The Urban Runner

In between bouts of eating some Very Good Vegan Food in Los Angeles, I have also managed to squeeze in a run. Yesterday morning, before I lifted any forks, I put on my running shoes and headed out into the streets of the San Fernando Valley, just a few blocks north of Ventura Blvd. I enjoyed what I never enjoyed when I lived in Los Angeles - getting up early and exercising. I noticed what I never noticed before -- that there are precious few peopleout and about in the early morning and it's like having the teeming city to yourself. And despite never being more than a half-mile away from the always busy and noisy Ventura Freeway, you can hear birds call. I've taken to running without an iPod, so I can hear the birds (and hear the cars as they come barreling up from behind).

And so, I first heard a familiar call, but didn't quite believe that it was what I thought it was. And then I saw heard the call again and located the bird -- 'twas the black phoebe, aka the 'tuxedo bird,' so called because of its distinctive black and white coloring. This bird was just about the very first bird I learned when I moved to Chico and became the amateur birdwatcher that I still am. In Los Angeles they seem to have much more black on their breast than in Northern California, but their call and behavior are identical to their Northern relatives. And so it goes, full circle -- the birds were always there, I just didn't have the eyes to see them.

And the run? The run went well. Three miles isn't so long after all. I'll continue with three 2.5 mile runs for the work week or so, then try and boost my 'long run' to four miles by the weekend.