Dealing with Corona Virus

I was surprised, as always, by how easy the act of leaving was, and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich with possibility. -Jack Kerouac-

I saw a great viral post today on FB about how we are all not in the same boat but we are in the same storm.  Let me tell you about my boat.  I have seen enough in the news to be terrified of this latest version of the Corona Virus - Covid 19.  Doctors and nurses dying while treating myriad cases of patients with serious pneumonia is enough for me to want to keep my body and its asthma history at home.  Knowing that the virus has now become a top killer in our country has to get one's attention.  Otherwise, I can't complain.


My line of work is directly tied to the massive governmental relief operation, so I am fairly certain I'll have a job.  Our grocery store is struggling with inventory, but my family has found a way to stock not only food but fresh produce (and toilet paper).  We've used a number of restaurant supply options and brought home entire boxes of avocados, bunches and bunches of bananas, asparagus, broccoli, yams, and other produce.  So, we are doing relatively well compared to folks in Texas who line up in cars for blocks and blocks awaiting food distribution, or the 20 million folks who've had to file for unemployment.


And I'm doing well in exercise too.  Freed up from the daily commute, I've picked up about two extra hours in each day.  I've been using this to log 20+ miles per week in trail runs, some track work, and jogs on my favorite local footpath.  I've also made sure to go for walks even on my non-running days.  I'm slowly working my way into better shape, but it gets harder with each passing year to recover from months of sloppiness.


My Corona Virus passage is not unique.  I'm in a boat that is skipping across the biggest waves but has a defect that may, at some point, cause it to sink.  Not taking on water, but still subject to peril.  It is unnerving to think about things like whether a will is updated, or whether my wife would have a copy of the password to my IRA.  We're managing, but we have to be vigilant.  This is our current lot.

Even in this moment of "social distancing" and shelter-in-place, we still have freedom if we choose to find it.  Mary and I bolt for the doors and walk a quick 1-2 miles during our lunch breaks during the week.  This merely holds serve and keeps us at something like the level of activity we would normally have.  We don't want to be those folks in the FB memes who talk of gluttony, substance abuse, and obesity as being a natural reaction to our current constraints.  We want to get out, stretch our legs and expand our limited horizons.  We strive to make the most of this trying time.


So, I've been hitting the trails.  King Canyon loop is probably getting sick of me.  This stretch of East Bay Municipal Utilities District land has felt the soles of my shoes for years now.  Beautiful spring wildflowers, turkeys, deer, coyotes, and other fauna are my familiar friends.  But I'm not sure if they are getting used to the other folks coming through in this time of shelter-in-place.  The trailhead parking lots were so crowded that they were closed off, folks still line the nearby streets and walk to gain access to these open spaces.  I used to pass 4 or 5 people in a run, now I pass 4 or 5 people every ten minutes.  It is good to see them out there, and I wonder how much time these same people would be spending in the outdoors if nature was more of a priority in their lives. 


I got a new pair of New Balance trail running shoes and I love them.  They have Vibram soles and felt dreamy in their maiden voyage, a 9 mile run through the Redwood Regional Park.  My biggest complaint was that the soles had such good traction that I actually think they caused more right patellar strain on the downhill runs because they stuck so good in the dirt.  I think my legs were used to a little slippage.

Yeah, that right knee has always been a little more sensitive than the left knee, but here's to hoping it will keep me moving for a few more years before I have to settle for yoga or swimming.  I plan to keep motrin' along until it gives out on me.


Today, Mary and I explored a trail that runs on private ranchland above our house.  The hill has looked down on us for 7 years and we've never thought of challenging it.  Our boys have made the hardscrabble climb up the steep landslide scarred slope that faces their middle school.  They call it the "flag hill" because the rancher used to keep an American flag up there.  But there is a long trail that runs the whole ridgeline to nearby Orinda and has great views in most all directions.  Today, Mt. Diablo was in full view and we could actually see across the great Central Valley of California all the way to the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The trail was lined with California poppy and other wildflowers.  A bottle of wine and some beet salad made for a great lunch.  The desert was rock hopping with my 10 year old daughter.


So, I'm sweating off a couple pounds, trying hard to keep a diet that is somewhat close to vegan, and enjoying springtime in Northern California.  Feeling about as unnerved as one can be as one who "can't complain."  I want to say "this too shall pass" but that is the unnerving thing, will it?  I hope.

Lafayette Reservoir Upper Loop

Super Bowl Sunday, the greatest game on earth, the championship of the planet, and the best place to get your yearly dose of unbridled commercialism all in one sitting.

Or, don't sit!  After dropping my boys off for their Super Bowl parties, the girls and I went for a hike on the Lafayette Reservoir's upper trail loop.  "Its only about 4 miles," Mary had told me, "We'll surely be back in time to catch the second half."  I figured that she knew what she was talking about, and didn't bother to question her sources and methods.  I just put the girls in the car and we hit the trail.

We unloaded at the trailhead near Campolindo High School.  It was just before 4 p.m. and the sun loomed high in the sky.  After crossing through the gate, we headed left on the trail and began an immediate steep climb on the fire road/trail that circumvents the Lafayette Reservoir from the hills surrounding it.  It was challenging for an 8 and 10 year old.  But we have now taken the girls on enough of these hikes, so they understand that climbing up hills is no longer an opportunity to negotiate. Just about the time my leg muscles began to ache, the top was in sight.

And then it wasn't.  This trail is full of false peaks, those little baby hills that obscure the greater climb to a higher summit beyond.  I have seen enough of these in my journeys to know better, but such hills can be a psychological nuisance to young hikers.  With one foot in front of the other the girls figured out a way to make it work.  We made to the top in 10 minutes or so and located the bench for a quick rest.

Without having consulted my GPS, I think this hill was the highest on the trail. It offered sweeping views to the east and south.  I could see Mt. Diablo and Las Trampas in the distance.  The hill sits atop an open space that is like a nest carved out in the middle of suburban sprawl.  The Reservoir sits at the bottom of this bowl shaped open space.  It was still very much in the distance from our first perch.

And then there was a second hilltop, and a third.  This hike is a mess of ups and downs.  It could be a metaphor for life, or perhaps for bipolar disorder.  There is very little flat and a whole lot of steep.  It is really one of the best trails I have seen for interval training (even better than the Kings Canyon Loop).  Like the switchbacks on the return run at Kings Canyon, they are almost the perfect size hills, just big enough to exhaust you, then flat on top for recovery, then a good downhill to work the hamstrings.  I would recommend this trail to any area runners or people looking to get in shape for long hikes.

Somewhere in those hills we lost track of time.  More accurately, I would say that we were falling behind schedule.  You see, the hike isn't really 4 miles, it was more like 5 (+??), and we were only a couple miles into it and the shadows were getting longer.  I should have know this because I have done this hike before!  But it has been some time, and I have hiked a lot of trails.  Coming off travel to Sacramento I did not do my usual map check and mission planning.  I had been a bad boy scout.

We dropped down to the dam, a ceremonial halfway mark.  We were greeted by five dead trout at a fish cleaning station, and the proud fisherman/daughter pair who had hauled them in.  I observed that the fish were all of similar shape, about 14 inches long.  This prompted my inquiry as to whether they were recently stocked.  The fisherman replied yes, he been nailing them all day with power baits and had a great Super Bowl feast ahead.  I resolved to get my girls out there when the opportunity presents itself.  Crossing over the dam we observed pelicans out on the water and in the sky.  Inga thought she saw a whale, but it was just ducks.

As the sun hung real low in the sky we stopped briefly at a kid's playground on the far side of the dam.  The apparatus was an attractive nuisance and the girls didn't want to leave, but we had miles to go.  We then began our ascent in earnest.  Somewhere halfway up the first big hill out of the reservoir, we heard an owl and Mary thinks she saw it take off and fly away through the oaks.  Nearing the ridgeline again, the girls started verbally expressing their fatigue.  Inga wanted to be carried and I agreed to do so briefly.  Of course, this only prompted Fiona to chime in and she's getting big enough that I can't rightly carry her very far down the trail.  As darkness began to set in we stopped for a few opportune silhouette photos.  The stars opened up in the night sky.

We finally made it back to the car after dusk.  We had no flashlight but the waning moon gave us enough light to see the shiny reflection of our car, now the only one left at the trail head in front of someone's driveway.  Arriving home just in time to catch the last quarter of the Super Bowl was just right.  Not a waste of a whole day, but also catching the key moments in the exciting end to the game.  Eagles Won - Markeys Too!

King's Canyon Loop

I set out on a 19 mile trail run on Monday.  A desperate last effort to attain fitness prior to my marathon this weekend.  The hills in the Bay Area are no country for old men, but this slightly overweight 40-something year old has to try and beat the clock.  I have to be fit come Sunday, in spite of a vacation, a work trip, and a foot laceration which completely screwed up the training schedule I concocted 5 months ago.

I started with the Kings Canyon Loop trail on East Bay Municipal Utilities District land.  This path follows fire and maintenance roads, with occasional jaunts on single-track connectors.  I think it is about 6 miles round-trip from the Val Vista staging area.  I run the trail frequently.  I find it to be an enjoyable run for someone trying to get outdoors and interval train.  Taking on the loop in a clockwise direction from Val Vista a runner is greeted with an impressive 500 ft. climb over .6 miles. It gets so steep near the top that you aren't really running even if you are keeping your feet off the ground with each stride.  Despite some persistent patches of mud I have observed over the past month that the trail is generally starting to dry out.  It was a great day to try out some new trail running shoes.  They were a necessary purchase following an embarrassing mud slide during a Brazen Racing half-marathon a few weeks earlier.

In truth, there is no way that one last long run 6 days prior to a big race will make me any more fit.  It is more likely that I will be fatiguing my muscles to an extent that they will not be fully repaired come Sunday.  But psychologically my lack of a good "big run" compels me to hit the trail.  Never mind the fact that excess weight has been harder to shed this training cycle (must be something about getting older).  Every calorie burned and not re-consumed over the next 6 days has to help my effort.  At least I keep telling myself that.

The run starts out great.  I pass a couple beautiful people in Western gear on a primitive car bridge.  They were posing before a photographer, who patiently waited as I strode past.  I wanted to say to the man in the group "Hey, Tex, where did you park your horse?"

While I don't suspect he had a horse, I did run into a herd of them only about a mile later.  That is more like it.  I was getting into that pastoral setting that I settle for as a cheap substitute for wilderness in the Bay Area.

Having already run a couple miles to get here, my quads had loosened up and my body was primed for the attack.  I hit that initial climb with as much effort as I could muster.  Climbing is the hardest part about trail running for me and it is also the most enjoyable part.  Engaging in big climbs on alternating soft and hard soil makes it difficult for one's brain to get into a rhythm.  Outside of my comfort zone the entire time, I kept stepping up until my legs burned and my chest panted. When beads of sweated started flying off of my forehead and onto the inside of my sunglasses, I knew I was "earning it."

And then it got more relaxing.  The wind blew harder up near the top of the hill; the Bay's air conditioning system was in full effect.  I rounded the crest and began a long mile with expansive views to the east.  I stared at Rocky Ridge, surprisingly only a few miles away from my location.  All the grass was green and it was hard to visualize how in a few short weeks everything would look less like Irish pastures and more like Kansas wheat fields just before harvest. I started my descent and came around to the reservoir.

The best part of this run is the home stretch.  There is no one big up, but rather a series of undulating switchbacks offering the perfect interval training course for folks trying to augment their cardio.  Still a little muddy, this part of the trail is tucked into a forest of oaks and bay laurels.  It offered a generally well graded route back to the parking area.  Over the course of a couple miles I passed contractors associated with a brush and tree clearing operation.  They were taking a lunch break and likely wondering what the hell I was doing out there on a Monday.  I said "Hi" and ran a little bit faster, not sure why I was trying to impress anyone.

I arrived back and Val Vista and realized that I had only passed two hikers, in addition to the other characters I mentioned.  It was a nice little getaway.  My run would continue on for 10 more miles but I enjoyed this part the most.