The Berry Falls Test

A few days after the Rio Resolution run, and I was feeling the results in my legs; stiff and not feeling like running. I tried a 2 mile easy jog to the beach and it turned into 1 mile. Thursday I did limp through 2 miles, but was not enjoying it much. Turns out the weekly long run for the SC Track Club was going to be one of my favorites; the 13 mile run out to Berry Creek Falls from the beach at Waddell Creek, on Sunday. Sunday came, 7:30am, and I did everything I could to pull the covers back over my head and tell myself not to go run. I was tired! But my kayak was still on the RAV4 roof from a delightful day on Elkhorn Slough with my visiting friend Maria the day before, and I thought I might enjoy kayaking up Waddell Creek a ways after the run. In the end, I did, at the last minute, yank myself out of bed and into my car, and met the gang outside Safeway on Mission St. 20 miles later, up the coast, we launched off. I didn't know whether I'd blow up in the first mile, or would loosen up and enjoy a nice long run through the redwoods and alders beside Waddell Creek. It turned out to be the latter, and the falls were extraordinary in the filtered morning light. Wish my Lumix were working so I could've captured the rainbows set off by the bouncing cascades lit by beams of sunlight against the dark rock.
I confess I was feeling pretty beat during the last 2 miles. But still, I was able to demo to Antoinette how engaging / disengaging the glutes, as I was getting good at doing, made a huge difference in my running speed. The story with a few pix is here.