Peters Canyon on 10-10-10

Yesterday, the back spasms were far and few between with much less intensity.  Heating pad on my back, I went to bed early for a 4:45 AM wake up.  No pain!  Stiff glutes yes, but no back spasms : )  I packed the ibuprofen anyway. (Along with all the other essentials: water, phone, camera, Cliff Bar, hat, sunglasses, chapstick, and of course music.)

The sun had not even shined above the horizon when Sheila, Kelly, Vicky and I took off running into Peters Canyon.  I couldn’t help feel that I needed a headlamp.  Two women we passed in the dark asked if we were going up to the ridge, because they didn’t want to go up alone.  I wasn’t sure if it was wildlife or man that spooked them.

After taking Peters Canyon Road into the Canyon, we ran up Eucalyptus Trail. As you would probably guess, it’s lined with tall Eucalyptus trees.   Eucalyptus Trail is also the same one that got me so dang angry over two years ago because I had to pull on the branches to help me up.  Peters Canyon is where I ran my first trail run.  It was also the location of my first trail race.

Runners on East Ridge View Trail (Vicky, Sheila & Kelly from left to right)

Eucalyptus Trail meets East Ridge View Trail which is a rocky one– loose rocks, the hard kind to run.   East Ridge, like most ridgelines goes up and down, up and down, up and down.  I felt pretty fatigued early on.  But that’s okay – I needed this.

A lake view greeted us coming off the ridge.  Catching Lake View Trail, we made the loop around the lake, but not before cutting off the corner and running a lovely little trail called Willow Trail.  It’s like a jungle, shady and cool.  The ground was still damp from last week’s rains.  Vicky lead the way, so he was the one to run into the spider web.  After that, he picked up a stick to wave out front. 

The ups of East Ridge View Trail

 

Kelly and Vicky leading the way on Lake View

The climbing began again on the other side of Lake View Loop.  I vividly recalled that this was the first uphill trail I ever ran.  It’s a wide road, no shade and I think it was almost as tough today.  But that’s okay too.  The past few months have been tough.

We ran a detour off of Peters Canyon Trail – Creek Trail.  It’s my Featured Trail of the Day (below) because it’s lush, cool and oddly, a bit landscaped with stepping stones and bridges throughout.  The creek was full, but still.  Not exactly something I wanted to splash around in, but it added a serene touch to the trail.

We finished off one loop when Sheila, Vicky and Kelly ran off to add a mile or two before heading home.  I stayed behind and ran the loop again.  With my headphones on, still plenty of water on my back, I finished another joyous Peters Canyon loop, totaling this morning’s run at 11.71 miles. 

Back down Lake View to catch Peters Canyon Trail 

Before parting company after one loop (Me, Kelly & Sheila)

One more pose before parting, Vicky, Me and Kelly

 

Pretty flowers coming off the ridge

Lake View Trail

Willow Trail

 

  Elevation Profile of One Loop of this Two Loop Run

Featured Trail of the Day

I don’t think I’m cut out for the heat : (

Friday morning I woke from a race dream.  As usual (in dreamland) I was running late picking up my bib, where I learned that this was a nude trail/mud run.  (Where I’d put my bib, I have no recollection).  Reluctantly, I stripped down and ran off late to the Start Line, apprehensive about my nudity.  While I was running I noticed not everyone ran this race nude, in fact, very few runners were naked.  Some, especially the women, ran in shorts but with no shirts, and some runners were fully clothed.  Then someone told me, “No!  It’s Clothing Optional’.”  I was not happy.

So, Friday I got out on the trail in my waking life, late as usual (since the boys went back to school getting out early is tough.)  Thing is, we’re still in the midst of a heat wave, and 10 AM is way too late to begin a trail run. But I had this great idea.  I was going to stay in the canyon and avoid the heat on Friday – forget that oven along the ridge.  I was going to keep cool.  Really cool.

Ha!  I felt overheated the first 1.5 miles in – Aliso Creek Trail which has virtually no shade.  My right glute felt pretty tight and my throat was sore.  But I was determined to make this trail run.  I need to get back into training.  (Wait.  I don’t need to.  I want to – I’m just a little crazy with this “need” thing right now.)

I laid on the picnic table at Wood Canyon Trail to stretch that glute (figure 4 stretch) and I couldn’t even keep a hold of my legs, my hands and legs were so slippery with sweat.  Later, that ibuprofen I took for my throat ended up helping with the glute too.

Wood Canyon, a beauty, but hot as heck

Finally approaching much needed shade on Wood Canyon Trail

Determined to make this run, I put my head down and plowed through it.  And then it started happening again.  I couldn’t cool down.  And I was hydrating all the while (with Nuun tablets too!).  Taking my mind off the heat, I shot an amateur video of Wood Creek Trail (Featured Trail video below), and got to enjoy some cool, breezeless shade for a short while. 

A Baby snake, as I ran onto Wood Creek Trail (probably a gopher snake, its tail covered in dirt I couldn’t see rattles, but his head looks a bit tiny in proportion to his body to be a rattler)

One of 2 tortuous flights of stairs in this wretched heat on Wood Creek Trail

Covered in salt and drenched in sweat, I laid beneath a tree back at my car and stretched a long while.  I arrived at school to pick up my youngest, my back actually cramping from the heat exhaustion.  After a shower, I felt loads better, but the sore throat was growing worse. 

Friday night, we decided to go to our son’s friend’s family restaurant Steer Crazy for some good bbq – a plug for those in The OC looking for some bbq with an ocean view and ocean breeze : )

By late Friday night the sore throat evolved into chills.  Bundled up in four blankets, I went to bed freezing while everyone complained of heat.  All day Saturday (today), I laid around, sleeping, aching, and sweating.  Heat exhaustion twice this week, I think really took a whack at my immunity.  Sadly, so, so sadly, I’ve decided against Sunday’s early morning group trail run (Boo Hoo! Not happy.  But I will be back)

Miles logged Friday:  9.24

Featured Trail of the Day Wood Creek Trail

As a positive note:  my right glute has not given me any problems since Friday’s run.

Six Deer!

5:40 AM as I drove away from my home the skies were black.  What happened to the sun?  Times are a changing again.  Not too long ago, 6:00 AM runs gave us light skies.

The 3rd runner of today’s group run was running late, she text’d me for us to go ahead without her.  I was hoping we’d meet up on the trail.  We never did.  Sheila and I ran those lovely trails that parallel Wood Canyon together, chatting along the way, enjoying the cool, wet air.  We both love that cool morning air to run in. 

This morning’s run was a heck of a lot easier for me than that 3.25 mile run at Disney.  And it was very nice for a change to stay on the lower trails, rather than huff and puff to the top.  We ran Wood Canyon Trail, then hopped onto Dripping Cave Trail.  From there we hit Mathis and ran down to connect to Coyote Run until it lead us back out onto Wood Canyon.  We ran Wood Canyon to the end.  On the way back, we ran Wood Creek Trail, a beauty of a trail, rarely traveled when I ran straight through a fully developed spider web. Wood Creek dumped us out on Wood Canyon.  And that’s were we saw them – six, yes six, lovely deer grazing in the grass.  That is the most deer I’ve ever seen on the trail at once.  Absolutely amazing.  Part of what trail running is all about!

Dripping Cave

Dripping Cave Trail – an eerie fairy tale

Coyote Run Trail

Wood Creek Trail

More Wood Creek – look at all that leaf litter, sheer delight!

More Delight on Wood Canyon Trail

 

Count ‘Em, 6, SIX Deer!

The Crazy Runners who Hit the Trail in the Dark this Sunday Morning

9.91 miles logged today : )

The Beauty of Spider webs and Oceans of Clouds

I set out this morning for a shortish run, but I wanted hills.  I’m sure you can guess, I was running somewhere in Aliso/Woods.  When I took off running through Canyon Vistas Park, the fog was so thick, visibility was low, low, low.  Big, slow drops of moisture dropped down upon me. 

At the bottom of Cholla, my left glute felt tight, so I laid down on the bench there and stretched it out.  While I was at it, I aligned my pelvis and looking up, noticed an beautiful spider web right above my head.

I ran up  Cholla in a mist, as fast as I could, noticing webs everywhere.  I ran in the same white mist a while on West Ridge, stopping to take photos of webs here and there.  And then concentrating on powering up hills, I almost missed the beauty encasing me! 

There I was running above an ocean of clouds.  A literal sea of clouds!  Can you believe, so involved with powering up my run, I nearly missed it?  Talk about not stopping to smell the roses.  The sun shined brightly on the ridge, while peaks from nearby hills poked out from the clouds like islands in the sky. 

Running on West Ridge (looking back at Saddleback Mountains)

 Me, Sweating in the Sun, in background a Sea of Clouds

 

In all, I logged 6.11 miles this morning on an out-and-back to Top of the World.  It was a good run.  Finally again, a run where everything was beautiful.