Meeting up with Mr. Mathis

My feet did not hit dirt today until 10:30 AM.  That’s pretty dang late for me.  Usually, when I push off my start until this late, I am hard pressed to run at all.  It wasn’t like that this morning, I arrived to the trails when I could get there.  And I was fine with that.  The air was cool and breezy.  The skies were clear.  Lizards and squirrels scampered about.  Two large gopher snakes crossed my path.  And I ran up on this lovely field of flowers:

I elected on running up Mathis trail to the ridge today.  Why?  I have no idea.  I pretty much hate Mathis, and only take it when I’m a glutton for punishment.  It ascends rather steeply for about a mile, doesn’t really switch-back at all, and is totally exposed (no shade!).  The trip was pretty much murder – which made reaching the ridge all the much better!

First sightings of California poppies (on Mathis):

About to climb Mathis with only one thing on my mind:  ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER!

After topping Mathis, I had a significant climb remaining to Top of the World where I took in my usual Pacific Ocean view.  From there, I got some flat running all the way to Mentally Sensitive Trail.  I still cannot take Mentally Sensitive with any speed at all.  It’s just too steep.  All the ruts left from our last rain made the trip even more nerve-racking.  Then with just about fifty yards remaining, I came upon a section under trail maintenance.  It seemed as if the trail had been plowed, or rototilled.  As soon as I spotted all that loose dirt, I grew apprehensive.  Perhaps it was my fear and the fact that I slowed down that caused my fall.  I’m not sure.  All I know is that one second I was upright, and in a moment my feet slipped out from beneath me, and I flew to the ground.  I landed hard on my rear, my palms slamming into the rocks and dirt.  Then I fell onto my back, my pack once again softening the impact.  I was left with a backside covered in dirt and two small punctures in both my right and left palms. 

The slip jarred me some, mainly because the impact was so fierce.  But it was still all worth it – meeting up with Mr. Mathis again and also facing my fear down that wretchedly steep Mentally Sensitive.

I guess I’m a trail runnin’ fool.

A Little Run

Time was short today.  And time got shorter and shorter all morning.  I switched my work-out plans several times, with each hour passing too quickly.  Finally, after my regular morning chores, and then photocopying student handouts for tonight’s class, working on my latest discipline project and also picking up groceries, I decided for a little run out the front door.   That worked out great since the fuel tank in my truck was dang near empty. 

This week is “Easy” week on the running plans, so I was happy to get in any miles, especially beneath these clear, cool, blue skies.

Miles run:  3.05, and I got a great sweat out of it.

Spartan Up!

Recently, I read an advanced synopsis of Joe De Sena’s book Spartan Up!  (Scheduled for release May 2014.)  I can tell you that after reading this synopsis, I’m jazzed about reading his book – I’m jazzed about training for a Spartan Race.  Yes, I am going to register for a Spartan race.  But first I need some of that mental strength – the kind that says, “I think I can.”  The kind that squashes my abundance of self-doubt.  Spartan Up!  promises to help do that. 

I had no idea who Joe De Sena was before reading this synopsis.  Now I am seriously intrigued.  He is definitely an endurance athlete, an adventure runner and an over all crazy guy, all wrapped into one.  At one point, De Sena completed Bad Water (135 miles), the Lake Placid Ironman (140.6 miles), and a one-hundred mile trail run ALL IN ONE WEEK.  I have a feeling he can give me some tips on my endurance running. 

 

Self-doubt, the want for instant gratification, these are things that thwart us (especially me) in our personal lives, in endurance running, and according to De Sena, in a Spartan race.  He predicts if you can complete a Spartan race, you can succeed in life.  Spartan Up! pledges to give us guidance over our stumbling blocks.  He writes about the last half of the race, “when your mind can quit on you or will you forward.”

Spartan Up! will bring us through Spartan races many obstacles, with each obstacle a metaphor for life’s obstacles.  There’s the mud that sticks to us and slows us down.  There’s passing through barbed wire on hands and knees.  Just as in many of life’s problems, these  obstacles don’t take merely strength to conquer, but efficiency as well.  There’s all sorts of trials and tribulations similar to climbing the greased wall found in many Spartan races.  It takes great perseverance to conquer the wall.   Sound familiar?  Life’s toughest problems always take perseverance to overcome. 

It seems that De Sena’s book focuses on this:  when it’s all said and done, it’s not our triumphs that teach us how to succeed – it’s the failures.  Climbing that greased wall, only to slide back down to the bottom again and again, that’s what helps learn how get past that obstacle.  

I need me some of that.  (Look out Twin Peaks, here I come!)

Expect a full review when I read Spartan Up! come May.

Happy running!

One Fell Swoop

I have been toying with the idea of running The Harding Hustle this year instead of working it.  Ummmm.  I’m pretty sure that I won’t be doing THAT.  This morning I drove to Modjeska Canyon and ran up Harding Truck Trail to “4 Corners.”  From there, I turned around and ran back down.  This is the same exact route as the 30k in the Harding Hustle. 

Mama Mia!  In July it’s going to be hellish.  And I’m not ready to wrap my mind around “hellish” quite yet. 

Talk about tough!  Even the downhill was tough.  I arrived to “4 Corners” twenty minutes later than I planned, so I booked it downhill to make up those lost minutes.  It’s dang tiring to run downhill for NINE plus miles. 

On the good side, the scenery was beautiful; no, it was majestic.  And in one fell swoop, I got dang close to my 45 mile weekly goal.

I will sleep very well tonight. 

Miles run:  18.55

Night and Day

Wednesday and Thursday

It’s tough to fit in runs when time is short. Inevitably, this means I need to run when I absolutely do not want to (I know, kind of a familiar story lately). Wednesday, I subbed at a middle school several miles from my home, alongside Aliso Creek. This is the same creek that runs through my stomping grounds in Aliso/Wood Canyons. During lunch I phoned my faithful husband and asked him to pull up the school on Google Maps to see if there were any trails nearby. (Yes, I do not own a smartphone – nor do I plan on purchasing one soon. Why? Because I destroy phones, just like I destroy cameras). Anyway, he found that a bike trail ran along the creek in both directions.

I took off at 4PM on the Aliso Creek bikeway. It was paved and very safe. All the creek crossings were over bridges. I came upon numerous runners, adults and high school students. Had I not been so sluggish, I would have found the atmosphere festive. As it was, I could hardly move. If I had not known that I will have days like this some time or another, I would have chucked the shoes and went home thinking What the heck am I doing? I’m no runner! But I wobbled along, across the asphalt with clear views of the Saddleback Mountains anyway, determined to get in at least five miles.

You can imagine my glee when I came upon a dirt trail. My heart grew lighter, as well as, my step while I ran long this single-track, only to be dumped out on the bikeway again. Don’t get me wrong. The bike way was lovely, and on any other day, I would have enjoyed it. Overall, I was miserable during my run on Wednesday. Miserable, only to be turned around by a locked gate!

I did get in my five miles, thankfully. (5.2 miles)

Grrrrrrrrr:

Thursday was like night and day compared to Wednesday’s run. First off, today, I got my run in during the morning hours. The weather was cool. I wasn’t fatigued from a day of working. I still ran on asphalt. But my step was much quicker. The gorgeous clouds and crisp colors of the ocean and everything else stole my attention. I felt happy to run. I got in my miles (5.52) with a zero misery factor.

Where You Are, Be There

I set out on trails in Aliso Canyon this morning, not in the best of moods.  Things that annoy me lately plagued my thoughts.  And I also kept trying to figure out how I was going to fit in my forty-five miles this week.  This almost obsessive preoccupation really frustrated me.   I can’t do this when I run!  Troubled by my dilemma, I recalled the words one of my son’s taekwondo masters used to say to him.  That is, “Where you are, be there.”

Where you are, be there.

Where you are, be there.

Every time anger surfaced, and every time I started thinking about anything other than what I was doing this morning on the trails, I repeated this mantra.  Where you are, be there.

I was able to put in 12.11 slow miles this morning, despite difficult beginnings.  I enjoyed the wind, the caterpillars, the deer.  I stood in awe at the ocean’s deep blue color.  All this was fantastic payback for forcing myself to be there.

12.11 miles, +1,215’ / Route:  Aliso Creek Trail, Wood Canyon, Wood Creek, Wood Canyon, Cholla, West Ridge, Top of the World, Meadows, Wood Canyon, Aliso Canyon

With Focus, But Without Fear

If I had remembered our recent big rains, I would have jumped out of bed this morning to head for the mountains.  Instead, I woke groggy, sorely tempted to call off today’s run, or at the very least, postpone it to later in the day.  As it was, two of my boys are spending the night away.  I wanted to be back from my run before they left.  And so, I set off preparing for my mountain run at 5:00 AM.  (It wasn’t 5 minutes later that I felt fully awake).

I’ll cut to the most important aspects of today’s run along my 14 mile loop.  First off, the wind strongly blew in and out of the canyon in long, cool bursts.  The sound of it rustling through the trees was delightful and moved me onward nearly effortlessly.  Also, the water roared along Trabuco Creek, which was brim full (well, not actually brim, but a heck of a lot fuller than bone-dry, like it’s been for so long).  It was all very fair-tale like.  I didn’t really begin to “feel” the run until I got out of this forest and headed up the giant switchback named Holy Jim.

The five mile trip up Holy Jim was peaceful.  It was cool.  And the time flew by after a fellow adventurer caught up with me from behind.  (Mark, whom I have met before – once on The Main Divide on my way to Santiago Peak, and the first time many years ago, in my house at my oldest son’s five-year-old birthday party).  Today, I marched up much of Holy Jim exchanging fun (often hilarious) wilderness stories with Mark.  It’s amazing to me how the major themes among endurance runners/hikers are so similar among us (injury stories, getting lost, encounters – so much fun to learn). 

We continued on at the same pace on the Main Divide.  Just before reaching Santiago Peak, Mark took off ahead to close up the same loop that I was running – Holy Jim/West Horsthief.  I didn’t see him again after that.  But I did see his footprints.  That’s something I notice nowadays – footprints – mine and others.  (More than once I’ve needed to rely on footprints to find my way back).

 The Main Divide Overlooking Lake Matthews:

Running alone down West Horsethief, I came upon two or three groups of hikers struggling up that wretched climb. I also fell not once, BUT THREE TIMES during the rockiest portions.  Each fall was more like a slow motion slip.  Each time, I landed on my rear.  And each time, I fell at the exact moment where I grew timid and slowed on the rocks.    The best way to traverse down tricky hills is with tiny steps and loosely.  Loosely is the key for me – I must run West Horsethief carefree, with focus, but without fear.  Actually, this plan will work best for any trail. 

Happy trails. 

Today’s route:  Holy Jim/The Main Divide/West Horsethief, Trabuco.  14.06 miles.  Weekly goal of 45 miles:  Achieved!