I'm in junior high. Running with the soccer team. Behold: shin splints. And then two knee surgeries. Thanks, running.

I'm in college. Running on the soccer team. The wing crosses the ball to the goal. I turn. My foot doesn't. Surgery. Thanks, running. You suck.

I'm on Mt. Si. Amy's been trying to get a hold of me. She needs me at home, like, now. I run down the trail with Tokul on leash. She goes on one side of the tree. I'm on the other side. We meet. Not pleasantly. Thanks, running. You really suck.

I've got a thousand stories like that. I run. Something bad happens.

And yet... somehow I found myself running on the local trail. In hiking boots. Thump a thump a thump a down the trail. Casual hikers turn around in terror expecting to see a lame rhino charging down on them.

Then came the new shoes. Now I pad up and down the trail. I'm even getting faster.

So down in Portland I figured I'd go for a run. Not a hike, but a run. No boots, no pack. Just freaky shoes. I ran from the Terwilliger trailhead on the Marquam Trail to Council Crest. Well... I ran bits of it. I said I'm still learning. Give me a break.

The trail is nice. Especially since it's in the middle of Portland. It's single-track and feels wilder, in parts, than Twin Falls. The trail is not a single climb, but rather a series of ups and downs as it crosses little creeks and gullies. It's only obviously lame when it's right below someone's house or where it crosses a road.

Eventually, after running past a few hikers (and yes, of course, I ran past them all and far enough they couldn't see me when I bent over like the old man I am) I made it to Council Crest. It's a cool local high point with loads of history and even great views... when it's not cloudy. Which it was. Nothing to do but run back the way I came.

80 minutes for 6.4 miles and 1,100 feet of gain. Not great, but as long as I don't run into any trees I might get better.