That puzzling line from an e-mail my running partner Janet Bowman sent me a few days ago leaps to mind as we struggle up a trail pitched at the angle of a ski jump. Perspiration streams off my head like a hard rain as I gasp for air, even though we're moving at a pace that might be generously described as a determined shuffle. In fact, just minutes into a 9.5-mile trail run across Northern California's Golden Gate National Recreation Area, I'm wondering how many anaerobic-thresholds lie ahead. I'm here for an adventurous four-day, 42-mile run through Marin County, a place with a reputation for fearsome hills and arguably the country's best trail running. More than 500 miles of footpaths spiderweb through 40 federal, state, and county parks covering some 170,000 acres. The parks contain forests of towering redwoods, a coastline where elephant seals bellow on secluded beaches, and hills harboring Tule elk and half the bird species in North America.
via runnersworld.com
I *so* need to do this sometime. It sounds like amazing amounts of fun. (Having a subscription to Runners World can be dangerous, I'm thinking of signing up for this half marathon, because I saw the ad in the magazine...)