Training Log: xc-racer5

First run in over a week. I was worried I was getting sick earlier in the week, so I didn't want to go running and make myself sick during finals. I'm no longer super concerned that I'm getting sick, and I needed to get outside and do something. I have been doing a bunch of walking around just before my exams with other people, but I never got out running.
I started out and around quail ridge clockwise, taking the lower of the two flume trails. I then jumped the fence and went up my favourite viewpoint that I can get to easily from the university. I haven't been there for a while, last time I climbed up was when I ended up in lake country. Apparently there are now cows wandering around on the hill, which there weren't a few months ago, which I wasn't expecting. I was just running along through the forest, and then I saw a baby cow, and then I saw a mama cow right next to it. I went well around them to the right, and they meandered off to the left to avoid me, which was very nice of them. I really wasn't expecting to meet any cows today, but they were very nice and polite, didn't bother me at all. I forgot just how tall that hill is, it's almost 300m of vertical over 1km, which is very steep. I did not run up the hill, I slowed down to a nice walk. I also didn't follow any kind of trail most of the way up, it was very enjoyable to just hike up through the endless sunflowers. There are sunflowers everywhere on that hill, it's south facing, and somewhat open, just some pine trees, so the sunflowers are covering everything, it's really pretty. I got to the top at the perfect time, I left just after 7 to try and get to the top of the hill for sunset at 7:53, and I was in fact at the top just as the sun was going down behind the mountains across the lake. I was slightly worried about running back down past the cows in the dark with no headlight, but it was still plenty light out by the time I got there. I also ignored any trails on the way down, opting instead to just run down the scree slope and hope I didn't die (I did not, although my knees feel like they might have). I got back to the bottom, hopped over the fence, and continued my usual loop around quail ridge back to the university. I was running pretty slowly on the way back, I was feeling pretty tired, and my knees are not used to dropping 300m that fast down unstable scree slope. Generally a pretty enjoyable run, even if it's main purpose was just to get away from campus for a bit to avoid studying. I really need to study for my exam tomorrow, but my brain wasn't working, so I went running instead. Now I have a fun evening of keeping myself awake to study for an exam tomorrow.