Tag Archives: Running

1-2-3 Coyotes

by on 25. Mar, 2012 in Fred Coleman

An essential part of my routine is an early-morning run of 40-70 minutes almost every day. Last winter on such a run at about 0630 on McNell, not far from Reeves road, I noticed movement to my lower left and stopped to take a look. There appeared a tiny creature, about the size of a mouse, but with longer fur and a very short tail (a gerbil?). As I stood there trying to figure out what sort of creature this was, the little guy walked right up to me, stood about a foot from my toes, looked straight up, and seemed to be asking me to pick him up. We looked at each other for about 15-20 seconds before he turned and scampered away.

On another such morning a few days ago on Grand Avenue just west of the dip, a coyote crossed the road from left to right only 40 meters in front of me. This has happened often over the years so I thought little of it until, a few seconds later, a second coyote crossed at the same spot, now only 30 meters away and then, evenly spaced, a third just 20. In almost thirty years of running in the Ojai Valley I have seen hundreds of coyotes, but never three at the same time in such a well-ordered procession.

What a privilege and joy to live in a place where such events can occur.

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Giving Thanks on the Trails

by on 27. Nov, 2011 in Brian Pidduck

Early on Thanksgiving Day I participated in a 15k trail race in Topanga Canyon of the Santa Monica Mountains (part of a series of XTERRA trail races in Southern California). While jogging in place and attempting to stay warm prior to the event I was surprised to see a competitor stroll in to the starting area wearing Thacher sweatpants – it turned out to be Liz Mahoney, fellow faculty member and avid runner and triathlete. What a pleasant surprise! It was fun to talk about how our individual families were preparing for Thanksgiving and how we each had snuck out of our houses early in the morning to avoid waking anybody.

The course was fantastic: steep climbs with tremendous views of the San Fernando Valley and precipitous drops and switchbacks on highly adventurous singe-track (reminiscent of the trail to Twin Peaks above Thacher!). The best part of the event, however, was simply being out on the trails with like-minded runners and giving thanks in our own unique way. Even though I was in the Santa Monica Mountains, I felt distinctly thankful for the natural environment that surrounds where we live and teach at Thacher, not to mention all of the hard work that goes into maintaining the trails that allow us to enjoy it. In short, Thacher is located in a beautiful and inspiring landscape and for that I am deeply thankful.

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East of Santa Barbara

by on 09. Nov, 2011 in Fred Coleman

Returning from Midland, as late afternoon light faded to darkness, some of the boys and I, sitting toward the front of the bus, were talking quietly about our successes at the league championships, where both teams won. As we wound down the mountain from Lake Cachuma, Chevy mentioned that a friend of his had improved dramatically over the summer on training that emphasized speed over distance. As we played with this idea, Andrew suggested harder and faster training during the summer would be productive. Daniel thought that we should build more intensity into our running next fall. Having listened quietly to the conversation, I responded that we could probably do some more speed work during the summer months and start speed training two or three weeks sooner next year. As the talk continued in this vein, somewhere east of Santa Barbara I had the thought that this is exactly the conversation I want to hear at this late stage of a demanding cross country season. These boys want more — more speed, more distance, more running. Their love of the sport is vibrant and fresh and that is exactly what I want.

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