A few mornings ago I awoke at 2 AM and was stunned to find myself wide awake. Too awake. Maybe too much training. Maybe not enough. Strangely enough my wife answered when I whispered a morning hello and told her I was heading out for a run. She must have thought she was hearing things.

Soon after I found myself, I was heading down a local trail that rundowns the median of two local streets. The air was crisp, my iShuffle was firing away, and I had a big smile. I soon reached a part of the trail that has lots of covering. It was dark as it comes and with the iShuffle still firing away I freaked myself out. By turning the music down and running down the trail in small circles I made it out with my sanity.

Close to the turnaround I came across a poor bloke sleeping alongside the trail. All things considered it was dry and flat so I gave his sleeping form a big wave and kept it going. I have come to the conclusion the city waters a good portion of the trail to keep more people from turning the wild portions into tent city.

As I was finishing up and nearing mile 8, I realized the beauty of running alone on the trail in the early morning. The dirt and chips underneath my shoes had kept my thoughts off the reality of how I would feel at 3 PM that afternoon and how I would be searching for a napping place under my desk. What a morning. Try it some time. Go easy on the iPod volume, carry an id and or contact info, there is a lot less light out there as the Fall comes upon us. Next time I am going to listen for my footsteps and leave Steve Jobs’ designs in the car. We lost a friend last year while she was running – so let’s be safe. We all miss you Ash.

Matt Smart
outsideallday.com Contributor

Andy,

The ride this morning was awesome. I am loving the Trek 6700 SLR, thanks for the hand-me-down. It rides real well. I am not a big fan of full suspension bikes – I know, Mr. old school. So, the 6700 is awesome. I am not sure if it was the Fall weather this morning or my old age but I braked so often that I suffered from old man hands and wrists for awhile. The 7.28 loop in 53 minutes was awesome. Only a handful of people on the trail – amazing. Now I know why your crew loves OC. If we had a trail like that in our neighborhood we would have to charge a fee to battle overcrowding. People would workout in a single file line like a masters swim program. Gauging from your conditioning and frequent pauses to wait up for me – I am guessing you would have done the loop much faster, like 43 minutes. All good stuff. I am looking forward to Scott Tinley’s MTB tri on 9/29 (http://www.tricalifornia.com). Let’s see how we do.

In the spirit of prepping for 9/29 I headed back up Borrego to Mustard Road to Water Tank for a run. I was out for 1:10.09 and wondering when you were going to tell me about the Mountain Lions the County of Orange is so worried about. About halfway up Borrego I pass a poster size image of two MLs with words like ‘watch out’ written in 76 pt font. I will be open here and just hope no one laughs out loud: it freaked me out. Within a few steps I located a perfect rock to carry with me and I held it in my left hand for the entire run. My theory is that if I had an ML coming at me I would block with my right hand and go for the nose with my left. Hey, I am not joking here. Even after my shake-up I zoned out on opportunities at work. And just as I was finishing the run and solving all the issues at work I came across some real, live mountain lion food – a deer. So now I am all freaked out again. You have to understand. The only wildlife I have come across in LA are pigeons and seagulls – and the last wild animal was hit on the 405 in the 1950s. Mountain lions. Unbelievable. Coming off the trail I see a board the county uses to post trail info and I deposit the rock on the top for your use later. It would probably fit perfectly in the throat of a mountain lion.. look for it on you next ride. And then as I am calming down I see this half-page yellow sheet titled “entering mountain lion country” and guess what the first recommendation they make should you come in contact with an ML? DON’T RUN. What? Are you joking? What do they mean don’t run. I was going for a run. That was the only reason I was on the trail. So I come up on a mountain lion and they want me to start walking. That is crazy talk.

Alright, I am done – all of this to ask a question. Do you think relentlessly crumpling an empty Clif Bar wrapper in my freehand (remember, I am carrying that rock in the other hand) would help keep me from surprising an ML? Cause that is what I was doing this morning- from four corners to the parking lot. And if any one else can help shed some light. Please post a comment. Cause my guess is Andy will only be able to respond with deep laughter – and all at my cost. Mountain Lions in OC. Who knew?

Matt Smart
outsideallday.com Contributor