Buck's Babble

I have never been to Shelter Cove.  I know it is isolated, the beginning or the end to different sections of the Lost Coast Trail.  Kings Range borders here and you drive through much of it gettting there.  So when I found a race there, I grabbed the opportunity to explore.  I woke up early and took off to the Whitethorn School 3rd Annual 5k/10k/fun run in Shelter Cove. Rain was steadily wetting the car but it wasn't downpour size.  A short 45 minute drive down the 101 found my exit and the beginning of a windy but absolutely gorgeous additional 45 minutes to Shelter Cove.  Having never been here, I left extra early and was rewarded with an empty road the whole way; not that there was going to be a huge crowd for the race, but it was a holiday weekend.  Several curves at the top of ridges revealed clouds above and a fog below sitting atop the trees like a blanket.  Beautiful country, mostly BLM run so it does have a good amount of farmland/grazing...

I titled this post running because that seems to be the latest activity to spring forth in my life.  I've always been a runner, and loved it.  Most of my running has been shorter runs associated with some sport I was in.  Never thought about running for distance until a friend turned me on to its wonderful powers of clearing the mind and soul.  So gathering some long-lost self-motivation, I set out to run. My first few runs weren't what I was looking for.  They felt good but my (hand-me-down) shoes needed replacement, my form was for short runs, I was more tired than I expected, and a little worried.  So the first thing my 'coach' recommended was start at the beginning, with the most important item: shoes.  I went to a Fleet-Feet in Sacramento and got custom fitted with some shoes, complete with fancy inserts. I ran my ass off after getting those shoes, logging almost 20 running miles in that first week.  The runs felt great, but was still worried...