a time crunch, but I convinced him into doing a loop down to the horse ranch.  What a bonus that was!  We were able to see 20-30 beautiful horses running like wild horses on the trail.  As I was snapping pictures of the horses, they walked around me and I felt like Moses when he parted the Red Sea.  I was surrounded by an ocean of horses.

Everything was perfect about this trail run.  Both of us were not complaining about being tired.  Steve was gearing up for his trail run up Rose Peak tomorrow.  My legs felt like they had another 20 miles in them.  It’s a nice feeling when a 15 mile run is a “light” run.  This is not bragging.  It is what it is.

I broke off from Steve after being out 2 hours as I wanted to run over 3 hours.  I ran the trail up Mission Peak.  As usual, it was very crowded.  Being selfish, I wished that it was less crowded.  I am sure the hundreds of other hikers were thinking the same thing.  If I wanted solitude, I would have been on the peak at 6 AM.

In all my years of running, I usually come to the same conclusion about the trail run that I just completed-it’s one of the best runs in my life.

Steve and I both commented on a little secret goal that we don’t want a certain runner beating us when we race the Ohlone Wilderness run at the end of May.

As much as I enjoy looking at all the scenery on my runs, nothing beats great company!  I started out the run with my 2 favorite running girl friends, Nadia and Andria.  The three have so much fun trail running together.  Most of the time we talk about everything but running.    We laugh and talk about silly things.  It’s hard to believe that we put up with each other for as long as 6 hours on our run.

We had to part ways after only 2 hours of running as one of the girls was getting together with family members in the City.  It’s always hard to say good bye.  I almost talked Andria into running with me as I promised to get her back to the car by 12 PM.  She was ready to say yes except that her car keys and personal belongings were locked inside Nadia’s car.

I was able to ascent Rose Peak in exactly 3 hours.  It was cold, rainy, and windy on top.  I did not linger.  I ran as fast as I could to Maggies Half Acre for water and a few runners chocolate cookies.

I chose the exact same trail on the way back as I wanted to see  my friend Sue Corrie as she was running all the way to Del Valle with another friend.  I predicted to run into her around 10 AM as she started around.

I finished the trail run to Rose Peak in exactly 5:20 which is one of my best times ever.  It was an awesome run.  The wild flowers were splendid.  My running partners were great.  This run goes into my treasure chest of trail running memories.