First run, post-Napa Valley heat sink 14-miler. Actually injured my right achilles on that run, though it seems ok now and so back on the road today...though truth be told, I couldn't actually see the roads:

Tule fog (pronounced /ˈtuːliː/) is a thick ground fog that settles in the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley areas of California's Great Central Valley. Tule fog forms during the late fall and winter (California's rainy season) after the first significant rainfall. The official time frame for tule fog to form is from November 1 to March 31. This phenomenon is named after the tule grass wetlands (tulares) of the Central Valley. Accidents caused by the tule fog are the leading cause of weather-related casualties in California.

(Thanks Wikipedia). The fog is otherworldly to run in. It's like running inside a cloud (well, I guess it IS running inside a cloud):

Tule fog is a low cloud, usually below 1,000 feet in altitude and can be seen from above by driving up into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada to the east or the Coast Ranges to the west. Above the cold, foggy layer, the air is typically warm, dry and clear. Once tule fog is formed, turbulent air is necessary to break through the temperature inversion layer. Daytime heating sometimes evaporates the fog in some areas, although the air remains chilly and hazy below the inversion and reforms right after sunset. Tule fog usually remains longer in the southern and eastern parts of the Central Valley because more winter storms affect the northern Central Valley.

(Thanks again Wikipedia) One is nearly invisible and oncoming things are also nearly invisible. It's a comforting feeling in a strange sort of way. Running through fields of crows...you hear them, they likely hear you, but they do not disperse until you are on top of them...but for a brief time, you are among them.

To the run...here's the thing. I've become a slave to GPS. I have had a love-hate relationship with my Garmin 305 over the last few years. After the run on Sat., it all went to hell. Plug it into the computer and I get the message "Your device is in a bad state." WTF?! It's like my Mac is a freaking psychologist and the Garmin has become a manic-depressive. Bad state?

Apparently it IS in a bad state. It no longer accesses satellites which effectively means I am wearing a $250 (it's cheaper now but that's not the point) stop watch. Except worse. Understand that Garmin GPS units for running are NOT sleek. They are NOT stylish. They are NOT in any sense of the word, "attractive." Rather, they look more like some ridiculously oversized gadget that showed up on "Lost in Space"...the 1960s TV series that prominently featured oversized gadgets that writers, prop designers, etc. thought would be de rigueuer equipment by, like, 1997. Sometimes when I wear it, I have an urge to speak into it and ask to be "Beamed up."

SO. No GPS means no distance. No GPS means no per mile pace. No GPS means freedom. Running like I've done most of my life. Just find a route and run. Time is what time is.

AND there IS google earth! So plot the route, get the distance and there you go. It's like slow-poke GPS. So the jpg is my run from today. WOW. Look at that elevation gain and loss. Wait. Nevermind. So today was 7.81 miles at 7:14 mpm. Who knew? With the Garmin, I would have gone 8. But isn't 7.81 more interesting?

I don't know but it is what it is. Like in 1980 when I first started running (hell with no watch). Or later when you just simply learned what your pace was. Guesstimated.

I'm sure I'll replace the Garmin. But for now, it's ok.

Out.