The Core

>unmotivated for the strength stuff.

That's how I am for cardio.  I just hate steady-state repetition.  Sprints though are enjoyable because I push my entire body to the limit.  I am not really built to be a fast person, but I have always admired speed and I love the sensation of moving like that.

>hill sprints

Wow, that would be challenging.  I live directly across a street from a track and turf field, so regular sprints are super convenient.

Ok last week 1 tennis 2 cycles. That was only 3/4 but with a key employee off, we are feeling it.

I guess I could count in a gentle circuit with my girls. then 4/4

Still not run.. stretching...

I'm at 3.5/4 or 4/4 already. Short sessions (2.5-3 mile runs and yesterday I did a short weight session in the morning and another short weight session at lunch).

But that's not why I'm checking in. This morning I went to run up to Sunset Bluff, only 1.4 miles (but about 500+ feet of gain, so...) and in the fresh snow I start seeing big cat tracks. I'm not in the least bit afraid of bears, but the big cats scare me. After a while, they disappear, and then I see another track, then a second going parallel, then a third going parallel. So either that one cat has a route and keeps cycling through that spot... or there was a meeting of three cats. Either way, I was definitely in cougar country. This is about 1/4 mile from the house as the crow flies.

It's an unsettling and primeval feeling to know that you are not the apex species in the woods, that you're in the territory of something that could and just might take you out without any trouble whatsoever.

Wow, scary. Do you carry anything form of protection when you run.  The thing that gets me about running in the woods is that cats love to chase things.  I once encountered a cougar at night.  I was when I was hanging out with some friends in a field (drinking beer) in my college days at UCSC.  The thing walked right past us in a open area, maybe 30 ft. away.  I've seen a bobcat at Yosemite and it was close, but the cougar was on a different level of intensity.  

Last July there was a cougar walking the streets of San Fransisco.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Mountain-lion-spotted-and-photographed-in-San-6373037.php
They are all over the state.

Wow, scary. Do you carry anything form of protection when you run.

Mostly just a loud and annoying voice. I sort of "woof" on the theory that the cougar will avoid me if it hears me coming, but if it happens across me from behind I'm probably dead before I can do anything with pepper spray.

Quick quiz: How many people have been killed in attacks by the following in Yosemite since the creation of the park?
 - bears
 - cougars
 - deer
 - rattlesnakes
 - attack trees

Last July there was a cougar walking the streets of San Fransisco.

Wow! I guess when we leave them no habitat without people, they'll start living with people... mountain lions feeling comfortable around people is not a good thing.

Really good for that night when I realized at 11p that I was about to miss an exercise day.

Not so good for falling asleep afterwards, but she is consistent these days. I think we're both coming down from peak pudge about a month ago.

Bears: 0
Mt Lions: 0
Rattlesnakes: 0 confirmed (2 possible, but other factors suggest at least one was a bee allergy)
Deer: 1
Trees: 25 (maybe more).

The animals that have killed the most people are, in order, people and horses.

So yes, I am scared of mountain lions, but not as scared as I am of driving to work every day.

Theresa is giving me a little more motivation for smaller, but more regular doses

- four times running
- .5 + 5. weight workouts

Really need to get back on the strength training thing... There might be a New Year's Resolution coming.