Another Run At It (What are you running from?)

Saturday:

Aliso Wood Cyns Park was packed this morning (at 8AM -- much later than I'm usually there on a weekend) -- there were groups of cyclists converging in the parking lot, whole cross country teams mingling about. I drove right on by the ranger station (having finally figured out how to get to the the end of Wood Canyon via automobile without getting lost first -- that is to Canyon Vistas Park).

Skies were cloudy and gray. I wore my sleeves long, a beanie on my head (& I even debated on whether to wear pants). Crowds, crowds, everywhere were crowds. But it was the good kind of crowd, not the mall sort of crowd, or freeway sort of crowd. Crowds on bikes, crowds carrying water, walking sticks . . .

The air was cold as I took off into the canyon. Turning off Wood Canyon Trail right away, I faced Cholla anxiety-free. Then I commenced to run up Cholla the same time with 4 cyclists. Talk about pressure. One of the guys kept a constant lead on me, the other three I left in the dust. Thus I figure: it's a hell of a lot tougher to cycle Cholla than it is to run it. Needless to say, upon reaching Westridge, I promptly tucked the beanie in my belt and rolled up my sleeves.

I saw a lot of people, mainly runners and hikers struggling up and down Westridge, particularly toward the end. I made it to the Top of the World about two minutes faster than Thursday's run and two minutes quicker making it down. I was pleased with the improvement.

Miles logged 5.9

Sunday:

Depression came for a visit this morning when I got to thinking about my reasons for running. I've often heard this question: Are you running away from something or are you running to something? I kinda chuckled when I heard this, never really thought about the question UNTIL TODAY when I wept over the fact that I'm running AWAY. Yes, that is my motivation, that's what gets me up sometimes at 4 AM, that's what puts me on the road driving for hours to run out in the desert, that's what gets me out the door on cold, cold mornings. I'm running away from something. That something is MYSELF. That's why I run! I run to bury my feelings of inadequacy. I run to entomb the loser. And that made me sad.

After dwelling over this for the entire morning and some of the afternoon, I finally laced up my road shoes and ran out the door. I ran straight up the hill and turned to climb another previously daunting hill, reaching the city's high point. I wore no watch, carried no water, didn't even bring a phone. I wore my ipod though, for fear of being alone; I was afraid of what I might think.

Turns out, I didn't think much at all. I ran down to the beach, where the tide was high, the surf rough. I ran up to the rock cliffs, hopped tide pools and climbed up and over the rock wall with waves crashing at my feet. Then after crawling over a huge boulder wedged between the cliff wall and another larger boulder, I took in the choppy ocean beneath sunny skies mixed with rain clouds threatening to burst. Waves crashed up onto the rock ledge as I took this in. I noticed tiny fish swimming in the pools up there.

I took care making my way back down the rock face. A fall here meant a certain plunge into the ocean, with perhaps a few head gnashes along the way. And then I was off again on the sand, running Dana Strands, Salt Creek and Monarch Beaches. It was an uphill climb practically the entire way back home.

And I felt a lot better.

Miles logged: 6.7

Just Enough Time for a Short Run

I didn't have much time this morning. With a desire for hard miles, I drove to Canyon Vistas Park (again forgetting how to get there) and ran down through the finely manicured park into Wood Canyon. Just a few minutes into the trail, I met up with my good friend, Cholla Trail (with very little time to grow anxious over running it). I began running up Cholla the same time as a cyclist made his way.

I said, "After you."

He said, "No, after you." : )

For a while there, I had him beat. Then he finally overcame me about half way up. At the top, he made his way back down Cholla. I took a left and ran up and down Westridge with delight in my heart, sweat pouring down my face. I felt strong and tried to power every hill, making Top of the World in about forty minutes.

Topping off my handheld, I quickly turned back, ending this short run with a well focused speed burst back down Cholla.

Miles logged this morning: 5.9

Looking over the other side of Top of the World (Laguna Beach)

The message that greets me on my way back down . . .

Workin' the Hills

I went for a solo run in Aliso/Wood Canyon Park this morning for some hill work. Very few runners out this morning. I passed one woman running the opposite way on Wood Canyon Trail. There were some cyclists out. Some bunnies and one blue heron. I thought that a nice long warm-up through Wood Canyon would help some with the hills. I'm sure it did. But Cholla was dang hard. I began to feel anxious even approaching it. My run was slow and difficult up and down Westridge, especially toward the end when the climb simply mocked me.

Huge relief to reach Top of the World. I ran through the neighborhoods and about half way through them, passed that same woman I saw on Wood Canyon Trail -- we were doing opposite loops!

Meadows Trail had quite a bit of erosion, which made it difficult to fly down. Music turned to high, I ran down carefully and rather slowly, and even slower back through Aliso Creek Canyon into the ranger station.

Dead-dog tired, I hardly had a moment to rest the remainder of the day. But I was dang happy to have put in those excruciatingly difficult miles. That's what's it all about -- tasting that salt running down my face : )

Miles logged this morning: 11.64

Crystal Cove Xterra Training Run

A fitful night of sleep, I woke surprisingly rested at 5 AM, rain pounding down, wind whistling through trees with their branches swaying ferociously. (It was quite a scene -- I'll tell ya!) Gosh, I thought, and I'm going on a trail run. I bundled up good and hit Highway One under darkness. As soon as I made Laguna Beach, rain had ceased.

Thank goodness.

There were about 13 of us in the group today, some of us training for Xterra's 17K next month, others out just for the fun of it : ) Boy am I glad I got a look at that trail before attempting it in the race. It begins on a good mile and a half uphill, up El Moro Ridge to Bommer Ridge (which leveled out some, but was still ascending). Even going down "Pacific Ridge Trail" wasn't all downhill.

Quite a trail -- I've got to get my behind in gear for this one, less than two weeks away. (And I do have a game-plan, but I think I'll start it on Monday : )

Miles logged this morning: 10.6 (17 kilometers)

Despite the trail's difficulty -- it was a beautiful day indeed!

Me in the beanie and gripping a parking pass that I just paid FIFTEEN dollars for, Sheila lacing up for the run, Hank raring to go (photo courtesy Tom)


The climbing begins from step one (photo courtesy Tom)


Group Photo of some of our group (13 total ran today -- again, photo courtesy Tom)


"Mama always told me not to look into the Eyes of the Sun.

But Mama, that's where the fun is"


And I ran with a rain poncho tucked in my belt the whole way!


Heading back (& climbing again)


If I can see it, we're almost there -- see that blue there yonder?


"My Bonnie lies over the ocean . . . "

Some of the guys (I didn't catch everyone's name -- I was too far behind : )
(Tom's photo)


Tom provides cold drinks for all!


Sheila bids Farewell (photo courtesy Tom)

Happy Thanksgiving! 2009 Dana Point Turkey Trot

We began our Thanksgiving celebration the day prior with a BBQ at the beach. I brought my scooter along, with a “maybe” that I’d join my boys. Well, a mom can’t bring her scooter and not scoot along. So on a day that I promised myself physical relaxation I rode my scooter for a couple hours with my three boys along the ocean side. That’s worth giving thanks.

To bed early, I slept restlessly, finally waking at 5:45 for a race that I openly loathe – The Dana Point Turkey Trot. Why do I loathe this race? For one, it bores me practically to death, for two, it is way too crowded, and three, it is so poorly organized, which I won’t go into detail, because it is after all Thanksgiving, and to complain isn’t very thankful.

So why did I run this race that I so desperately loathe? Easy. I can’t not run a 10k race in my own backyard. I just can’t, can’t, can’t.

So, I ran to the race for a warm-up, and squeezed into the crowd. As I crossed the start line, I hit the timer on my wristwatch, aiming to break an hour. The crowd was thick, difficult to plow through, as walkers generally did not line up toward the back. I figured I’d just make up time in the last half.

It was a beautiful day, blue skies, crisp, cool temperature – perfect running weather. There were runners dressed as elves and Santas. We were all knocking into each other that first couple miles, nothing too bad – but the road just thins too much through Doheny Beach, especially since it’s cut in half for the return trip. I reached the 5k mark in 30:29, which is not my best 5k time. Still, there was a chance, I thought to myself, I could break an hour, if I picked it up some. By the time I crossed over onto the island, I was just happy to be more than half way finished, and really didn’t care much anymore about breaking an hour.

At the five mile marker, I looked at my watch and thought to myself, “all I have to do is a ten minute mile to make it.” I didn’t push it too much, and I also didn’t account for the .22 of a mile remaining after mile six – which equals running faster than a ten minute mile!

All’s well that ends well, so they say – and it is true. I didn’t break an hour, coming in at 1 hour, 58 seconds (but I can say that I made it within an hour : ). Also! Today's time is my best 10k time to date – and I surely can’t complain about that.

Will I run this race next year?

Probably so.

My 2009 Turkey Trot Standings:
Results: 1:00:58 (2008 Turkey Trot 1:03:13)
Placed 2,122 out of 3,798 overall
Placed 857 out of 1,998 women
Placed 111 out of 257 women age 40-44 (yeah, next year I enter a new bracket!)

More Speed

It's getting cold out here in the morning. I know, not cold, cold, like say Michigan or Montana cold, but cold for our parts. I don't know for sure, but it had to be low forties (brrrr). Tom and my ears both froze as we made our way down into the canyon. All the more reason to run it fast -- fast for my taste, definately faster than I had run it before, I'm certain.

It was Tom's idea! I wouldn't have come up with such an plan -- more mileage, sure, more hills, why not? But more speed -- yikes! That's dang hard. Last time Tom ran that out-and-back along Aliso Creek Trail and Wood Canyon, he did it in an hour forty minutes. With those climbs toward the end of Wood Canyon, I doubted that I could do it. Flat road, sure (I mean maybe!), but on a trail, didn't think so.

I certainly wouldn't have done it without Tom running alongside me (and sometimes ahead of me). But we did it -- we made those 9 miles of trail in just under an hour forty minutes. Wow. And the IT band didn't even whisper a complaint : )