With two weeks now between me and my MMTR experience, I ventured back out onto trails for a mid-day 10+ mile run. And it was great!

My ankles are still a bit wobbly, but all in all the rest seems to have added up and I managed a decent clip running around Santa Teresa Park. It just felt right again - the smells and sounds, nothing like Virginia.

I really found my groove running down the Rocky Ridge trail, a slightly downhill section that gets more and more technical as it goes along. Hopping over rocks and ruts in the ground, I found the trough at the end of the trail, climbed out of it and rolled on to the Fortini trail, which features a number of switchbacks that ascend the hills on the south side of the park. It was here where I dropped a pair of mountain bikers, which I always enjoy. By the time I hit the top of the hills, they were at least 400m behind me. Hey, I'm not the one who decided to lug pounds of metal around with me! On foot is the way to go.

Unfortunately, the rains had shut down a little connector trail and I had to finish the last two miles or so of my run on surface streets. But no matter.

Originally, I had planned to shut it down for the year, but I am now eyeing the Woodside 50K in two weeks. I thought it would be a pretty low-key event right before Christmas, but the word is out about that course. It is spectacular, and looks like it is going to completely sell out. I'll see how I feel tonight and decide then whether I want to do another ultra in 2009 or not.