View Workout (Matthew Simonson)

Return to Log

Run w/ Jenn! And Mountain Lions! Maybe.

August 1, 2019 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
My trusty running companion and former Sidwell star Jenn Esch has betrayed me and Biersteker by moving back to the west coast. Our Tuesday morning running ritual is no more. Fortunately, I happen to be San Francisco staying with me lister on a one day layover en route to Hawaii so I figured what the heck, I can get up 6:30am before she has it be at her law firm and I have to catch my flight. We’re both a good ways south of the city so we decided to drive over to that big expanse of preserved wild land running down the middle of the Penninsula separating suburban cities like San Mateo from Half Moon Bay. Specifically we ran in the Pulgas Ridge Reserve on the edge of San Carlos. Yes, it was at an unearthly hour but my brain is still on eastern time.

At the start of the trail we passed a sign warning that we were entering mountain lion habitat. That seemed pretty exciting to me, so I kept a lookout for any stray kitties that looked unusually large. We encountered a deer at one point stopped ahead of us on the trail so we hoping in might attract a hungry puma but no such luck. At the top of the mountain (oh yeah, forgot to mentioned we were running up quite a ridge), we saw a chain link fence running along the highway and I wondered aloud which it was to protect us from panthers or if the panthers were trapped on our side. We saw a hawk and a hummingbird, but a notable lack of large carnivores.

The pace as always with Jenn was just about right for me and the conversation delightful. Definitely a fun run even if there were no pumas. At least, none that we saw....