Today was one of those trail runs that goes into the history books as one of the all time best runs!  As I started my run up Mill Creek road, I was greeted with the distant rumble of a thunders storm.  You may not find that unusual, but living in California, a thunderstorm is a rare commodity.  Every few minutes the sky would light up with the glow of lightning behind the mountains.

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.

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