Friday, January 1, 2010

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.............

15 comments:

Aron said...

i had THE BEST time out there yesterday!! thank you so much for taking me again :) it was sooo beautiful out there and i had so much fun chatting with both you and lori! cant wait to bring my girls out there too :)

ONEHOURIRONMAN said...

Take it easy, ice down, stretch, take ibuprofin, etc. and these things will be available for you to do much longer in life (I kind of sound like Father Time, don't I??)
Cheers!
Have a Great New Year!

Lily on the Road said...

LOOKS FANTASTIC!!!

Thanks for reminding me to wear my brace...I've been a little slack in that department...

Happy New Year JoLyn...all the very best to you and your family (including Boomer of course!), happy trails in 2010.

Unknown said...

What a beautiful trail. Great way to end the year. I'm envious!

RunningLaur said...

As always, I'm terribly jealous of your fantastic runs. Love that you could all get out there together and play in the woods :)

Judi said...

great post and i love the pictures. i wish i lived out west....

happy new year.

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

This post truly makes me want to find a trail!! Love love all your posts. New friendships are the BEST.. I have met the best people in Bloggy land..

Dave said...

I think sometime the watch is our nemesis...sometimes it's good to take it off and just go have fun....that is what it is about isn't...oh there will be time to work on splits and worry about time...but today was not that day...and that is nice.

brent said...

JMP is owned and operated by the City of Oakland and does not allow off-leash dogs on the trails. (same with Dimond Canyon which is on the west side of Hwy 13.) There are two off-leash dog areas in the Woodminster parking lots (up by the ranger station). The parks on the east side of Skyline Blvd (and almost all the other parks in the east bay hills) are managed by East Bay Regional Park District. The vast majority of the trails within EBRPD allow off-leash dogs. French Trail in Redwood is very similar to JMP. (JMP does allow bikes are narrow trails which is also different than EBRPD). You can be ticketed in JMP for having an off-leash dog, so best to stick to EBRPD if your running (or riding your bike) with your dog.

Southbaygirl said...

i'm so jealous! we don't have beautiful green trails like that here.....but i will see them soon!

I hope you had a fantastic holiday!!! and I'm so glad you are running pain free! And I agree here is to a pain free 2010 and a fantastic 2010!

Dave - Atlanta Trails said...

Happy 2010!

chris mcpeake said...

Great trails. Cant run trails here as they frozen over (-25 today).
Good luck in the new year

Aka Alice said...

Beautiful Run JoLynn...Happy (injury free) New Year to you too!

Glenn Jones said...

What a beautiful place to run! I got to spend some time in Chicago last week. Us Californians are really spoiled.

chris mcpeake said...

great trails, fantastic pics