May 31

AM: 7 miles moderate

PM: 7 miles easy

I headed into the hills again in the morning, looking for a trail I'd seen in the area on a map. What I found was a brutal mile-long hill climbing the Claremont Canyon trail. I felt at some points like I was scaling a ski slope, a vertical wall at others (see the photo above), and I fought hard to keep a running rather than hiking stride. To my good fortune, the trail hooked up with the Berkeley fire trail on the other side of the ridge, so I was able to cruise down that and make my way home pretty easily.

A side also greeted me on the way up with warnings of mountain lions and rattlesnakes in the area. Good times. Foxes and turkeys are cool; cougars and venomous snakes not so much. (Insert cougar joke here)

I made my first Giants game during the afternoon. I shook off a beer and a BLT well enough to head out again and do some more exploring. Near the trailhead where my morning's adventure took place, I found an old school dirt track that's open to the public (I have yet to figure out whether that's the case at the Cal track).

May 30 (84 miles/week)

AM: 11 miles easy

Easy out-and-back along the Ohlone Greenway trail, which I will happily note is flat. I desperately needed to find some flat places to run if I'm ever going to recover once I put workouts seriously back into my schedule, as I plan to do this week. I spent the rest of the day hiking around San Francisco with my sister and brother in-law.

It wasn't a bad week of running given that it included two very light days. All I have to do is turn both of those days into longer easy runs and lengthen the long run, and it's not going to be too tough to get my mileage back over 100/week...but that's not where I plan to stop this summer.

May 29

AM: 17+ miles moderate

I again ran to Berkeley and found my way to the Fire Trail. There's one particularly brutal 200m connector trail that may be a 30% grade less than a mile into the unpaved section that makes this run particularly interesting.

I finally made it to the end before entering and exploring a little bit of Tilden Park, which has far more trails than I could cover in one run (miles and miles of trails like the photo above). I have a feeling that this is going to be my go-to long run this summer in CA. I ran for 2:06, but conservatively calling this 17.

May 28

AM: 5 miles easy

Easy morning run through Berkeley and campus. The last couple of days have rocked my legs.

May 27

AM: 7 miles easy

PM: 11 miles easy, hills

I took the morning run very easy, stopping at points to take photos of my new digs for the next two months. At one point, I found myself chasing two wild turkeys on the hills above campus. One of them was evidently trying to find some action because he was making a ton of noise and calls.

After work, I again ventured up the Fire Trail. It keeps going and going and going. According to MapMyRun, I gained at least 1,000 feet. I also spotted a Red Fox, who quickly sprinted ahead of me on the trail, right at sunset. After 45 minutes out, I had to turn around and found a short cut home through the European-style homes and streets that hug the hillsides in Oakland/Berkeley. Robert Tepper had it wrong: sometimes there is an easy way out and a short cut home.

The gauntlet has been thrown down for building a summer base. With temperatures never really getting warmer than the 70s or cooler than the high 40s, the massive hills, and enough trails that I could run a different one every day, I have a feeling that I'm going to get pretty strong living out here.

May 26

AM: 6 miles easy

PM: 10 miles easy, hills

I took a quick tour of Berkeley (both the town and the school) before heading into the city for work. After work, I found my way to the Fire Trail: a long, meandering path up the Berkeley hills. It included some pretty daunting climbs through and above Strawberry Canyon.

May 25

AM: 5 miles easy

Easy shake-out run before flying to San Francisco.