For days after falling on Trabuco Trail, I had trouble falling to sleep. My mind kept returning to the moment of impact. It seemed that just as I dozed off to sleep, I’d trip and fly into the floor, which jolted me awake. I have not been having a great time. Frazzled is a good word to describe my condition.
And then we had our Christmas celebrations (Christmas Eve services, a family get-together on Christmas day), and everything came to a close. Though I was happy to have spent an entire day with much of my family (my own children and husband, plus my parents, my sister and her family, and two of my brothers and famlies), I did not rest easy last night. I had nightmares it seemed all night long – same theme, I was being attacked. It was the same person that I could not see from my dream the morning of my trail accident. I never saw him in my nightmares last night (or rather early this morning) as he always attacked in dark places, and then eventually, he started attacking me in my dreams. Yes in my dreams, like Freddie Krueger did in those horror fliks. Needless to say, I got little sleep, as every time I fell back to sleep it seemed that he was there to grab me. I woke the entire house with a loud scream and eventually decided I just didn’t want to risk falling back asleep again. At 3:30 AM I surfed the internet until I couldn’t stay awake any longer. And then I slept like a rock until 8:00AM.
With such a big day yesterday, being Christmas Day, everyone was still sound asleep when I snuck out the door at 9:30 AM and headed for Ridge Park in Newport Beach. The weather was cold, and the wind was fierce. I had to grip the steering wheel to avoid being pushed all over the tollroad.
When I arrived to Ridge Park, I realized that I had forgotten my jacket, and by the looks of all the runners and bikers bundled up in their jackets, beanies and gloves, I was gonna need more warmth. Thank goodness my oldest son left his jacket in the backseat. I was able to layer up. (Note to self: don’t be such a hard-ass about the boys getting their things out of my truck!)
Anyway, the park was super crowded with people, mainly hikers, some runners, some cyclists and some equestrians. I think it’s good for now to go where people can be found. I only found discomfort during the last three miles, and that was because I took off the jacket. Since I had decided not to wear my sling (though I packed it), the jacket had provided much rest for my arm by putting my hand into the pocket.
I felt good at the end of the hike, and probably could have pushed myself a lot harder. I was not even fatigued when it was over. I think what’s most important though, was that I just got out there and moved.
Route: Bommer Ridge, El Moro Ridge, BFI, No-Dogs, No-Name, Bommer Ridge.