I went for another evening run today. I find it very difficult, strenuous to run in the afternoon or evening. And this evening it was hot. I wore minimalist shoes which are still so extremely comfortable. It’s not actually like I’m running barefoot. But it’s like I’m not wearing shoes (and my neuroma knows it too! I came in from today’s run limping.)
As I ran Coyote Run Trail, I saw something dark to my side run and leap through the brush. I thought “Oh crap,” because I feared I was running alongside an extra active bobcat. I’m not usually fearful of bobcats. But I usually see them in the morning when they are a bit lackadaisical. So, I abruptly stopped in the single-track trail. Not ten feet away stood a wide-eyed deer chewing on a wad of grass. A few feet from her another deer bent down to chomp the vegetation. My presence didn’t phase these beauties a bit. As I ran onward, I saw the third deer, the smallest one, the one that had been leaping through the grass when it spooked me.
Off Coyote Run Trail I ran the last remaining trail at Aliso/Wood Canyons Park that I had not yet run. I put off Nature Loop Trail because it seemed that every time I ran past it, time was fleeting. I finally took that right turn and climbed up to the ridgeline trail, and as of this evening, I have conquered every single marked trail in these canyons.
Who would have thought? And I had lots and lots of fun doing it (not to mention some disappointments, some falls and injuries), but mostly an awesome time.
View from Nature Loop Trail
A pause before coming off Nature Loop Trail
The Trail 
Miles run today: 5.13 (The loop: Canyon Vistas Park, Wood Canyon to Wood Creek Trail, back to Wood Canyon Trail, Coyote Run Trail, Nature Loop Trail, Mathis Trail, Wood Canyon Trail back to Canyon Vistas Park)