7 Months Later

Sometimes when I run a trail race, I’m all alone for miles.  Other times, it’s me and a few other runners.  Sometimes it’s just me and one other runner.  There are times when you’re running together for just a little while.  And there are times when you are together for some hours (Calico!).  A couple weeks ago there was the women that I ran with for a while when we both took a wrong turn in Malibu Creek State Park. 

There’s a bonding that goes one when you run with a stranger through lonely parts of a race.  You help each other through with conversation, perhaps a gel.  And when it’s over you feel like old friends.  Old friends who rarely ever see each other again.  It’s kind of sad.  But you get over it, and go onto the next race.  If not that, you go on enjoying your trails. 

I’m pretty sure that I’ve passed sixty races in my relatively short running “career”, and I’ve got to say that I’ve run some lonely trails with quite a few strangers.  I very rarely have ever seen any of them again. 

That is until today!

So, TODAY, I took another lovely run in Aliso/Wood Canyons, a loop up Meadows.  Just before I really started climbing I came across a snake basking on the trail.  I couldn’t see her tail, therefore, couldn’t be sure if she was a rattler.  I can’t rely on color, because I’ve seen rattlesnakes with varying colors.  If I was thinking, all I had to do was look at her head.  I know a rattler’s head.  There’s no mistaking.  Instead, I hollered at it.  She didn’t flinch.  I picked up sticks and tossed them close up to her.  She still didn’t flinch.  (By the way study sticks carefully before picking them up, because they just might be a snake!)  I really wasn’t in the mood for running and leaping over her, and I sure as heck wasn’t going to run off-trail into the thick brown grass.  THAT is how you get bitten. 

I hid back a ways on the trail – maybe she’d think I left and continue her trek.  She didn’t flinch.  Finally I took big heavy fast steps straight at her and she quickly slithered off trail.  That’s when I saw the skinny tail – no rattles.  

1 1/2 miles into park, turning onto Meadows Trail

The stubborn snake

Running up Meadows Trail

Running the local mountains has dwarfed Meadows Trail.  When I reached the top, I thought to myself, is this the top?  It can’t be!!  Now, I’m not saying that running up Meadows is anywhere near easy.  But it’s definitely easier after the likes of Holy Jim.

At top of Meadows Trail, overlooking Pacific Ocean, acting like a goofball.

I reached Top of the World feeling strong.  I took my usual (of late) little detour onto Park Avenue Nature Trail.  As I ran, I debated whether I should run Car Wreck Trail down or Mathis.  I really wanted to run Car Wreck, because I get to run also through the fairyland Oak Grove Trail.  But time was fleeting, as usual.  I could take Mathis at a much faster pace than Car Wreck.  I had to pick my youngest up from school.

View of Pacific Ocean from Park Avenue Nature Trail

Witch’s Hair (Dodder) draped over flowery brush

At pretty much the last minute I decided to run Mathis down to Dripping Cave, flinching as I passed Car Wreck.  I ran the mostly exposed, sometimes rock trail at a fun pace, enjoying the gorgeous green canyon.  Then running down the last hill, I noticed another runner.  I hardly see runners on the trails that connect the canyons to the ridge – mostly I see runners on the ridge or in the canyons. 

Just as we passed each other, he said, “Are you Lauren?” 

A bit startled, because I didn’t recognize him one bit, my response was a little juvenile.  “Ya.  Why?”  (I chuckle to myself now!)

Turns out that runner was Jeff, the guy I ran with for the last three, even more maybe four or five miles of the Saddleback Marathon. 

Wow!  I was so happy to see him today.  I’m so glad that he recognized me.  To think that we could have run past each other without knowing!! His company really helped me finish that November race!  Since Saddleback, I often wondered about Jeff, because I knew he also trained in Aliso/Wood Canyons.  But now over 7 months since the marathon, I figured he was like so many runners that I’d never meet up with again. 

I’ll tell ya!  I felt ecstatic, like I had met up with an old friend.  So funny, I could not recognize his face at all!  He is slimmer and also has a beard and mustache now, which may be why I didn’t recognize him.  (If you’ve watched my Saddleback Marathon video, he’s the guy toward the end that my camera catches glimpses of).  Though I didn’t recognize his face, I definitely recognized his voice.  Isn’t that funny?  Someone I met once, I recognize his voice. 

“Old” friends (not as in old age ) meet up on the trail.  (I look a mess – and if I weren’t so happy over seeing this “old” friend, my vanity would have stopped me from posting this pic.)

I was even happier at that point for choosing Mathis over Car Wreck Trail.  Afterward, I took a fun little jot up Dripping Cave.  Then stopped for a photo-op in the cave. 

I say, it’s good to follow your instincts, intuitions, inclinations, whatever you call them.  So many times, they have led me to surprises.

Dripping Cave Trail

Posing in the cave

9.60 miles run today. +1536/-1530

No Woes

I am now one of those people using a broken-up cracked cell phone and am happy to do it!  I like having a junky phone – ideal for the trails.  Turns out I dropped it on my last run (on the road!)   Fortunately, someone found it, called and returned it.  And it still works same as before (for now). (I will be the last person I know to buy a “smart" phone.)

Went for a delightful trail run today.  Had very little time, but I needed to get rid of my woes.  Not permanently of course.  Such is life.  Instead, I set them aside momentarily for a bit of running:

Running up Cholla Trail (.5 to 1.00 on graph above & miles 5.5 to 6) – today’s route to the ridge:

Top of Cholla, ready to run West Ridge Trail

Running along West Ridge.  Which Trail did I take?  Hmmmmm . . .

Well, you’re reading the blog of a single-track lover.  I took the right trail, so that I could see this:

And this:

Back on West Ridge, another fork in the road.  Which trail did I take?  You probably have guessed the pattern.  Single-track minded, I took the right.

After running to Top of the World, I took another single track detour onto Park Avenue Nature Trail to end up back on West Ridge, with much of it’s trail laid out before me. 

Miles run this morning: 6.4

One Way Trip

Spent the morning resting – that is making lunches, getting the boys off to school, running errands, scrubbing our bathroom floors, toilets, tub, sweeping floors, vacuuming, doing dishes, laundry.  And then I went to work.  LOL.

I ran home from work this evening.  And let’s just say, I wasn’t feeling the love.  Fatigued, I enjoyed the cool breeze.  But I got spooked by a boy holding a baseball bat over his shoulder like he was going to swing as I ran by him.  I actually lurched out of the way at the last second, crashing my garmin into a street sign’s pole. (He didn’t swing)  And I grew really annoyed at a lady who when making a left hand turn, waited way, WAY too long to stop as I ran (legally, I might add) across the street. 

I am so dead-dog tired, already in my pj’s, I’m going to grab myself some water and a book and go lay in bed.  I’m hoping tomorrow to get to responding to past comments.  That’s one of my favorite things to do.

Miles run this evening:  6.38

About 1/3 mile into my one-way trip home from work. 

I kind of felt like I was running in a penitentiary.

Stacking Rocks / Something people in my parts do.  This one has just begun growing.  They can get quite elaborate. 

Holy Jim? Holy Cr*p!

I was so fortunate to have a taker again for another run in our local mountains, someone else crazy enough to run up Holy Jim – they’re out there.  Yes, they are!  Today, I took the trip beneath dry skies with Tom Bychowski up  Holy Jim (also referred to by some as “Holy Cow” or “Holy Crap”.)  Now my 3rd time up, it isn’t that bad.  What Holy Jim is, is LONG.  Sure it’s uphill.  But the grade isn’t ridiculously steep (much less than Horse Thief).  Five miles uphill, I’m pretty sure is long by most people’s standards. 

Holy Jim begins in the canyon and goes all the way to The Main Divide (the ridge that overlooks Riverside County and Orange County).  Holy Jim trail is green and gorgeous with several stream crossings, lots of shade cover and then pretty much exposed, single-track, switch-back, high in the sky.  I found it difficult to keep up with Tom (& actually I didn’t that much), but I didn’t worry about that so much.  I just kept plugging away, trying hard to look up and not down. 

The trail is simply glorious.

Crossing stream on Holy Jim Trail

Tom on Holy Jim Trail – it’s switch-back time!

Self portrait going up Holy Jim Trail

Don’t rightly recall how I got in front of Tom here on Holy Jim, but it was an ideal photo-op.

More Scenes going up Holy Jim:

Finally running The Main Divide

That’s Lake Elsinore below – beneath the clouds:

Running down West Horse Thief (Tom thought a good rename would be Crazy Horse – I agree).  Rocky, switch-back, back beneath the clouds:

Getting closer to Trabuco Creek on West Horse Thief

Coming in for the final stretch on Trabuco Trail to finish up this 14 mile run was long indeed.  I was thankful for shade bursts, though the weather was cool.  Thing was, I ran out of water toward the end.  Dreaming of a tall glass of ice water helped keep me running.  Then I remembered the first time I ran these mountains with the other Tom (Tom Fangrow) I spotted a bullet-ridden car.  I didn’t see that car last week.  I didn’t see it during the Saddleback Marathon.  So, I began the search.  And I swear I found it in a very different place, much closer to the trail.   I think our December rains moved it some. 

Here’s the Car:

Miles logged today:  14

No elevation profile – I actually forgot to strap on the garmin!  But it’s the same profile as last Sunday.  Hard. 

Retro Run

Hubby dropped me off in the coastal hills today.  I asked him before departing, should I run through the canyon and up Cholla?  Or should I go up Meadows?  He knows both of those trails, Cholla quite well. 

“Through the canyon,” he said.

“What????” I exclaimed.  (I wanted to climb and climb hard!!)

“You already know how to run hills.  You need to work on speed.”  True.  True.  He definitely knows what he speaks of.  But I love running hills.  I hate working on speed.  And I’m just not ready to get back to working on speed.  I promise myself that I will – just not yet. 

Today was a “retro-run.”  No, I wasn’t wearing Dolphins shorts, nor was I wearing Nike’s (that was the first running shoe I recall – though it was actually probably Adidas).  Today was a “retro-run” because I wore my husband’s ipod again.  And since I (we) grew up in the seventies (though he is OLDER than I ), I got to listen to lots of “old” music like I did on yesterday’s run.  And boy, did I enjoy myself.  I found myself actually acting goofy running up Meadows (and that’s quite a climb) as I ran “march-like” to the tunes of Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick.

“The Poet and the painter casting shadows on the water -- as the sun plays on the infantry returning from the sea.

The do-er and the thinker: no allowance for the other -- as the failing light illuminates the mercenary's creed.

The home fire burning: the kettle almost boiling -- but the master of the house is far away.”

Entering the House of Meadows (Oh No!!)

It all seems so innocent enough – lovely orange flowers growing along the trail’s edge. 

Last chance to look back as I cross bridge on Meadows Trail.  I pause to look over onto the dry creek bed (Yes, those are my feet : ) And that silvery thing on my laces is my identification.

Though much of the coastal grass in the meadows is brown, still, lovely spring flowers dot the climb up.

I didn’t see any runners on Meadows.  The trail was also void of hikers.  A mountain biker politely passed me on his way down.  I nearly jumped out of my shoes because I was so much in another world that I didn’t see him (good thing he wasn’t a rattlesnake!).  I apologized profusely for not noticing him ahead of time.  But he said, “no worries,” he had seen me from a ways up the hill.  (I need to run smarter than that – and usually I do, mostly anyway :)

At the top of Meadows Trail, I didn’t even pause to snap a photo.  I kept on running.  Running up the next incline (it was oh so tough), I met a hiker that said, “I’m impressed!” 

I love people with positive words.  I mean, I was struggling pretty well, and she said, “I’M IMPRESSED!”  Little phrases like that make a world of difference.  And I learn from little phrases like that, and try to pass them on.  I don’t always remember to pass them on, but hikers like this lady, without even knowing it, do a world of good helping me to remember.

At Top of the World I reward myself with coconut water

I finished my coconut water running up and down West Ridge Trail.  I felt high, giddy.  That’s what running up Meadows to Top of the World does to me.  (That’s what running to Top of the World does to me period, no matter the route). 

From there, I took Rock It Trail down.  After Sunday’s run down Horse Thief, I figured some technical downhill practice was a good idea. 

Rock It Trail -- trails like this gave me the bad habit of looking down.

At the end of Rock It, I took a right onto Coyote Trail run.  I knew I was going to be about ten minutes late meeting my husband.  I picked up my pace some, relishing the shady areas and quiet creek below. 

Out of the shade I suddenly heard the loudest unmistakable rattling.  You wouldn’t believe how loudly I could hear this rattler, even with headphones on (really, no need to take off headphones to hear a rattlesnake – though I don’t play the music super loud).  I knew the snake was extremely close, and that it was to my left.  There is no way I could mistake that rattling sound.  It doesn’t sound like a single other thing, except a rattlesnake!  I used to think cicadas were rattlers.  Their little creaking doesn’t even compare to a rattlesnake’s rattle. 

Upon hearing this, I didn’t really think.   Letting instinct take over, I simply ran as quickly as possible, to my right, AWAY FROM THE NOISE.  That of course lead me off trail into the dry grass.  I thought, “Oh great, I just ran into tick land and there’s probably another another rattler a few feet away!”  Mind you, this all occurred in about a half of a second.

Well, I flung off the earphones and the sunglasses and searched for the rattler.  Aha!  There she was, across the trail, rattling like mad, coiled up, prepped to strike. 

Well, they can only strike half their body length, so I crept on in and did a photo-op.  She looked REALLY pissed off.  So, I decided to stop the pictures and took off running (but be sure to scroll down for picture).  A couple minutes later, a mountain biker came up from behind.  We excitedly relayed our encounter with the rattler.  He was a little freaked out how close to the trail it was coiled up ready to strike.  “I like to give them their space,” he said.

So do I.

And then a few minutes later, I came across a hiker.  He was wearing full length sweats with a zipper sweat-shirt to match, chatting on the cell phone (I can rarely get service in the canyon).  I said, “There’s a rattlesnake off the trail a bit back.”   He seemed annoyed with me and said, “I’ve seen them before!”

Hmph.  Just trying to be helpful.  Well, actually he would have heard her.  I just wanted to talk, I guess. : )  Seeing a rattler close up and personal excites me a little. 

I ran strong all the way in.  Thirteen minutes late I was, according to my husband.  He was not amused.  But then again, he hadn’t made the trip to our son’s school from that park EVER.  And I knew we had plenty of time.  I told him “No worry,” and for some odd reason, he didn’t believe me.  And I swear, he drove slowly on purpose (really, though, he’s a swell guy : ).  Still, we made it in plenty of time to pick up our cheerful kindergartner and his friend.  All was well.   I don’t know about the snake though. 

Miles run today:  11

ps.  I bought a new ipod shuffle today.  Thankfully, they are not that expensive.

Running to a Different Tune

Two rainy days in a row kept this woman in the gym during her free time.  You might think she would work on her novel, perhaps journal, play the piano, maybe just tune her guitar, strum a couple chords, or even finish one thing from a huge list of unfinished projects (a needlepoint pillow that’s almost, almost finished or “God Forbid” continue that search for a literary agent).

But I just can’t! I have other things to do, lunches to make, clothes to clean some to iron, dishes to wash, toilets to clean, students to teach, family to hug, a son to help double-knot his the shoes, another to listen as he talks incessantly (about interesting things I might add) and another I need to “walk on eggshells” for,  AND of course, the ultimate truth:  I am utterly obsessed.  I am utterly obsessed with strength.  I am obsessed with sweat.  So, if I’m not out there enjoying a run (& hubby’s working and the boys are in school), I feel the constant urge to strengthen, strengthen, strengthen so that I continue to enjoy the run. 

Perhaps this is a mid-life crises. I really don’t think so. I feel no need for a “cool” car.  I don’t need to wear the latest clothing trends.  Thing is, I’m probably past mid-age, unless of course I live past 92 (which could happen : ).

With only one lovely child remaining to drop at school this morning, I checked the website for Aliso/Wood Canyons and yelped out loud.  I added to that, a loud applause.  Then I ran to hubby and asked if I could use the car – Aliso/Wood is open!  It’s open!!

I was so dang giddy that I lost one of my earphone buds.  I neglected to put on Glide.  Despite the burns on my arms left by the seams on my sleeves, this morning’s run was delightful.

Using my husband’s ipod (story too long to tell), I ran to music I haven’t listened to in years.  I mean YEARS. I listened to Creedance, Pink Floyd, Stevie Nicks, even The Who.  Usually I can’t take The Who – they are just too much for me.  Some of you may know what I mean.  Some of you may say, the Who?

As I ran listening to this music, I remembered staying up late, late at night as a child, past midnight on Fridays to watch Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert(Does anyone remember that show?).  I felt awakened so many times watching that show.  I remember guitarists maneuvering across the stage like I had never imagined.  I saw women rock n’ roll like I didn’t think was possible.

Anyway, before I continue on with today’s photo shoot.  Does anyone remember the line “I’ve got a Cobra snake for a necktie.”?  If you do, comment and let me know the song and who sang it.  If you do, I’ll send the first correct answer a small prize.

About 1 mile in on Aliso Creek Trail / Nice cool breeze, no other runners in sight.

The colors are changing on Aliso Creek Trail – still a beauty

Sign at end of Wood Canyon Trail (Yikes!)  Read carefully, it says that mountain lions . . . are known to attack without warning.  Hmmmm.  Wouldn’t that be obvious, I mean, they are cats.  (Don’t mean to make light of any mountain lion attacks, I’m a bit scared myself).

Wood Creek Trail – yes, spring is still in the air, and in the flora.

More Wood Creek Trail (really can’t get enough of this tiny trail) – it was overgrown and filled with spiderwebs this morning (lovely, seriously – loved it).  Surprisingly, there were no mushrooms among the ferns.  Perhaps that’s for another season.  (Note:  after a re-look, this is the “ending” of Wood Creek, looking back, and the beginning of Coyote Run Trail – Oops)

Coyote Trail Run – as I’ve mentioned before, a mystical, seemingly magical trail.  I encountered two mountain bikers on this trail.

More Coyote Run Trail (notice the moss covered rocks in left foreground.)  Those of you familiar with this trail might wonder, how can this picture be – the creek should be on the left.  I turned around a took a picture from where I came from (not travelling forward in picture)

9.31 glorious miles run today.  Can’t wait for next time.  But I’d better get to bed.

ps.  only one snake spotted today It was a baby, but don’t think a rattler, though it had similar coloring (just didn’t notice any rattles at tail end).