Cool training at the Olmstead Loop

This morning I hit the Olmstead Loop in Cool with two of my much faster co-workers, Rick Santos and Brian Miller. We were going to do the full 9 mile loop, but about 100 yards into the run, we came across a quagmire. Since you expect to get a little dirty on a trail run, we went to where the driest path seemed to go, which cut off about 2.5 miles of the run. Though I was a little bummed not to get the whole run in, it was still challenging. I really need to work on some hills, so I will be back out there soon. Since we finished earlier than I had anticipated, we decided to head over to the Auburn Running Company which should be a required stop for any endurance runner in Northern California. ARC is a relatively small shop in the downtown part of Auburn and on the way there we saw a runner on the side of the road who looked a lot like Tim Tweitmeyer, as we got closer we saw it was the King of the Western States out for a Saturday morning run. Seeing as how I had two potential future Western States competitors in my car, I told them that this had to be a sign from the Ultra Gods. The store has the perpetual trophy for the Western States Champions, so just looking at all the names on there was pretty damn cool. They had a good number of copies of Ultra Running Magazine and I noticed that Scott Jurek had signed the cover photos of all the September issues, an added touch you wouldn't probably get at our neighborhood shoe store, unless you live in Seattle. At any rate, the guys in the shop were great and if you are ever in Auburn, they have things that you would typically have to order online, just a great one stop resource for the ultra runner (or aspiring ultra runner!) in your life.

Since I didn't get in near the amount of miles I was hoping to, I am going to hit the bike trail tomorrow with my 8 year old son. These runs are always an adventure since my son (like all 8 year old boys?) can't go 50 yards without asking a question or making an observation. I have repeatedly told him that it's easier for him to ride then for me to run, so daddy can only answer the occasional question. As much as it makes my recovery runs challenging, I honestly wouldn't trade it for anything. My little guy gets so excited when I ask him if he would like to join me, it makes me feel that I am sharing my love for running and the outdoors, which I hope counter balances some of the less savory male habits I have passed along. Time to get some rest.