Ending 2009 on a high note!

Lori, Mikey, Me, Boomer, Aron

Yesterday I had plans to take Aron on a trail run. I wanted her to be able to experience a little more than just the fire road out and back we did at Rodeo Beach. The night before, I received a call from Lori. She wanted to know what I was doing yesterday and if she could join us. The more the merrier in my book! I double checked with Aron and was reminded by her that the two of them had met when I did my triathlon in September! Lori came over with her dog and and we drove up to Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland to meet Aron.

Finally, Aron got to see what single track was all about! She and Lori chatted quite a bit while I led them through a bunch of different trails in Joaquin Miller and Redwood Parks. I loved listening to a new friendship in the making.

Boomer and Mikey had so much fun playing together. Aron was debating about bringing one or both of her dogs but in the end she left both at home. Now that she knows what the environment is like on trails, she may bring one next time. The weather was perfect! Even though it has rained recently, the mud wasn't terrible because of the trails being mostly covered.

We spent a little under two hours there and ran just over 6.5 miles. That's a lot slower than Aron is used to but she said she LOVED IT! Actually, that seems even slower than I'm used to but, whatever. I guess we did stop quite a few times for one thing or another. We were just out having a good time. She wanted to get her brand new trail shoes dirty, but as you can see, they didn't get too bad.

Being able to show someone my passion and have them like it? That is such a gift to me, I can't even begin to tell you. Being able to run as much as I have lately, with NO PAIN? That is a gift from God! I've been really good though, about putting my brace on my knee before the run even starts. It seems to be doing the trick so I'll keep doing it.

I hope you all survived your New Year's Eve celebrations and were able to get out and do something fun today. As for me, I took Boomer for a very long walk this morning and went to a class at the gym tonight. Man oh man, that class kicked my butt! Just tells me I need to do workouts like that more often.



Here's to a happy, healthy, exciting, injury-free 2010 for all of us.


Until later.............