I visited the doctor Thursday and was happy that I didn’t have pneumonia. And, he informed me that my bronchitis could be treated with antibiotics. I happily took my prescription for only 8 pills to the pharmacy. Then I chocked at the $140 bill -- that’s with insurance. Mighty expensive pill -- $17.50 a piece. I guess my doctor took me very seriously when I said I WANNA RUN! These are some strong antibiotics. One dose knocked back my cough tremendously and put those body aches to bed.
And so, even though I still coughed this morning, when my husband said that he had a meeting in Laguna Beach and asked if I’d like him to drop me off at Top of the World. I didn’t think twice.
Heck Yes!
I’m not completely well. I feel a whole lot better. And with the cost of those pills, I felt protected. LOL.
I’ve never begun my run at Top of the World. I looked forward to the change and the downhill start. The skies were blue, the breeze cool. And I was smiling. I didn’t see many runners. But I saw a total of 3 snakes. The first snake was a garter snake in Wood Canyon. The second snake was a rattler also on Wood Canyon Trail – it slithered so quickly across the road that it practically flipped across the trail. I raced up to it, but only caught a picture of its tail end as it slithered into the brush. The third snake was also a rattler. This one was on West Ridge on my run back up. Again, I only caught its tail end as it left the trail.
As I raced up to the first rattler, I caught up with a shirtless man I’ve seen at Aliso/Wood Canyons time and time again (it seems for years!). He’s pretty much always there putting in countless miles on the trails. Today, we had a nice long conversation together (maybe 1 whole mile’s worth) and I learned he is an MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter training for a Vegas fight Memorial Day weekend. I’m looking forward to watching him on Spike T.V. (You wouldn’t believe what the purse is if I told you – I was absolutely amazed to learn). He goes by the name ARod (like the baseball player) and he’s sure got stamina. I don’t know though how stamina helps your body to take a beating like those “ultimate fighters” do. But wait, why did I put that in the negative? The stamina I’m sure, helps you to keep on pounding your opponent even when your dead-dog-tired.
It’s not like me to strike up long conversations with a “stranger” on the trail. (I do however, strike up long conversations with riders on a bus : ) But Arod’s not really a stranger, and I was just so happy to be out there running trails again – I wanted to know why everyone was out there. Most of the other people that I saw today were mountain bikers, which of course are difficult to strike up conversations with (since they’re usually travelling faster than me) – still I spoke with a few (and they probably thought who is that crazy, giddy lady?)
Today’s Elevation Profile:
One Picture From Each Of The Trails I Ran Today:
Mathis Trail
Miles logged today, my first day back after the 100 Mile Week: 7.55
I could sit in this Cave (Dripping Cave AKA Robber’s Cave) all day long.
Enjoy your run!