Every Trail run is an adventure!

Ran with some friends today at our local State Natural Area, Government Canyon. It was so much fun. I truly enjoy fun runs with friends more than any race. We saw this crazy looking mushroom too.

 Robert said if I ate it I might feel good, or I might die.
One of the great benefits of trail running is seeing things one might not otherwise see. I shared some of these sightings with a Professor of a local University recently. He is working on a documentary of trail runners to promote interest on a stage race in the Amazon. My good friend Chris and I were interviewed together. I liked that because with Chris there I was more at ease.
Now, I am not the most accomplished trail runner by any means. As a matter of fact, I am not as accomplished as most of my trail runner friends. I think I was recommended because somehow folks in our group think I played a major part in starting the Rockhoppers, our trail running group. I was a small player in planting the seed. Those who came, have stayed to encourage others to join and offer support to them are the reason we exist. That is pretty much the recipe for any successful group.
The interview for the documentary went well I think. Not sure when it will be complete but I will surely share it here.
I was not able to share all that I have seen on the trails. I seem to have a problem categorizing, filtering, and arranging all the thoughts in my mind in an orderly fashion. I shared a few like, the time I came upon a pack of coyotes drinking at a pond, An owl looking at me while flying away from me on a wooded narrow trail (I thought he might bump into a tree!), My first view of a mountain meadow. But I did not tell about the bat that flew right between Lalo and I as we ran shoulder to shoulder at night in the Angeles Crest mountains, the juvenile fox that was following me on a night run, the White tail buck who seemed to want to challenge me for trail access, the beautiful golden Eagle perched on a fence post, The roadrunner who, upon seeing me, turned to run off only to be spinning his legs unable to gain traction (just like in the roadrunner cartoons!),and the Bobcat cubs playing on the trail. I probably will remember more great moments after I end this post.
Get out and run trails people because every trail run is an adventure. Like Forrest Gump's mom said, "You never know what you're gonna get."

Speed work

I couldn't decide where to run today. I wanted to run intervals but not in the sun. Summer seems to finally be here. We had a pretty nice winter and Spring by South Texas standards this year. More cold winter days and more cool spring days than normal. But it's all over now.
I decided on Friedrich park. Friedrich has become my favorite training ground these days. Most of the trails are shaded, there are two steep climbs to work on hill repeats, technical trails to work on foot placement and technique, and flats for speed work. All this on only about 5 miles of trails. Soon though there will be more trails opening up as the park expands.
After a one mile warm up I ran 4 quarter mile repeats with quarter mile recovery in between and a mile cool down to finish it up. A small number I know but I didn't want to push it since it's been awhile since I've worked on speed. Although yesterdays 5 mile run at Friedrich did turn into a tempo run after a slow start. I hope to have a good run at the Pedernales 30k in three weeks. Gotta put in the work.