The Gorges...

Today was just about the perfect day. First, it's Friday. And Fridays are test days for my students. This means I can get caught up on grading and writing more "To Do Lists" which always makes me happy. It also makes me happy to watch my students work quietly with looks of concern on their pinched little faces. I feel a little sorry for them when I really sit and watch them work, and it makes me forgive them for all the ways they wronged me throughout the week and it sort of makes me like them again. Also today, the weather got progressively worse as the hours ticked by--which in my world means it got better. To top it off, I met up with my new running buddy for a 5 miler through the Gorge, AKA: Mission Trails. As a result, another new running site is checked off my list!

It was cloudy and rainyish and cold but not windy (pretty much the opposite of the pictures seen here). We ran muddy trails beside recently refilled creeks, and under hundred year old trees with red and gold leaves (rare for SD), and had the misty Father Junipero Serra Trail all to ourselves. I don't often run trails because it can be scary running them alone (remember my Lake Poway experience). So I'm excited to have a new friend who will run them with me. I don't know many girls (I guess it's just the one, actually) who would run through the cold, rain, and slippery mud, after a long week at work, and find it as fun and refreshing as I do.

The Gorge is much larger than I expected. We ran the Oak Grove Loop, Visitors Center Loop and the Serra Trail, but that barely scratched the surface of what's available. I spied Mt. Fortuna--it's on my run list. Yikes! It is going to be paaainful when that run comes.


If you noticed that I titled this "The Gorges..." then you might be wondering what the other "gorge" is. The other gorge I experienced today, took place after I stopped at Trader Joe's on my way home from The Gorge. (How many times can I write gorge in one paragraph? Let's count!) I found delicious looking chewy ginger cookies and mochi ice cream balls. Since returning home, I've eaten over half the package of ginger cookies (SO GOOD) and half the mochi balls. I feel a little sick. And in case you're confused: that's the gorge I'm referring to... my own personal one.

I'm waiting for better picture-taking weather, then I'll post some good images of Florida Canyon and Mission Trails. (Better than these I found online.) Tomorrow's my longest long run yet...14 miles. I need to go bed. Immediately.

Keep on truckin' my peeps.