Wide Angle

I got off late on Friday, about 2 PM (surprise, surprise) for my pretty regular ten mile loop in Aliso/Wood Canyons.  I was armed with a new camera.  (My product warranty check came in – yay!  These product warranties on my cameras are the deal of the century for me.)  My new camera has a wide angle lens, which is new for me.  My husband’s professional camera has a wide-angle lens that I’ve never been too impressed with, 1) because it’s too dang bulky, and 2) it casts a shadow when the flash is used that I didn’t care to learn how to deal with.  But my new camera is one of those little things with the lens built in, and I hardly ever use a flash (& even if I did, I’m not getting a shadow with this camera). 

About a mile and a half into this run, after the back of my thigh began to ache, I switched on the wide angle for some shots of trails I have run countless times.   I was surprised what a different view this camera gives  – a more realistic view, one that captures not only what’s in front of me, but also what seems to surround me.  Very happy with my new purchase. 

The ache on the back of my thigh, right around the upper knee, grew worse as I made my way toward Mentally Sensitive.  I considered cutting the loop about a mile short by running up Meadows Trail instead.  Meadows is a steep switch-back to the ridge.  Mentally Sensitive is steeper, and not much of a switch-back at all.  I opted for Mentally Sensitive, because I’m just that way sometimes – a glutton for punishment.

I found the climb up Mentally Sensitive excruciating, but not surprisingly.  Fortunately, I had my new wide angle lens camera to keep my mind off the growing pain in my leg. 

By the time I reached the top of Mentally Sensitive, my leg was no longer an ache – it  hurt.  I could still run along the ridge, and I did.  By the time I made it to Meadows, I decided it was time to cut this ten mile loop down to seven miles.  I headed down the steep Meadows’ switch-back suffering.  It’s a mystery to me how I injured my leg.  There was no event, no popping, nothing to indicate an injury.  My guess is that I strained it the day before in the gym.  That’s what I’m hoping anyway, as I think that I can recover from that pretty quickly.

The Top of Mentally Sensitive/Saddleback Mountains in the background:

By the time I reached the bottom of Meadows, I could no longer run.  I couldn’t much walk either.  The pain remained the same whether I ran or walked.  That last mile and a half, I mostly walked, but ran some because I wanted to finish this up to stop the pain.  Finally back at the truck, I wept.  I didn’t cry because of the pain though – I was just so dang angry about having an injury.  I am such a baby when it comes to mentally enduring injuries.    Maybe that’s what they mean by “Mentally Sensitive.”