Time For A New Season

I’ve been away from trails for a bit, a LONG bit. I don’t even want to look up the last date I ventured out. I’m sure it was spring. It depresses me. I really need that contemplation that trails  afford.

Among my excuses: I’ve been busy, (plus it’s hot). Gratefully, I had a good amount of work this summer. I taught a session at the community college (online), had some committee work there as well and taught speech and debate to youngsters out in the San Gabriel valley – quite a drive every Saturday (100+ miles). I also painted my boys’ room (tan with cream trim and ceiling – the toughest part, it’s cathedral!). I also wrote more fiction and added a few short stories to my latest project – a collection based during the turn of the century, the last century in and around the areas that I love (San Juan Capistrano, Black Star Canyon, Silverado, etc.)  This project of course took a lot of blood sweat and tears and added to my ache for the trails. I couldn’t help but think if I could just get out there and wander aimlessly in the mountains say for five to eight hours at a time, I could pretty much finish up the entire collection in my head. But I didn’t do that, instead I struggled and had a rough time of it. I have to hand it to the writer’s group I attended for a while – deadlines really helped me churn out the pages. Lastly, for eight of these summer weeks, I spent my Monday and Wednesday mornings in an online piano class at the college I teach. What a joy that was! It’s been many years since I’ve played. Looking back, the summer was a success but there was always something missing. Trails. Thank God it’s still in my blood. I have this tiny worry that my love of trails is going to slip away and I’m give up that joy. (sigh)

To celebrate my physical return to campus, I went out for a little hike the Friday before the first day of the semester (August 19). I set out in the morning and hiked only a few miles (a little under four). It was hot as expected. But the shade was plentiful in Wood Canyon. I took the scenic trails, the less travelled, and hunted for a perfect spot to sit up above the trail in secret. I eventually found that spot, up from Coyote Run Trail, a nice shady location on a gigantic boulder beneath a canopy of trees. I sat silently above the trail for a nice long while taking in the soft breeze as it blew through the trees. Occasionally a cyclist rode by or a bird hopped about in the leaf litter. The climb down was steep and I scuffed up my knee a tad. Oddly back at home, seeing those scratches comforted me. It was back to normal. Hopefully, it will be that way more often. I know it’s early still and we’ve got more than three weeks left of summer, plus a few more hot weeks after that, but I’ll be happy to say “So-long summer!” It’s time for a new season.

Wood Creek Trail (Photoshopped with a saturation layer):Poison Oak (Photoshopped with a poster edge filter):

One Foot In Front Of The Other

Tuesday (July 16) I hit the trails pretty late in Laguna Beach.I can do this (despite the heat) because when I'm hiking, it seems like I can pretty much take any temperature, especially if I take time to cool down in the shaded areas. 

June Gloom is definitely gone (for the most part). We may be socked in during most mornings but that all burns off by afternoon on the Southern California Coast. Nowadays, I'm rarely on the trails, unless it's afternoon. Naturally, it was hot on Tuesday, but still, we haven't seen real heat around here for a while. I'm betting the temperature in the coastal hills was at most 85 degrees Fahrenheit (but it was probably a few degrees less). It can definately get much hotter.

I decided to go down Car Wreck Trail, which is quite steep and rocky.  My legs felt a little tight still from the prior two days of back-to-back short runs. Car Wreck Trail, even going down, was strenuous but it had breath taking views. And near the bottom, about where the car wreck is, the trail get's cool and shady. As you may know, shade is very important. Shade is the reason that I decided not to take up Mathis up out of the canyon. I opted instead for Rock It -- eventhough Rock It is probably more difficult than Mathis, there's little bits of shade! Wonderful shade.

Going down Car Wreck Trail

After a leisurely yet focused hike down Car Wreck Trail, I took Mathis to Coyote Run. Winding in and out from Wood Creek, there was plenty of shade on the trail. Not surprisingly, I didn't see anyone on foot. Most people in the middle of the afternoon opted for sandy beaches just over the hill. 

And then of course, I hiked up Rock It to West Ridge. One foot in front of the other is how I conquered that trail. Just like in life, one foot in front of the other. In all that strategy closed up a 6.19 mile lollipop loop with a elevation gain of 1,191. Much needed.

Coyote Run Trail

Rock It:

Detours

With little time to spare Wednesday, I ran through Aliso Canyon for a 10+ mile loop. I tried something different this time. Different as in, I didn’t take the steepest route to the ridge, and different as in, my loop did not include running to The Top of the World. This time, I took a gradual incline up Wood Canyon where I crossed the meandering creek at least three times. The canyon was bursting with green. So lovely were the views, I took three detours on my Wood Canyon trip. First, I ran off onto Cave Rock Trail where the moss was a thick as carpet on the moist, shady side of the rock. Second, I stopped at the Old Corral and strolled through it. The wood is darkened from weathering and the grass is tall enough to cover my feet. I can’t believe that I have never walked through the corral. I cannot count how many times I have run past it. What was I thinking? And thirdly, I hopped onto Wood Creek Trail, which was so shady in some portions, the forest was dark. The trail’s two flights of stairs made this detour extra challenging

Cave Rock Trail:

Entering The Old Corral:

At the end of Wood Canyon I ran up Cholla trail. Cholla is a steep trail, but it’s the shortest route to West Ridge (only about one-third of a mile). From there I ran the rolling hills of West Ridge, coming upon other runners, hikers and mountain bikers a plenty.   Finally, I descended down Rockit back into Wood Canyon.  When I hit Coyote Run, I realized that time was running short.  I had only an hour remaining before picking my youngest son up from school, so I pushed myself a little harder, and ran a bit faster than I usually do, which is a good thing.

Route:  Aliso Creek Trail, Wood Canyon, Cave Rock Trail, Wood Canyon, Wood Creek, Wood Canyon, Cholla, West Ridge, Rockit, Coyote Run, Mathis, Wood Canyon, Aliso Creek Trail:

Better For It

Being that my regular teaching job is mainly evenings and sometimes Saturdays, I pretty much get to pick when I work during the day.  I substitute teach Kindergarten through 12th grade during the day.  Normally, I like to take as much work as I can get.  Today, I did not accept a single assignment because I wanted to hit the trails.  I have an extremely full schedule up ahead of assignments.  I gave myself a day off.  (The only advantage of not having a full-time contract). 

I ran far (12.08 miles), but not that hard.  On a total and complete whim, I took a turn out of Wood Canyon onto Coyote Run Trail.  And I back-tracked.  Yes, I back-tracked!  This is very odd and peculiar because I hate, hate, hate back-tracking.  But I had good reason (I think).  I back-tracked so that I could run up RockIt, which is also very odd and peculiar.  I have avoided running UP RockIt for quite some time.  I don’t know what exactly got into me today.  I will say that the climb was not utterly miserable.  It was quite enjoyable in fact.  I hiked when I needed to and considered that practice for Twin Peaks.   

Coyote Run:

RockIt:

I would tell you more.  But it’s probably much of the same that you’ve already read before if you’ve visited Laurenontherun prior to this.  It’s late, and I do have an assignment with an early morning start.  And so, I’ll just end with this:  I am sore after today’s run through the hills, but I am better for it – both mentally and physically.  I made some significant strides mentally.  And I think that overall, that is better than physically.

Happy running!  And thanks for reading.

Biding Time

Back to Day One on my Fitness Streak.  I’m just biding time, taking it easy with some fun workouts.  Late this morning, I took off into Wood Canyon for a run, first to the Top of the World overlooking the grand Pacific Ocean.

Though I didn’t work it super hard, I got in some decent elevation gain.  I ran to enjoy myself, and to sweat too.  I didn’t criticize myself once.  I just didn’t think about my progress or performance.  I simply ran. 

I ran down Rockit, which is always a blast.  One false step, and there’s a good chance blood will flow.  This trail not only offers adventure, but great views as well.  I stopped a couple times to take in trails I knew from afar – they look so different from another perspective.

From Rockit, I turned left on Coyote Run, another beauty. 

And I sat on a bench beneath a tree that I’ve run past dozens and dozens of times.

Then I grew really silly, and decided to climb that tree.  I crawled up a meaty branch that was so heavy that it sloped low to the ground.  Before reaching the main trunk, I had risen to about ten feet above the ground, and I was sure to grind my knees into the rugged branch before making my next move up toward the trunk. 

Finally I grabbed onto the trunk, now two main trunks reaching upward.  I was elated to make it safety.  Then I stood there for a while, taking in my quiet surroundings, including the same mountain biker race by two times.  There he is:

As long as I stood between the crook of two branches I felt safe:

It’s when I ventured upward that I grew anxious and worried that I might fall.  I hugged onto the trunk tightly:

When I was a child I climbed trees, and never worried that I might fall out of one.  In fact, I remember falling out of a plumb tree when I was quite young.  I skinned my knees up badly, and cried all the way home.  But I was never seriously hurt.  I used to climb as high as I could get, never concerned how I might get down.

Today, I looked for a way down with every foot that I climbed upward.  And pretty quickly, I came to a point, that I figured I would not be able to climb back down.  I’m not a child any more.  I may act like one.  But I’m 48.  And so, I made my way, carefully, back down the tree.  When it came to crawling back down that long, heavy branch, I grew quite hesitate.  Ten feet above the ground, I figured I could make the jump instead of making the crawl.  In fact, I knew that I could, because I have made such a jump in a marine obstacle race down in San Diego.  Back then though, I had runners climbing up behind me, and I had to jump.

Today, no runners climbed up behind me forcing me to jump.  So, I looked for another route down.  Another branch, just a short bit away, thick enough to get a good enough grip on, ran parallel to mine.  If I grabbed onto that branch, my feet would hang only about five feet from the ground – an easy jump.  I warned myself that my weight was going work on tearing my grip from the branch.  I told myself before reaching for the branch, “No matter what, HANG ON!”. 

Well, it’s been too long I guess.   I didn’t take into account that when I grabbed onto the branch and let my legs fall from the one upon which I stood, I WOULD SWING.  Yikes.  Try holding onto a tough-barked branch, swinging back and forth wildly.  “Hang on!”  I warned myself.  I knew that if I lost my grip, there was a pretty dang good chance that I’d land on my back.  Don’t want to land on my back!!!!  DO NOT WANT TO LAND ON MY BACK.  So, I held on, swinging back and forth.  It felt like the bark tore the skin from my hands.  But I held on, because it was too important not to.  When I stopped swinging I quickly dropped to the ground and laughed out loud.  What a dang silly lady I am.   

I dusted myself off and ran off to another beautiful trail, Wood Creek.  Escaping the moment (not good while trail running), but I was still thinking about the tree adventure, I came head-to-head with another runner.  We scared the wits out of each other.  She clutched her chest.  I let out a yelp.  Then we both giggled and passed each other in the forestl.  About five minutes later, I stood less than ten feet away from a doe.  She stood still as a statute.  And I let her just stand there while taking in her presence.

I need to do “biding time” runs more often.    Happy Running!!

Wood Creek:

Today’s Profile:

An Autumn Run!

I’m fretting only slightly about Twin Peaks, which is about 3 weeks away.  Fortunately, I’m going for the 50k option (not even considering the 50 mile option).  The 50k will still be quite the task for me, but I will have lots and lots of time to get it done.  So I can walk, crawl or scramble and probably still make the trip (hopefully).  Still, I haven’t got in quite the mileage that I’ve wanted over the past months.  In fact, this summer’s training has probably been one of my worst summer trainings.  That’s ironic since I actually looked forward to summer runs this year.  I don’t ever recall looking forward to summer running before.

Thankfully I got in an autumn run today.  And boy, was it GLORIOUS!  I almost thought that it would rain.  I said, “Bring it on!”  But alas, no rain.  Cool breezes blew practically my entire run.  It felt heavenly.  Even as I “ran” up the big climb, Mentally Sensitive (see elevation chart below).

Climbing Mentally Sensitive:

I always wear my hat backward for a reason (in case you’re wondering from the picture above and the countless others).  One reason is that forward, the cap bill traps in the heat around my race.  And I hate that.  More importantly, the cap with bill forward blocks visibility.  I can quickly recall 4 instances when I ran head-on into a branch wearing the bill of my cap forward.  In one case, I hit so hard that I fell back onto the ground and actually worried about my well-being.  In another case, I hit head-on into a branch twice within 5 minutes of each other (different branches of course). 

So, why wear a cap at all?  Because it catches the sweat from my head.  That way I don’t have as much salt running into my eyes (which hurts like heck).  Anyway, back onto the track . . .

Top of Mentally Sensitive:

I decided on a quick run down Rockit Trail, which is rocky, bumpy and great training for my upcoming Calico Run in January which is rocky to the utmost.  From there, I turned off onto Coyote Run for some gorgeous single track stints through forests and more desert-like terrain.  I learned today that Coyote Run is a favorite weekday trail for mountain bikers.  They were ALL courteous and polite, I am glad to report.

In all I ran almost 12.5 miles.  Happily I ran those last miles in with fuel still in the tank.  I didn’t collapse at the truck!

Coyote run Trail:

Meadows / Rock It Lollipop Loops

I just love those lollipop loops.  Wrote it before, I’ll write it again:  I’m a loopy girl. 

With limited time this morning, I thought I’d squeeze in a double digit run on my journey out of the rut. 

The sun was hot, the breeze was cool.  Bluish squished lizards decorated the single tracks.  How does that happen? I thought.  I’ve never stepped on a lizard in my life.  I don’t think I could if I tried – not unless I hosed it down with water first.  Then I remembered the bikes.  Yes . . .  the lovely bikes. 

My shins ached for the first 1.5 miles.  Stretching didn’t help the pain.  Only when I began running uphill did the shins feel good.  Then they felt fine the remainder of the run. 

It felt good to run solo in the lonely wilderness.  I relished the time alone.  This morning I got 11.59 miles of alone time.  Then it was back off to the grind, already looking forward to tomorrow’s run.   

Running up Meadows’ switchbacks:

My “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright Bridge,” on Meadows.  Once I cross this bridge the switchbacks stretch out, and the ascent lessens some, and I feel much better about running the entire thing.

Top of Meadows:

But there’s still a tad more to climb:

Running down Rock It:

Coyote Run:

Crossing over Mathis Trail to meet up with Wood Canyon:

Twin Peaks Recovery

Recovery has been slow.  But that’s okay because I let so many things slide lately, things with deadlines.  I used this week’s down time to get caught up working. 

The first 3 days after Twin Peaks, I woke with extremely stiff legs.  My feet feel good.  I haven’t done much of anything to speed recovery, which is probably why it’s been slow.  How do I speed up recovery?  I foam roll, do floor exercises, stretch those hips and IT band.  All I’ve really done is foam roll – and just once or twice.

Today, I got in my recovery run.  I started late on the trails this morning since I needed to get the boys off to school.  The weather was delightfully cool with a slight breeze.  I took off with a pack because I wasn’t quite sure how far I’d run.  I don’t know what I was thinking, but I decided to add Car Wreck Trail UP HILL (see the steep portion in the elevation profile below.)  It kicked my butt all over the place.

Turns out that I didn’t need the pack, because I put in just under 8 miles.  A handheld would have done with this weather.  Eight miles is good.  I’m certainly not complaining.  I didn’t realize how much that big uphill would shove me around. 

I also forgot to tape my arches.  Turns out, I didn’t feel discomfort at all.  The best thing about today’s run was that it was PRESSURE FREE.  Yes, gloriously pressure free.  I simply got to enjoy.  No worrying about my performance and how I’m going to in Twin Peaks.  That story has now been written. 

Running down into Wood Canyon:

Descending a staircase on Wood Creek Trail:

Coyote Run (where the fairies fly freely):

Running Oak Grove Trail:

Entering Car Wreck:

Car Wreck Trail:  Going up

Greetings from Top of the World:

This morning’s profile: