Spring Equinox 2017

After a short hiatus, one that seemed too long, I hit the trails on Monday (3/20) in late morning. How, you might wonder, was I able to run trails during the morning on a week day? Well, I teach at three schools, and it is spring break this week for one of those schools. (Yes, I have 3 different spring breaks.) That meant, this week, the first week of spring, I am wide open, schedule-wise, until 6 pm, Monday through Thursday.

Wow, whatever am I going to do with myself?

Well, first off, I woke with a sore throat, and I know from experience, that of all things, I cannot run with a sore throat – it ALWAYS makes my sickness worse. But I did it anyway. To hell with it. I was ready, I was willing, and I was semi-able.

I chose a 10.7 mile loop through Laguna Wilderness (a county park) and Crystal Cove (a state park). And for some odd reason, though I recalled vividly the hell I encountered last time I “ran” this loop on the climb out, I somehow either didn’t think it would be as bad, or I flat out ignored reality. Not sure which. I was just so happy to get out there for a few hours, just me and the trails.

To begin, it was beautiful. Lots and lots of green, and lots and lots of spring flowers.

The first six miles were a joy. The weather was cool, almost cold. The terrain was extremely unstressful, not very technical at all, and mostly gradually downhill. I took Bommer Ridge to El Moro Ridge, which I ran to the coast. From there it was a significant downhill (on BFI – “Big Friggin’ Incline”),  and then a side trail to the Pacific Ocean. Cannot make this trip without a quick detour to the ocean.

The side trail off of BFI:

I felt peaceful after that detour. The sound of the waves rumbling in does wonders for my soul. But, that peace came with a price. I cannot tell you how wretched that climb out up No-Dogs and No-Name was back to my truck. Well, maybe I’ll try. First off all, the marine layer burned off, and the sun came through strong. And the trip was overall uphill – lots and lots of uphill. Yes, it was beautiful, and I took any excuse I had to stop and click a photo. But I felt light headed, and at times like I wanted to vomit. I just am not in shape for this. Stupidly, I think that I can do anything, but I can’t. I’m not in shape to do this kind of stuff. But I guess it wasn’t such stupid thinking, because I did get through it eventually. It was just miserable, utterly. I basically behaved like a zombie (except for the eating human flesh part), I mindlessly, joylessly, placed one foot in front of the other, over and over and over again.

I counted steps. I stooped over, with my hands on my knees to try and gain more strength. I played with my garmin. I even browsed the internet during some of those hills – anything to get my mind off the hell I was enduring. Eventually, with about 1.5 miles left (I think!), I remembered the tank top I had stashed in my pack. Thank God for a reason to sit and rest!

So, anyway, after that change of clothing, and rest in the dirt, it was all a little more bearable. Perhaps what made it even more bearable was that I could see the trees where my truck was parked.

Yikes. I really don’t think that I will do that loop again.

I was sick in bed that night after work. And sick the next day, napping as much as I could for a speedy recovery. Because hell . . . I can’t wait to hit the trails again.

Dear Winter,

As far as I know, winter officially ends March 20. That’s 8 whole days after my last trail run (which by the way was Sunday, March 12, in the scorching heat). With all due respect, winter, I think you clocked out early here in Southern California.  Now I could be wrong, but I believe that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this year. And you know just as well as I do, that means SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER. Consequently, you should be here with us almost until the end of April.

I sincerely hope that this oversight is rectified immediately.

Yours truly,

LaurenontheRun

10.34 Miles, Aliso Creek/Wood Cyn/Mathis/Coyote Run/RockIt/West Ridge/Mathis/Wood Canyon/Aliso Creek Loop

Aliso Creek Trail:Coyote Run Trail:A coyote on Coyote Run Trail:

Rockit Trail:

Mathis Trail:Mountain bike accident in Wood Canyon (probably winter’s fault for clocking out early!!):

Back on Aliso Creek Trail as the glorious fog begins to roll in:

Goal Met

Amazingly, I met my increase 10% goal for February (except for elliptical cross training – but I don’t really care about that). I increased my running mileage just a tad over 10%, and I am pleased about that.

For March though, I am lagging, and if I don’t get my butt into gear, I’m not going to make that 10% increase goal. My first run of the month was this past Tuesday, March 7. It took everything I had in me to change out of my clothes in between jobs, and hit the trails off of I 405 in Irvine. Yes, that’s Shady Canyon, where I took to Quail Hill loop, 4 revolutions. Quail Hill is still lush green with spring flowers popping up everywhere. I don’t reall the last time I saw this rather boring trail so dang beautiful.

That first loop was pure hell (meaning I felt sluggish and overly heavy) and I wondered how the heck I was going to put in any more loops. But by the second, I felt much better, and even better on the 3rd, and even more by the 4th. By then it was time to go, as I had to get off to my next job up Interstate 5. But first, I hit my gym for a shower, and outside the gym, a half a sub sandwich at Subway. I really need to get going if I think I’m going to pull off the 10% increase for March. So far, it’s not looking that great. But thankfully, the trails still are.

Re-Introducing The Motorway

Saturday morning about 9 am, I headed off to Silverado Canyon in my trusty pick-up truck. Precisely one hour later, I pulled into the Maple Springs Visitor Center’s parking lot. There was one spot left to park in a lot that has only five or so spaces. (The rest of the people park throughout the canyon).

I decided to go up The Motorway (aka, The Silverado Motorway, Silverado Trail or Bedford Trail) to Bedford Peak for an out-and-back. I thought this was a perfect way to break in my brand new Adventure Parking Pass. Plus, I haven’t been up this trail in its entirety since the fires that closed it down in 2014. For those of you who don’t know the trail, it’s the first one off to the left up Maple Springs Road (less than a quarter mile in), and it goes for 3 miles at a tremendous climb. A tremendous climb! About 2,000 feet of gain in those 3 miles.

Here, I’m about a half mile in, looking back at the canyon from where I started:

The hills were covered in green on Saturday, and also spring flowers, and lots of tiny landslides. Aside from the beauty though, it was a pretty miserable trek. I breathed the words, “Oh lord,” many times, and ran very little on the way up this switchback single track. On the way, I saw lots of other hikers, no runners, and a couple of dozen mountain bikers. I saw deer tracks here and there. I searched for, but noticed no other significant tracks. There was plenty of coyote scat however, and lots of dark lizards scurrying about.

Some of the flowers:

Some more of The Motorway:

Finally reaching The Main Divide came as a great relief. That relief was so great in fact, it made the whole difficult trip worth it. “This is why,” I thought . . . “This is why.”

I turned right on The Main Divide, ran for about a half mile until I came to the trail to Bedford Peak. It’s not marked, but is obvious. Anyway, I found Gary’s bench at the end of the trail (which is now marked “Gary’s Bench,” otherwise, I would not have known it was Gary’s). The old bench that I had sat on before was on the ground, partially burnt, possibly from the 2014 fire. And in the time since I had been there, Gary had died. His family left a new bench in his remembrance and a journal for visitors to write in (which I did).

I sat a while on Gary’s bench, taking in the mountains both close and afar as I listened to the surrounding silence. Then after about ten, maybe fifteen minutes, I ran all the way to the truck. It was a treacherous trot, as I stumbled more than once. And when the cliff was steep and the trail rocky, I hiked, so that if I did fall I wouldn’t plummet to my death.

It was a very difficult 7.87 miles (totaling 2,323’ of gain). All of it, very much well worth it.