Sunday morning 5 mile run

I decided to make the most of my extra hour today by taking a run on the Sawyer Camp Trail, a great paved trail that follows the shore of the Crystal Springs Reservoir in San Mateo County. As a family, we've been on the trail several times to go bike riding, so I knew what I was getting into by running it this morning, and I knew I needed to go early to avoid the crowds.

So, by 7am, I'd parked the car at the trailhead, slipped on my Sennheiser PMX70 headphones, fired up my iPod and started running.

Not too many folks running at that hour, and by the time I made it to the 2.5 mile marker (my turnaround point), I'd only overtaken a handful of walkers/slow joggers and passed about a dozen folks running the other direction. At the 4 mile mark, the crowds were picking up and as I finished my 5-mile run, I saw that the Dolphin South End Runners were setting up their 5K/10K race that was to start at 9am. Whew, a stroke of dumb luck to miss that one!

Highlights of the run?

• watching the mist rise off the reservoir in the low-angle sunlight
• nice shuffle of music on my iPod (I'd added a bunch of songs from the collection the day before) that matched the pace and scenery perfectly
  
• not too many bicycle riders on the trail, so no near-misses as they rocket by

Lowlights of the run?

• residual GI turmoil from last night's Indian takeout (luckily no mid-run interruptions, tho). Glad I didn't let this condition stop me from running, tho.
• a blister on the arch of my left foot that I think is because of my socks, but also because my shoes are still new. Will get some good socks before the next run.
• annoying nipple-chafe. It was just cool enough this morning to make this a problem. Gotta remember to bring bandaids/tape next time

Oh, and on the drive home, I watched as a speeding convertible Mustang got caught by a cop in the exact same speed trap that caught me six months ago (I'm a reformed speeder now). I'll save my need for speed for running and biking and swimming, thanks.