Playin’ not Trainin’

If I do so declare myself, Thursday was THE HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR.  With the boys back in school, I wouldn’t be able to hit the trails at Aliso/Wood Canyons until late morning.  Therefore, I decided that today’s trail running was a day for playin’, not for trainin’.

I also tried out the New Balance low profile 101’s for the first time on this hottest day of the year.  With all my shoes I take out the insoles because they have arch support, and I don’t want to add more arch support to  my orthotics.  But these shoes’ insoles had no arch support whatsoever.  I decided to leave them in, hoping to enjoy the cushion.  

I literally wound my way in and out of my favorite trails: Wood Creek, Coyote Run, Dripping Cave.  Pretty quickly in the park, after a slew of cyclists passed me on their way out, I didn’t see a single soul on the trails for miles.  They’d have to be PSYCHO to run in this heat. 

A delightfully shady entrance to Dripping Cave Trail

Dripping Cave has been one of my favorite trails for a long time.  And I’ve also tried on occasion to catch a photo of me sitting in one of the overgrown trees with gnarly roots above ground (great stairs).  Mice poked their heads out of the root crevices as I climbed up these roots to get up on the cliff and set up my camera.  The problem with catching this photo is I’ve only got ten seconds once I click the button to slide down the small cliff, hop up into the tree, walk onto the branch and sit down.  Not an easy feat.  But since today was a day of playin’ and not trainin’ I wasted about ten shots before I finally got a decent one. 

Of course I had to stop at Dripping Cave and goof around a bit there.  Same problem here of course.  Only ten seconds to run across the bridge and pose.  It was a lot easier than the tree pose though.

By the time I reached the end of Wood Canyon it really felt like I was running in a furnace.  The outhouse was a downright OVEN.  I could barely stand it.  Actually, I thought it was probably pretty safe to keep the door open, as not a single soul traversed the trails.  The little guy (photo below) found a nice HOT refuge.  I shot the photo below then flew out that oven door to find a county worker in knee high rubber boots waiting to clean the outhouse.  I quickly tucked away my camera, lest he wonder what the heck I was doing in there.  LOL.

While Wood Canyon was a furnace, Meadows was an INFERNO.  I took the handkerchief filled with ice out of my pack and put it on top of my head, beneath my cap to make that run. I ran the entire way, my feet feeling like I was wearing winter wool socks.  

Running up Meadows with pack of ice beneath my hat

Trail runner’s worst nightmare if she’s not paying attention

I liked the shoes.  They were comfortable and definitely promoted a mid-foot strike.  But by the time I reached the top of Meadows, my feet were BURNING UP.  I ran straight to the kiosk and found two other psychos, females on bikes cooling off in the shade.  I tore off my shoes and ripped out the insoles and after chatting with the women, continued on my run.  With the ice melted, I took the handkerchief out and draped it over my head.  As I made my way up the next climb into Top of the World, I noticed another psycho  runner making his way in my direction.  I stopped at the top of the hill to look closer and recognized the runner’s floppy hat.  It was Jeffrey!  (The guy I ran in with at Saddleback Marathon).

Delighted to have company we ran together across Top of the World, then West Ridge.  That’s where I turned off onto Mathis for my brilliant plan for a steep run down and more climbing. 

Running West Ridge with Jeffrey

I do not exaggerate when I say that running down Car Wreck with direct sun blaring down on me felt like I was running alongside a roaring fire.  My goodness!  I could not wait until I reached the bottom where I’d finally hit shade.  My handkerchief was dry, but I still had plenty of fluids in my pack after refilling at Top of the World.  Fortunately, I came upon several Orange County Conservation Corps workers and they very kindly allowed me to use their ice-cold water to cool down my head and drench my handkerchief.  They were all wearing long sleeves and pants, and all laughed out loud when I answered a question.  One young man asked how long I had been running.  My answer, 3 hours (of course there were the climbing tree and cave and top of Meadows breaks). 

The climb back up to the ridge via Mathis was plain old TORTUOUS.  I took out my 20 oz. Gatorade which was a block of ice when I put it in.  With the ice melted, it was still cool and certainly helped me get up that exposed climb.  Though hot, I was not heat exhausted and ran West Ridge and Cholla trail in.  I drank my very last amount of fluids with only about a quarter mile left.

Running West Ridge, Santiago Peak in the distance

Miles logged Thursday morning:  12.67.  I was a bit fatigued and wanted to take a nap.  But after getting all our boys home,  ALL THE POWER WENT OUT.  If you live anywhere in the vicinity, you definitely know (it was all the news) that everyone lost power from South Orange County all the way down into some of Mexico and all the way to the Arizona border – that’s huge.  Ours was out from 3:30 til about 11 PM. 

Elevation Profile:

Santiago Peak Take 2 (Gnats taste yucky)

My plan was to run up to Santiago Peak again this morning with two running friends.  After checking e-mails at 4:15 AM, I learned one friend couldn’t make it.  So it was two running up the mountain this morning. 

I arrived to a dark dirt lot a couple minutes before 5:30, no Tom.  I thought well, I’ll give him until 5:40 (because duh! I didn’t bring his phone number).  With one minute left, and me deciding whether to go back home and crawl into bed, or to drive to Aliso/Wood Canyons and run some coastal trails (I was leaning toward sleep), Tom B. text’d me to say he’d be five minutes.  And I was just getting used to the idea of more sleep.

Let me say this:  I’m so happy that I didn’t get that extra sleep.  I’m even happy about all those gnats that I breathed in, then spit to the ground (they tasted yucky).  I’ll tell you why.  Tom wanted to run to the top, and he had to do it in three hours.  I chuckled out loud when he said that.  Then I said, “Well, when you reach the top, you can turn around and when we meet, I’ll run down with you.”  Needless to say, I lacked confidence that I could do it.  But I kept that timing in mind, and also a close look on the garmin the entire trip up. 

I made it to the top in EXACTLY three hours.  No leg cramps.  I suffered some from the climb, yes.  The climb was still extreme.  And the gnats were even worse than last week.  I believe hundreds at a time swarmed my face.  It wasn’t a matter of keeping my mouth shut.  At certain points, simply breathing sucked those gnats right into my mouth.  But the weather had to be at least ten degrees cooler than last week.  And I ran much, much more of the Main Divide that I did last Sunday.

Elevation Profile of this morning’s run:

Heading up (Holy Jim, then the Main Divide)

Tom takes in view on Santiago Peak

Posing before above a multitude of cities and the Pacific Ocean:

No, that is not a beer in my hand (it’s coconut water)

The run down went slower than I hoped (than perhaps we both had hoped).  Swatting gnats with my handkerchief, the temperature grew some and I warmly welcomed the shade and an occasional breeze. 

Tom and I hit Holy Jim about the same time.  Then after a steep descent we ascended a bit.  That’s when Tom passed and I felt the first warning of heat exhaustion.  I actually had to stop in the shade for some seconds to gather my wits.  I pulled an ice cold Gatorade (slushy with ice) from my pack and ran down that mountain ONE STEP AT A TIME. 

I saw Tom in the distance, but made no big effort to catch him.  I gather, he was just as eager to get down that remaining 5 mile climb as I was.  When I came upon the spring, that “saved” us all last weekend, I stopped.  Then I leisurely cooled down.  I practically took a bath in that dribbling water.  When I was finished I had an ice-cold handkerchief on my head, brain freeze from the slushy Gatorade, and a handheld filled with spring water in my pack just in case I ran out of fluids.

Completely refreshed, I raced down that mountain, running as quickly as possible attempting to catch Tom.  I tripped several times, but remained upright (amazingly) each time.  On two particularly bad stumbles my calves cramped-up and I thought for sure that I was going to eat dirt.  (core work does help with falls!).

Just when I thought I wasn’t going to catch Tom, I looked up and there he was cooling down in the stream as I crossed.  Guess what he said.  It’s something I’ve heard frequently recently.  He said, “I ran out of water.”  (And he was carrying a lot of water going in).

Thank goodness, we only had about a mile left.  I offered him my spring water.  But he declined.  I had just enough water in my hydration pack to make that last mile.  And that last mile was very difficult.  But not as difficult as last week.  Cloud cover came in.  People by the dozens were hiking up (with seemingly little water).

Though we made it down in a little more time than hoped, I’d say we did pretty dang good.  Tom’s time limit to get to the top was a GREAT motivator.  Thanks Tom.   

Running down the mountain

Holy Jim’s beauty

Last creek crossing before making it to the truck (where ice-cold water and Gatorade await)

16.41 miles run today.

According to my garmin, I made this trip about an hour quicker overall, than last Sunday. 

Just Be

Thursday, I wasn’t up to running as planned.  I woke to run, then fell back asleep on the couch at 5AM.  When I woke at 7ish, I simply sat on the couch.  Well, I did sip my coffee.  The house was still sleeping, even our puppy was asleep.  So, I packed a gym bag and spent two hard hours at the gym.  I upped the resistance to 12 on the elliptical crossramp and pushed hard.  I upped all the weights one notch as well. 

Friday I woke a little sore and wondered why.  Then I fell back asleep on the couch at 5AM AGAIN.  When I woke at 8ish, only our middle son was awake.  I packed my hydration pack and with coffee in hand, drove off for Aliso/Wood Canyons. 

The skies were cloudy, the air misty in Wood Canyon.  As I set off running, I had two goals in mind.  They had nothing to do with pace or distance.  First, I’m continuing to work on form.  My running friend Tom B. (who I saw on the trails this morning) noticed on our last run in the Santa Ana Mountains that I had a bit of a heel strike on down hills.  I really wanted to concentrate on eliminating that heel strike.  My second goal sounds simple, but was really quite difficult – that is to JUST BE.  Enjoy the moment.  Observe my thoughts without judgment and focus on my body, what it felt like when the breeze hit, what it felt like to run up that strenuous Meadows Trail.  In other words, live in the moment, and enjoy the present.  Just be.

And that is what I did.  (But it was hard sometimes)

A little detour to Dripping Cave, one of My Happy Places

Quick “breather” in Dripping Cave (AKA Robbers Cave)

At top of Meadows Trail, running ridge to enter Top of the World

10.45 miles run today (16.82 km).  AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.  And I felt strong.  Finally. My route:  Wood Canyon, a bit of Dripping Cave, Cave Rock, back to Wood Canyon, Meadows, Top of the World, Park Ave. Nature Trail, West Ridge, Cholla. 

Elevation Profile:  +1749/1732’

The Aftermath . . . There’s Always the Aftermath

There’s always the aftermath of what?  Usually it’s a race.  This time is wasn’t a race, it was just a run, an ordinary run to the highest peak in our mountains.  Well, not quite ordinary (see last post).  I got a cramp that lasted THREE DAYS. 

Though I rested Monday, I did go on a hike with my oldest son.  Planned to visit the gym.  Didn’t. 

Tuesday, I left my house later than planned, arriving on the trails after 7AM.   I decided to run my normal loop in Aliso/Wood Canyons counter-clockwise instead of clockwise.  Running up Meadows this morning didn’t seem like the best idea with the cramp, so I decided to run my loop counter-clockwise, which makes for a longer, yet gradual climb.

The weather was cool and cloudy.  Relief.

Someone turned on the air conditioner!!

I met  running friend on West Ridge and we chatted a bit.  I felt fine, not too quick, but my mood was pretty neutral.  Then sometime into this run, a dark cloud of gloom appeared above my head.  Depressed, I began the terrible self-talk, things like, “I pretty much SUCK at everything I do.  EVERYTHING.”  This sort of thing happens to me more than I wish.  And it usually happens after a big run, usually a marathon. 

Such thoughts are not good for running.  They were painful, so once I could no longer stand the wallowing, I forced those thoughts out of my mind.  The only way that I could keep them gone was to run with a completely blank mind.  Which I did.

Top of the World

Leaving Meadows Trail

Running through Wood Canyon, the sun now shining, I’ve got plenty of Sycamore shade

Miles run on Tuesday:  9.63

Santiago Peak

Santiago Peak (known also as the “talking peak”) is the highest point in the Santa Ana Mountains.  It’s one of the two peaks of the region we call Saddleback Mountains, named after the two peaks that form a “saddleback” up there.  We can see it from miles and miles away.   When I moved out here more than twenty years ago, I never dreamt that I would “run” up to it.  I would have thought someone who did was a little bit insane.

I have never run to Santiago Peak as a trail runner.  I have never been to Santiago Peak.  But I needed to get up there, because a friend has asked that I pace him for the last twenty miles of a 50 mile race (the 50 miles has 17,000 of elevation gain!).  He will go to this peak twice; I will accompany him on the second time.  Honored to be asked to pace, I gladly accepted.  So, I figure it’s my JOB to get to know that peak well.  Time is fleeting.

I was very lucky to have three others accompany me:  (from left to right – Me, Tom, Michael, Jeremy).

I didn’t feel my strongest this morning.  I plugged away up Holy Jim which was nice and dark from shade at first.  The gnats came on strong at first too.  As soon as we got out of the shade and the climb began to increase, I fortunately lost those annoying gnats.  They focus on the face, fly into your mouth, up your nose, into your ears.  I spit out several.  And at one point, I felt something on my front tooth and upon investigating found a smashed gnat.

Fun.

The run up Holy Jim was fun too.  I felt confident that the heat would not attack us as everyone feared.

Running Holy Jim before the climb steepens

Notice the gnats on my face – just wait.

Digging deep to finish running Holy Jim

Jeremy was waiting for me at Bear Springs (on the Main Divide).  The gnats were out in extreme abundance, which is why Tom and Michael just kept on going.  As soon as I hit the Main Divide, I continued on up with Jeremy.  We stopped in the shade a ways up (when the gnats left)  so that I could pack an empty water bottle, put on a bandana.  Then all of a sudden, as we took off, a terrible, severe pain hit my calf.  I couldn’t figure out what happened.  If I had been alone, I would have turned back then and there because I really didn’t think I could take the pain all the way to the top.  I told Jeremy to go ahead, that I’d either catch up or text him if I turned back. 

I stretched, but could barely hold it.  I took some salt pills, and I moved onward.  Hiking.  I had come this far, I decided that I was going TO THE TOP.   I didn’t know how I was going to do it, when suddenly I realized something I read recently – that pain doesn’t exist in the present.  I know that sounds extremely odd.  Without going into pages on this concept, I’ll just say that I  focused on staying in the very moment I was in.  Surprise, surprise!  When I was able to do that, my pain completely disappeared!  Not for long though.  I couldn’t keep it up – staying in the moment that is.  The heat was growing and the climb grew steeper.

The Main Divide going up to Santiago Peak

Tom meets me on his way down from peak in hopes to beat the heat. 

Sweating it out while the gnats attack full force (they don’t bite – they’re just annoying as heck!) If you click pic for a larger view & look very closely you should see gnats EVERYWHERE, look to chin, shoulder, bandana – you can even see their shadows.

Finally, we reached the peak.  All 3 of us meandered around the towers, took photos, readjusted, basically taking our sweet time before taking off.  I was WORN OUT.  The pain in my calf continued to bother me, but to a lesser extent.  The gnats were not at the top thankfully.  There were workers installing new generators.  There were motocross riders, motorcycle riders, mountain bikers.  No other runners, or even hikers. 

Why it’s known as “Talking Peak.”

Posing at the top

The view from Santiago Peak

Locating landmarks, our neighborhoods, etc.

Then it was time for the run down.  It had to be 100 F.  We took upper Holy Jim down to the Main Divide.  Spreading apart quickly,  I ran that single track alone.  It grew quite technical at the end with boulders and lots of twists and turns, not to mention steepness.  With that heat bearing down, I wanted nothing more than to reach Lower Holy Jim.  That’s when I would finally get some shade. 

I didn’t see either of the guys at Lower Holy Jim, so I focused on running quickly, careful not to trip.  I imagined the two were already down at the truck waiting for me.  I do not think that I can adequately describe just how hot that run was going down Holy Jim.  It felt like blow torches were scorching my legs.  My bandana had completely dried.  I guzzled down so many fluids (with Nuun tablets dissolved in it) that I feared that I would run out.  I brought with me 100 fl. ounces.  And I had one handheld left tied to the back of my pack.

After about a mile down this five mile trail I came across Michael in a shady part as he wetted down his shirt in the tiny creek that ran across the trail.  I was so hot I was a little confused and had just drank the last of my fluids in my pack.  Michael stood up and said, “I’m out of water.”  I told him that I’d split my remaining handheld with him.  Then I said, “Where’s Tom?”

Michael looked at me with a funny look.  “Tom?” he said.  Then, he seemed to me that he was confused at my comment.  “Ah, he left . . . Tom?” 

I had forgotten that “Tom” (the one who had already run down).  I was confusing Jeremy’s name with the other Tom I knew.  Finally, it dawned on me.  “Jeremy!  Where’s Jeremy?”  I don’t know if you realize my surprise that I even found Michael and then learned that Jeremy was behind me.  I was imagining they were way, way ahead of me.

So, there Michael and I were, stooped down in the shade, splitting up hot water when Jeremy came running up.  “I’m out of water,” he said. 

Yikes.  Now it was time to split up my water 3 ways, when Jeremy noticed that the source of the creek was coming from a spring in a small cutout in the mountain wall.  “This water’s filtered,” Jeremy said, “It’s coming from the ground.”  He filled up his handhelds, saw that it was clear and drank up.  Michael and I were reluctant.  Then I finally gave in, filled my handhelds and guzzled down delicious ice cold water.  I really couldn’t have cared less if I was going to be vomiting for it later.  Michael gave in too, and we were off running again, refilled for the remaining 4 miles.

Those four miles downhill were the longest, most difficult four miles I can remember in a long, long time.  Though I was able to keep heat exhaustion at bay, I fell once (more like slipped) and my ice-cold water turned downright hot.  No kidding! 

As I ran down Holy Jim, I got a view of the trail like I never had running up it.  I thought to myself, “I run up this thing.  I. AM. CRAZY.”  I felt like I never, ever wanted to run again. 

I came in right behind Jeremy to the truck.  And we both looked at each other as if to say “O. M. G.”

We found Michael laying down in the creek.  He had found a nice pool down stream that we couldn’t even think of walking to.  So we simply sat in the stream where we were to cool down. 

When I finally got back to my truck (parked about 5 miles away), my limp was strong.  Only after a cold bath at home and some stretching has the pain subsided a great deal.  I can now walk around without a limp.  And I’m pretty sure it’s a cramp not an injury.  I’ve just never had a cramp like this. 

One more thing, my little delusional moment when I thought I might never run again is gone.  I just probably won’t run tomorrow.  In all, I’m glad I made the trip to Santiago Peak.  And I plan to again.  The views were breathtaking.  The company was great.  I did feel a little badly being that I planned today’s run and it ended up so dang hot.  Hopefully today’s experience will make us all stronger. 

Approaching Holy Jim end

At creek, assessing leg for wounds due to fall earlier (nothing major, just two tiny cuts)

16.61 miles logged

+4,704 / -4,749 feet