Back on Hard Week

Don’t you love it when you go out of your way to use an outhouse (it is after all, usually pretty gross in there) and you end up peeing all over your shorts, and a little on your leg too?  That’s how my run started off today.  It’s happened before.  It’ll happen again.  The bushes are a much better choice – in the brush I don’t need to spend so much energy trying not to touch anything.  Instead, I just look out for snakes. 

I’m back on “Hard Week”  of my training plan, which isn’t much different from “Easy Week.”  Yes, it’s more mileage.  But with “Hard Week” AND “Easy Week,” I run 5 days a week.  I’m a 3 to 4 days-a-week runner.  Rarely do I run 5 days a week.    Five days or not though, I truly am enjoying myself.  With four months to go however, I feel I’ve got way more than four months worth of fitness improvement ahead of me.  I’ve got to move it, move it, move it!!

So!  “Hard Week,” yes.  But today was “Short.”  Don’t get me wrong.  Short does not mean easy.  But it does mean FUN!

My Running Adventure to Top of the World this morning:

Miles run today:  6.36 (10.24 km)

Father’s Day Run (Last Day of “Easy Week”)

Happy Father’s Day!  Fortunately today was my last day of an “easy” week.  Granted “easy” in my training plan doesn’t necessarily mean easy.  It simply means less mileage.  

To lessen my time away from home this Father’s Day, I ran straight out my front door.  That meant (gasp) . . .  A ROAD RUN.  Please do not think I have anything against road runners or road running.  As I’ve written before, nowadays, I’m more a trail runner than I am a runner (if that makes any sense). 

I admit, I had a delightful run.  And I was sure to make it a hilly one.  I got in some sand running, and a bit of trails too.  I saw LOTS of other runners and ran through crowds of people.  Also, the wind blew hard the entire six miles.  Amazingly and rather hilariously, every direction I turned, the wind blew straight-on into my face. 

Running down to Dana Strands:

Some seaside running:

Lots of steps to run up to get back to town:

“Headlands” trails:

Overlooking the marina (where I first began running):

A rare looking elevation profile:

Again, happy Father’s Day to all you fathers out there.  Me & Dad pictured below (oh ya, and Mickey too):

Holy Moley

I ran my semi-long run in Trabuco Canyon this morning.   I decided mid-week, it would be Holy Jim.  Holy Moley!  Yup, I ran up Holy Jim for a ten mile out-and-back on purpose.  I love Holy Jim.  And besides, Twin Peaks goes up this trail once and then back down later.  So, I better love it!

Camera on my truck, I snapped a quick picture before heading up the mountain (I have no idea what I’m doing with my hands).  I got a late start, 9:00 AM, so it warmed up pretty quickly:

Holy Jim, How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways:

The first two miles were lush, green and cool.  I hopped boulders and ran along logs at creek crossings:

The descendants of Cussing Jim’s figs towered me along the trail:

After the last creek crossing I began the giant switch-back up to The Main Divide, meeting many hikers along the way:

Climbing for awesome views, one hiker said that I was “crazy.”  And I felt like that was a compliment. 

The climbing didn’t cease for nearly five miles:

And then suddenly, there she was – The Main Divide.  I ran up swatting biting horseflies off my legs, and breathing gnats in through my nose.  LOL:

A tiny bit of discomfort all worth-while for Holy Jim:

As I headed back down Holy Jim, a hiker began slipping behind me on this rocky slope.  She chuckled as I picked up my speed to avoid sliding.  When I recommended she move quickly to avoid sliding, I don’t think she believed me at first.  Someone told me that once while running in Weir Canyon.  I didn’t believe him either.  But I watched him run down a steep slippery slope without sliding while I struggled to stay upright:

 

I ran as quickly as I could on the way down Holy Jim Trail.  Two bikers stopped me to ask if I had bug spray.  Horseflies were biting them as well. By then I had become proficient of swatting the giant flies off without even taking my eyes from the trail.  I didn’t have bug spray, and the mountain bikers didn’t seem too pleased when I warned them about the gnats further up the mountain.  “Breathe through the nose,” I said.  Anyone who has ever practically choked on a gnat, as I have more than once, might find this worthwhile advice. : )

And the sun came out stronger; I ran faster, tripping only once.  I attempted to pivot on the switch-backs, which I found I was too fearful to do while running fast.  However, even stopping to pivot off one leg, seemed more efficient than running fast tiny steps around the sharp corners. 

Oh the glory.  Look closely, a little lower than mid-photo and you will see the trail I ran down (& up ):

I passed more and more hikers making their way up to Santiago Peak in the hot weather.  I chatted briefly with one large group of hikers and the motherly-teacher in me gestured for one of the women to twirl around.  You see, she was empty handed, and when she followed my request and turned around for me (I guess I have an aura of authority sometimes) I exclaimed, “Where’s your water?”  That’s when I noticed that hardly any of the hikers carried water.  “Oh, don’t worry,” she said, “he’s carrying my water.”  Apparently a couple guys were carrying water for the whole group.  Not enough, I thought to myself.  That’s when I gave them directions to the spring and let them know that I’ve drank from it plenty of times.  Yes, it was gorgeous up there, but it was HOT.  I drank the very last drop of my 64 fluid ounces as I approached my truck.  Then I guzzled down what I had inside of the car. 

Holy Jim Profile:

The satellite:

Short, Short, Short

This morning was Short #3 of Short, Short, Short on Easy Week.  The weather was the same as yesterday – dreary.  BUT, I am not complaining.  No siree.  I am fortunate that I can run trails.  And I am fortunate that even though I am pretty much dirt poor, I can still afford to run (and running ain’t cheap!). 

Three short runs back-to-back is so odd to me nowadays.  Before and after running, it seemed like I had all the time in the world to tend to other things like laundry, dishes, ab work, weights, etc., etc., and still have plenty of time to get to work.

I ran the same out-and-back today as Tuesday and Wednesday.  Entering Wood Canyon from an Aliso Viejo Neighborhood park, I ran up Cholla Trail and ran the rolling hills (in the end not so rolling) of Westridge to Top of the World.  I tried to beat yesterday’s time which was 13 minutes faster than Tuesday’s time.  But I was a minute slower today than yesterday (that’s still 12 minutes faster than Tuesday!).  All is good on the run.  I felt strong.  And according to my garmin, my fastest pace was 8.25 (that’s down from 9.17 yesterday and 10.39 on Tuesday.)  I’m getting faster on the downhills.  Oddly, it’s harder to increase my pace on the downhills than it is on the uphills.  With the downhills, especially technical downhills (that is rocky, rutted trails) there’s always the fear factor – the fear that I’m going to eat dirt.  And I don’t want to eat dirt. 

Running up Cholla Trail:

On Westridge, headed toward Top of the World:

Looking down on Laguna Canyon Road (take it all the way to Main Beach in Laguna Beach):

The Ups and Downs:

Short, Short

Today was Short, Short of Short, Short, Short.  That is 3 consecutive short runs, mid-week of my “easy” week.  If it sounds confusing, it isn’t.  I sometimes have the knack for making the straightforward sound confusing.

The skies were gray, the air heavy with water – so heavy, I needed to use my windshield wipers on the drive out to Aliso/Wood Canyons.  To top it off, with no sun in sight, the weather was a tad chilly.  If you’ve read my blog posts, you may have noticed, I DO NOT LIKE RUNNING IN COLD, DARK, WET WEATHER.  But, alas, I was ready and willing to run, and it was in the training plan.

I took off running into Wood Canyon about 10:00 this morning, and ran my semi-usual short run to Top of the World – a place in the coastal hills, named after an exclusive neighborhood up there that overlooks Laguna Beach and the Pacific Ocean.  Not many runners were out on this socked-in morning.  But as usual of late, I saw plenty of hikers and mountain bikers.  One of my neighbors rode up alongside me, and we chatted a bit before she rode off to join her husband.  It’s so fun to see people I know on the trails. 

Most of the time, I make this “out-and-back,” more of a lollipop by taking a detour onto Park Avenue Nature Trail, which loops back to Westridge at Top of the World.  The green, rocky canyon views are awesome from Park Avenue Nature Trail.  Plus, I get more elevation on the detour.  Today however, I didn’t loop it at the end of this out-and-back to make that lollipop.  Instead, I ran a true out-and-back by turning around at Top of the World and taking the exact route back.  Extending this run .15 of a mile, I completed it 13 minutes faster than yesterday’s “Short” to Top of the World.  That makes this middle-aged Mom happy.

Making my way on a Westridge “off-shoot,” headed toward a little hill I’ve named “Good Girls Don’t.”

Yup, that’s what we call “socked-in.”

Greetings once again from Top of the World:

Miles logged:  6.32

A Mile Here, A Mile There

I missed last week’s training total by 4.99 miles.  I’m not going to stress over it.  I told myself when I got on my first training plan ever, that I’m going to have adjustments.  My Uncle Bo dying and my brother and his family visiting California before they moved to England, seemed like good enough reasons for adjustment.  There will probably be some weeks that I go over the target total mileage I’m sure.  A mile here, a mile there – I don’t think it’s really going to matter. 

The general weekly plan is Hard, Hard, Easy – that is 2 hard weeks, then 1 easy week.  This week is easy week.  Yes, I know I’m only in my second week.  But before I even began my Twin Peaks training plan, I made an adjustment.  I cut out Week One because I was in recovery mode from Nanny Goat.  Easy weeks ideally will go like this:  rest, short, short, short, rest, semi-long, short. 

Today was short!  How short is short?  Well, short is relative that’s for sure.  For me, short is six miles.  (Short will gradually increase over the months leading to the big race.)

“Easy” of course, does not really mean easy.  I ran to The Top of the World in Laguna Beach this morning – my favorite sixish miles out-and-back run.  There’s plenty of climbing, but nothing like local mountain running out here.  I did however get in around (less actually) 1,500 feet of elevation gain. 

The weather was hot at the bottom (in Aliso Viejo).  By the time I reached the top, the weather was cloudy and cool.  I couldn’t even see the ocean which is usually a 180 degree view from Top of the World.  Overall, today’s run was fun, a bit crowded with hikers (crowded meaning, I saw a dozen or so) and anxiety-free as far as running went.  I did however go through a worry stage, completely unrelated to running.  You could say I was wrought with worry and wasn’t taking advantage of the beauty around me one bit.  I prayed for release of the worry, and for hope, and suddenly began focusing in on my surroundings.  At that point, I truly enjoyed The Run.  And at another point shortly after that, I actually had no idea where I was on the trail.  Now, I’ve run Westridge on average twice a week for over 4 years.  Considering an even four years at 52 weeks per year, minus 6 weeks for out of town travelling, leaves 202 weeks x 2.  I’ve run Westridge around 400 hundred times.  And for a blissful moment, I didn’t recognize where I was!  Amazing. I just was where I was, which was nowhere in particular.  That really is a lovely thing. 

Greetings once again from Top of the World:

Running back along the rolling hills of Westridge:

6.15 hilly miles (nearly 10k) run this morning.  Glory to the short run!