Misty Mornings at Walnut Creek

I had the day off today, so I slept in and then headed over to Walnut Creek around 8am for a nice recovery run. It was wonderful to just run without any race to train for or any goal in mind (Cactus is too far in the future to worry about yet). This coming Wednesday I'm hosting a "trail 101" run for some road runners as part of our work's fitness and wellness program, so I primarily wanted to map out a 5 mile route.

The rain from the weekend has had an amazing effect. There was water running in the creek, all of nature seemed to be alive and everything was right with the world. As I ran through the woods, beams of sunlight shone through the trees, spotlighting the path ahead of me. The temperature was in the 40s, and as I came across the dam the last of the early morning mists were lifting and it was just beautiful. I stopped for a moment to breathe it all in. The log loop was wonderfully peaceful, and I headed up powerline and then diverted down to the shady springs trail and took one of the alternative creek crossings. I splashed across the creek, enjoying the feeling of the cold water and headed back along the ridge to the parking lot. It was one of those runs that left me refreshed and invigorated. I ran super slow, and took many walk breaks to just enjoy a glorious spring morning. The 5 miles took me just over an hour.

As I have the day off, I'm going to make a nice supper. I picked up some jumbo shrimp which I shelled this afternoon, and I'm going to saute them in butter with shallots, garlic, lemon juice and a sprinkle of herbs. Paired with some white rice and a side salad it should make a simple but very delicious meal. Yummy - good times.