Today we ran a solid three hours at Annadel Park just north of Santa Rosa.  The total distance was around 16.2 miles but could have been more, my GPS decided not to work despite being charged overnight.  We set out around 730am on trails that were largely deserted, later we saw some bicyclists and horses and a few other runners.  It’s so hard to describe the feeling of the sun filtering through the trees, feet moving at constant pace up the difficult hills, side-stepping around rocks and cantilevered trails, looking at your fellow runner’s feet moving ahead and some inspirational music playing in your ears.

One of the fun parts today was as we were heading up one of the first hills we saw three bikers ahead of us.  One seemed to be getting closer and as it turns out we ran past the third runner (biker road kill and then past the other two as they were taking a break and we just kept on running past them.

Kim and I are both training for our first ultra -the 50k Skyline to the Sea run in late September and are very well matched as running partners.  Though we both want to go semi-slow and keep energy for the return, we seem to push each other up the hills and then down the descents.  What’s so different when you run with another, is that it pushes you so much more than just yourself, and for me, it helps set a more even pace rather than speeding up and then slowing down.   It’s hard to run with some other runners from PVAC, You Know Who You Are when they are running 6-7 minute miles so you’re either left behind or try to run at a uncomfortable pace and get burned out quickly.  We both also think its very ok to run with headphones and no need to talk most of the time, better to concentrate on the terrain.

What was so good about today, and Why We Run, is when you get into a very long stretch with little or no thinking, what I call a trance-like state.  Your mind is free, really enjoying the scenery, at one with your body and that feeling of strength and coincident pleasure that comes from pushing your body.  This is one of the true similarities with climbing - where your mind and body are somewhere else and you just keep moving in pace with your group (roped up or otherwise) and the thought of stopping is worse than the thought of powering through.  All in all a great day ….

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