hush hush run

i was really disappointed that i wasn't able to participate in the unknown ?k race this weekend, i decided to host my own little "on the down-low" run on sunday.  i say "hush hush" or "on the dl" simply because i can't openly talk about some of these trails.  let's just say that there is some liberal interpretation of the term "open space" land and liberal questioning of whether someone can REALLY own a piece of property.  *snicker*

the email for the run went out to a handful of folks that i've spoken with about these trails and who, too, had little to lose if they were thrown in the slammer for running in the "wild" places of orange county.  (i joke, because everyone on the email list was married with kids).

dmitri, my trusty sidekick, had to bow out because of a serious leg injury he sustained during the unknown ?k on saturday, so i only had one taker for the early morning adventure. 

marisa, a south african transplant and recent acquaintance from the octr, showed up at 5am, ready to go.  we headed out, hopped our fences (oops, did i say that?) and ran into the darkness.  we spent the first hour and a half climbing through all sorts of fire road and single track in the pitch black and silence.  as we'd run past a trail intersection or high point, i would try to point out vague land masses to mark our progress or give some perspective as to where we were.  in the dark, much of this translated as "blah ridge line blah blah valley blah blah stream blah blah".  i tend to throw around trail names and terrain names, causing much confusion for folks who aren't map geeks like myself.

anyway, by 7:15, we had topped out at ridgepark in el moro at mile 12, hoping to see linda and some of her friends there, but we were greeted by a handful of hikers with astonished comments like "you're done already?" and a couple mountain bikers.  we gu'ed/granolla'ed/potato'ed up and then headed back into the park for the last leg of the run.

by this point, we had some sunlight and i was able to point out more of the surrounding terrain so that we could have a better perspective of where we had run.  we mixed up the return route and headed down a different way than we'd come in (mostly to throw the hounds off our trail).  with the early morning sun, we were treated to the amazing amount of green that is now covering the local countryside.  it's such a welcome change from the last few years.  it's definitely spring here, as virtually every blooming plant or tree is showing off it's colour.  mike, you'll be happy to know that all the sticky monkey flowers are in full bloom, too.

the total distance for the hush hush run ended up being 20.5 miles, my longest run, let alone on trails, since my work up for boston last year.  it felt great; the legs cooperated, the new sauccony trail shoes were a success and the pacing was perfect.  thanks for the company, marisa!