Run, Walk, Lift, Sleep

Sunday morning before most of the world was yet awake, I had a great 7-mile run out the Ohlone Greenway and back. This was after last week's big rain and before this week's, so the sky was clear. As soon as the sun peeked over the hill, the birds started in with their chirping and the fog rolled in just as if it wasn't October. I ran out almost to Stockton Street, stopping when I got to a set of three low-set bars that were saying to me, "Drop and give us 20!" So I did. Five push-ups on the lowest bar, five on the middle, and ten on the high. Puff, puff, I gotta tell ya.

That was my turnaround point, so I backtracked and made a stop at some low-rising parallel bars that I'd never noticed before.

The parallel-bar experience for me in the past has generally been fraught with terror (What if I get out in the middle and my arms give way? What if I lurch so hard I lurch right off the bars? ). But that's because the set I've used before is ver-r-r-ry tall, so tall that a minor miscue could turn major in a hurry. Thus my joy at seeing these low babies. I think for a few glorious moments there I must have looked a lot like He Kexin.

From the bars I ran home, stopping only to take a phone photo of some local fall color. Eat your heart out, New England.

Later in the day Z and I went on the first hike-aganza we've done for a while. Regular readers of this blog may remember some of our past excursions. A hike-aganza is a mini-minivacation--a couple of hours of walking/hiking followed by a picnic lunch. Z is the pathfinder and I'm the picnic-lunch maker, a division of labor that serves the ideal 'ganza model well.

This time we went to the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge, which covers an impressive number of acres at the eastern end of the Dumbarton Bridge. The day, which before dawn had been so clear, turned cloudy and breezy but not unpleasant. We did see some birds (the area is home to an incredible number of species) but mostly just enjoyed being out and breathing some fresh Bay air.

The out-of-date guidebook we had described the salt ponds in the refuge--salt ponds that were drained a few years ago in order to restore the wetlands. Yay! I remember not that long ago that those white blocks, the size of which was best comprehended from an airplane, blanketed a sizable portion of the south bay. Wonderful that they're gone.

In addition to birds, the refuge hosts quite a few native plants. I loved the look of this denuded California buckeye. A well-placed identifying sign let us know that the amount of foliage on this tree is directly linked to the amount of water it receives. Obviously this tree gave up on getting any H2O at some point before last week's deluge.

The "lift" part of this post came Monday morning, when I went to the gym and did my best Ahnold imitation. Nothing was left of me except a pale cloud of reduced energy--just enough to get me to work and back and then to activity number four: "sleep."

Ps. One more photo for you. I'd hate for you to miss seeing my favorite shoes. Tres stylish, I know.