Thanksgiving Day, L invited me to run the next morning with his family a scenic
10-miler in Sanborn Park. It was one month shy of the anniversary of our 2018
Priest Rock trail run. It was very rare these days but, as before that run, I lost
sleep again.

After a white night, a chilly morning. I was wearing running shorts and a
long-sleeve shirt underneath the jeans and jacket but upon arriving at the trail
head decided to keep the outerwear on. It was a good choice.

L hurt his calf in an intense uphill drill two months ago and was only able to
slowly build up the mileage more recently. It has been hard on him since running
is his only pastime. That's where I think he should diversify. He does
strengthening exercises only for running. A political buff, he doesn't seem to
enjoy reading, writing, or even watching movies. Raising three sons must have
been very demanding of him and his wife, both first-gen immigrants.

Maybe because of the lack of sleep, I was groggy. I made mistakes when asked
"Did you bring your kitkat?" and "When are you guys going to move?" I heard
"kickass" and "why." They thought it was hilarious that I used kitkat to fuel my
runs.

The three brothers were tall, stocky, and good-mannered. Mario was in his last
college year. Sensitive, respectful, and more mature, he talked in a quiet
voice. Miguel was the most adventuous. The second kid, he could feel insecure
and bent on proving himself, against all risks (AAR). Mario ran regularly to 
keep fit and did a marathon before. Miguel told us he took a "crash course" and
was going to just gun it in his first ultra marathon. (The whole family had 
signed up a local 50k race during Christmas.)

I ran with S, the youngest and most gregarious, who completed the Bigfoot
200-mile race in Aug. At 240 lbs and deadlifting over 400 lbs, he was a big and
strong boy. In training, he said he wouldn't count the miles or worry about pace
or elevation but tally the hours. In one block, he ran and hiked eight hours
daily for four days in a row. That performance was out of reach for me but not 
unimaginable. The idea dovetailed nicely with what I learnt from the Pioneer
Spirit Website and my recent experience. S worried about Miguel's downhill
pounding might hurt him in the coming race and I offerred loaning him a pair of
my Xeros. It would be hard to heel-strike in the 5.5mm Z-Trek. They didn't take
it up, however ;-)

The Christmas 50k for L would be a training run before a 100k race in Texas in
January. He had egged me to join the former for a while. But so far I have 
declined. My excuse was that I needed to be able to visit Mission Peak at least
three times before my next ultra. I don't want to walk half the distance as I
did in the last one. I enjoy both road and trail running but not always the
races. I do want to improve but not in a hurry. No need to. I am healthy and
strong in body, mind and spirit. To be able to run is a gift and, as someone
pointed out, even a privilege above certain age and, therefore, I am thankful
for what I have got.

It was beautiful out there in the woods and the trail was much less rocky than
either QuickSilver or MissionPeak and covered with foliage. The vegetation had
drunk up the recent rains and left the trail dry. Both L and I had a great run.
L's calf did not hurt and, unlike the last time, I did not let him run away from
me toward the end.