Joe Arrives from Colorado for a “Runcation”!

Before Joe arrived we had a new addition to our animal family, Sam the kitten. He adjusted quickly and even held his own while transitioning from a kennel in the house to the garage with our other indoor - catio cats. 

When I picked Joe up in Sacramento we literally hit the road running. We drove to West Sacramento and ran along the river and then went to In N Out for a welcome back to California lunch. After lunch we drove to the Cosumnes River Preserve and did our second run of the day. We needed both runs after eating In N Out and then El Rosal for dinner. 

The next morning we headed to Lake Chabot. Because we were staying in that area before our race the next day. We didn’t have a plan other than hiking/running at the lake. We parked right next to a sign for the trail around the lake that was 9 miles. We said, “why not” and actually ran the majority of it despite three races in the next two days. It was a beautiful day and a nice trail. 

After staying in Castro Valley that night we ran the Brazen Rocky Ridge Race the next morning. I did the 5K and Joe did the 10. The advertise it as their most challenging course and they won’t get an argument from me. It had a hill that was to steep to run up and hard to run down and it was a long one. I won my age group but still ran the slowest 5K I’ve ever run. 

After the race we drove to Monterey where we were staying the night before doing the Pacific Grove Double the next day. I was doing the 5K/3K while Joe was doing the 10/5. After a hotel snafu that we got straightened out we had a good night before our Sunday races. 

Pacific Grove was beautiful with comfortable temperatures and no wind. 

We were also celebrating the end of the Run the World Challenge that Bob Anderson, founder of Runners World and Double Road Racing organized. Joe and I were both involved and it definitely was motivating our increased running volume. 

After the race we headed back to the Valley where we had a final run on Monday at the San Joaquin Wildlife Refuge. It was a nice place for the final run on this particular Runcation other than the mosquitoes eating us alive. 

Donna and I took Joe to the Dust Bowl Brewery in Turlock and I drove Joe to Sacramento the next day for his flight home. It was a good time with a lot of running.