Running away

Or rather, running to get away. I had a rather unproductive morning: aside from getting my apartment good-n-clean, I had a few errands that didn't get done by no fault of my own--the bank ordered the wrong checks, so I couldn't pick mine up, and the grocery store's digital photo printing station was broken so I couldn't make my pictures. So to de-stress and to work off all those extra calories from eating late, I decided to trail run. Not really knowing where I could go nearby, I figured I'd try a place that someone from work had suggested for hiking. O'Melveny Park had some steep trails, and in fact it wasn't quite ideal for running--though I spent a good 45 minutes running there--but did give me a spectacular view over the north part of the city, got me away from the noise of the freeway, and let me take some much-needed alone time. After sucking down an entire dromedary bag and half a Nalgene bottle, I went home feeling refreshed and well-exercised, though not overly-tired. And despite signs at the park warning of rattlesnakes and mountain lions, the most dangerous thing I encountered was some poison oak and some slippery rocks at stream crossings. This made me remember just how much I love running in nature.