Back from Berzerkely...

Back from a great trip to the West Coast. I went for a few days to check out some pizza ovens and to take a little break with Michael. I knew I was in Berkeley, because when we first got there and went for lunch, we were already talking about where else to eat. All the food was fantastic, from the multi course dinner at a friend's house, to the fancy night out, to tamales and fried chicken sandwiches. But wait, this is a running blog... the Berkeley hills were great too. I went for 6, 8 & 11 milers, all in shorts and all with at least 2 miles of hill climbing. And not rolling, gentle hills. The first day was up to the Lawrence Berkeley Hall of Science, with a 2 mile straight climb, just to see if I could do it. A few sections were quite steep. The next day was longer, and the hills a little more moderate, but still good climbs. Then on Monday I went for 11 miles up the fire trails. Most was rolling, but a couple of sections were very steep, with one about 1/2 mile long and a pure scramble to make it to the top. Thank God for the great coffee and carbo loading at The Cheeseboard. And now back to New Hampshire, wet and snowy. But still, the running is good. Had a nice time with Geraldine, Jeff, and Rudiger on Thursday night. But getting a little taste of running in shorts instead of leggings is a special kind of torture.