TALES FROM THE TRAIL (AND SOMETIMES THE ROAD TOO)

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Spontaneous Turns

I looked forward to my Sunday run when I went to bed Saturday night. Sunday morning, 6AM, I crawled out of bed. I thought seriously about skipping it and sleeping in. But after 2 cups of coffee and over an hour later, I finally took those lonely steps out the door.

It was COLD. The breeze blew at my face, my legs were numb. I pulled my cashmere beanie over my ears and pulled on those gloves. (I wore shorts because of the pockets -- I knew that I'd need them later). With an ipod loaded with new music (not new as in recently recorded, but new as in music I haven't heard in a while), and ran myself into oblivion. I mean, I ran, and ran, and ran . . .

Not an hour in, my beanie was stuffed in my belt, my gloves in my pockets, my face and legs now enjoying that cold breeze. I ran inland for a while, up, up, up, then made my way down the condemned bike path to Monarch Beach. Waves roared and crashed violently on the shore. Dozens of surfers dotted the waters, runners and walkers alike made their way across the sand. The tide was high, but receding. Blue skies, white clouds -- absolutely gorgeous!

I ran at a slant on Monarch. The sand leveled out by the time I reached Salt Creek. The surf ate up much of Dana Strands, but I ran as much of the sand as I could, and taking a detour up the rocks, ran all the way to the cliffs, where I wondered if hopping up onto the cliff base was a good idea. There was little room to stand as the waves crashed all around me. Last thing I needed was to be swept into that cold water : (

And so I ran back across the sand and ran up the hill at Salt Creek towards town. I made a SPONTANEOUS turn back onto Highway One. Having not run this portion before, I didn't know there wasn't a sidewalk on the side of the street that I wanted. I like to run facing the traffic. And since I wasn't gonna run in the street, I crossed the highway for the sidewalk. Cars whizzed by, 50 mph plus, causing some anxiety. I noticed my breathing became labored -- nervousness? Or maybe I ran faster just to get off that part of the highway.

Coming into town, I noticed the new trail system on the bluffs was complete, so I took another SPONTANEOUS turn and ran up onto the Headlands where plenty of walkers made their way through the narrow landscaped trail that meandered in many directions. I knew I didn't have much time left to finish up this run, but I pushed it to fit in some more of my favorites -- the Cliffside path, pedestrian bridge, Doheny Beach, the jetty and wharf, when I finally made that climb up the big hill home.

Whew! I was a little tired. : ) I'm sure glad though that I didn't decide on sleeping in.

Total miles logged on Sunday: 15.63
52 Runners Total -- 4 of them barefoot (53 if I include myself who was running with shoes : )

2 comments:

  1. I love this blog. Your descriptions really make me feel like I'm running with you! (Of course, I must be dreaming because I would be more likely to huff and puff and blow a house down than run more than a mile at a time!) Anyway, this blog is a great treasure. It absolutely glistens with your vibrant photos and evocative descriptions. Thanks for keeping it so current and for sharing this amazing aspect of your life with your friends and fans.

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  2. Gosh Melissa! You are so sweet. I hope we can get together over the holidays! Are you going away?

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