Roads or Trails?

Happy Fourth of July! (Text color honors the holiday. I'm no jingoist, but this is my country, and most days I'm mighty glad it is.)

Of the last three runs I've done, two have been in the East Bay regional parks I can get to easily from my house. The camera photo above is from Tilden, taken on a day when the fog was roiling in and the wind was howling. "Roiling" is not a typo. Ah, summer in the Bay Area! I did eight hilly miles on Nimitz Way. In the days that followed, my gimpy knee let me know it wasn't pleased. I ignored it, seeing as how the rest of my body liked that run a lot fog and hills and all.

Then today I did about four miles on the East Ridge trail in Redwood park with my friend R. Four easy miles (yes a few hills included), and my knee doesn't seem as outraged as it did after the Tilden run. The runner's rule for treating injuries is RICE (not the grain, silly--but Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation). I'm good about doing the ice part, but usually conveniently forget to apply the other three components. Yesterday, however, I dug up an old Ace bandage and wrapped my knee. Yep, compression. It seems to have done a lot of good, so I'll continue doing it for a while. Elevation might be helpful, too. Rest? Hmmm. Doesn't seven and a half hours of sleep fulfill that part?

Anyway, about the title of this post. I've been considering doing the San Francisco Half Marathon, which is Aug. 3. That's soon, very soon. But I'm second guessing myself, thinking I might rather just do some long trail runs and forego the early waking, the ruthless pounding, the jostling crowds of street racing. Then comes the thought--am I really looking for a more serene running experience, or am I just a wimp?
This is the second photo I took while I was on the Tilden run. This is the view from the point where I turned around. The picture doesn't really show how the coastal hills roll off into the distance or how the grasses and the trees and the birds (and the cows!) flourish and thrive in their quiet and wild way.

And yet. On my urban run yesterday, I was a block from being back at my house when I spied what I'm pretty sure was a peregrine falcon on a telephone wire. What a thrill! I've never seen one while out on the trails.

I thought if I wrote about this running venue uncertainty that a resolution might emerge for me as I pondered. But it hasn't happened. I don't think I'll know if I'm running (or not running) the SF Half for a few more days at least. I'll let you know.

Bonus photo, not at all predictable from any of the above content. This is a kitty who visited yesterday. She was so sweet I took her photo. Sweet? I actually think she looks a bit scary, but I think she was just feeling shy. Also called a shy feline.

She brings the number of puddy-tats who think our house is the cat's meow to four. Funny how much I like them, and me a dog person.

Have a happy Fourth, y'all.