Week 2, 2013: Back in the game!

sun + trail = happiness

Ok, looks like running season is back :). Still fairly cold so I started off with three threadmill runs during the week. But then on the weekend I decided to try to hit the trails again -- thanks heaven for that! :).

First on Saturday I went to the nearby Pearson-Arastradero Preserve. Unfortunately I was taking my time leaving, so by the time I started running it was almost 4pm! Originally I was planning to do 20k, but after less than 15 it was getting cold, it was getting dark and I pretty much did all the trails that the park had to offer. So I called it a day and decided to try to be more efficient on the following day. As far as trail running around here goes, it wasn't a particularly interesting run, but boy oh boy, did it feel good to be back on the trails!!! :)))

On Sunday I decided to hit the Black Mountain, where I hiked back in November. Running quickly turned into walking; I guess I forgot how steep this path was!

Playing with the sphere photos feature.
Playing with the front-facing camera.

Still, getting to the top felt great and, with clear weather, it offered spectacular views on the whole Bay area. I hope I managed to at least partially capture it in the photos I took.

By the way I got myself a new Nexus 4 recently and I'm playing with its photo taking capabilities. It's certainly much more handy that to haul around a bulky camera. Of course it's optics are no match for a "proper" camera and it shows especially with sub-optimal light conditions.

But what it lacks in optics (understandably so), it makes up for in software. I was playing around with its panorama and photo sphere features and you can see the results around in this post. I like them. Especially for the sphere photo it's much better to click through it and see it properly in Google+, as the static version looks interesting, but rather in an out-of-the-world version.

All in all a very solid week and I hope to continue this trend, although next week will be challenging as I'm spending 3-day long weekend in Vegas (Vegas and running? Hmmm, I'm not sure ;). But the weekend after that I'm hoping to race 50k in the Steep Ravine race (pretty much the same location as Coyote Ridge), so not much time to get back in shape.

At the top of the Black Mountain.

(See more photos from: Pearson - Arastradero Preserve, Black Mountain).

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