Race Against The Rain

With reports of rain and more rain to come, I rushed off to some trails this morning after getting our boys off to school.  Let me tell you!  I needed this after taking a ton of verbal abuse from our oldest boy.  I wasn’t going to engage though – I laughed and laughed which only made his anger and disrespectful manner worse. I think that I need a better approach.

The skies were gray and cold at Aliso/Wood Canyons as I headed up Aliso Canyon for the toughest trail in the park:  Mentally Sensitive (AKA Psycho Path). I knew I was going to run some kind of “big loop” around the park, probably 12 to 13 miles.  I should point out, because I think it’s so important with running, that I never, EVER think about the end of the run.  Never does such a thought as “Only 8 more miles to go,” run through my head.  Instead, I just try and “BE.”  Simply “BE” where I am, experience the mile I’m in.  This way, I don’t have to stress over the difficulty that faces me.  Instead I get to enjoy where I’m running.   

On the way to Mentally Sensitive, I spotted a bobcat meandering along the paved trail that runs up the canyon.  Too far for a picture, I ventured into tickville (the area of tall grass where ticks are sure to latch onto flesh passing by).  I didn’t want to full-out run through the pasture for a better picture of the wildcat, as I was certain that would scare him away.  Therefore, I slowly stepped through the grass (allowing more time for ticks to cling on).  I didn’t get 15 steps in when the cat darted off into the brush.  Though I didn’t get a good picture, my eyes did behold  the beauty of the beast.  Imagine a cat the size of a medium size dog.  This one was striped with dark and light brown fur.  

Running up Mentally Sensitive was a glorious chore.  Rain began to fall about a quarter of the way up when I was already sweating buckets.  I didn’t worry about the rain too much – the only thing I would really worry about is the rangers closing the park.  I figured since I was already running trails, I would get some kind of loop in. 

Loving Mental Sensitive:

I worked hard running up Mentally Sensitive.  And where it got ridiculously steep, I forced myself to stop running and power hike instead.  I need to learn to power hike better.  This habit that I have of forcing myself to “run” up even the steepest terrain isn’t doing much good at this point.  I believe it’s making me physically stronger, but it’s also training me to run slowly and not to hike quickly. 

When I reached the top of Mentally Sensitive, I phoned my husband to tell him my son’s punishment.  It came to me running up Psycho-Path that I needed five written paragraphs on “respect” from our boy.  Hubby liked the idea but suggested a re-write of the three pages of the black belt rules he had broken instead.  I agreed.  (Our son is second degree black belt, only a few months away from third degree – disrespecting anyone, especially your elders, is an egregious action for the black belt).

Scenes from Mentally Sensitive when the punishment popped into my head:

The sun came out in abundance as I ran along the ridge.  I thought to myself, “Some early heat training eh?  Bring it on!”  I stopped shortly at Top of the World, took a few photos, and ran off on a detour onto Park Avenue Nature Trail.  Utterly lost in my own world, I didn’t realize that I had ran into a swarm of bees making their way across the trail.  I looked up for no particular reason, and aghast at the literally thousands of bees, I wasn’t sure what to do.  First I ducked.  Then I stepped back.  Then I fumbled for my camera.  By the time I retrieved my camera, the bees were busily on their way across Laguna Canyon. 

Top of the World:

I felt good, happy as I made my way toward Cholla Trail.  When I arrived, I did not think “Five miles left!”  No way.  Instead, I thought, “I get to run DOWN Cholla – Yay!”  I won’t lie.  I did look at my garmin to make sure I had enough time to finish off the run, get some groceries and home in time to get ready for work.  I didn’t stress over my pace though.  Today’s run wasn’t  a training run.  It was a fun run.

Running down Cholla Trail:

View of Wood Canyon from Cholla:

As I ran into Wood Canyon the heat was sweltering.  A cool breeze came in once in a while.  But overall, the canyon seemed to trap in the heat.  It was oh so beautiful too.  And fun.  I finished off this run a bit tired, but I ran it ALL THE WAY IN, totaling 13.53 miles today (21.77 km)

Shade at last in Wood Canyon:

Tonight the rain pours down upon our rooftop.

ps.  no ticks.