On the Trails in Tommie Toes

If you follow my Facebook page, you might know that I won a pair of Tommie Toes.  They’re “all-terrain” sandals that I’ve been tempted to try after hearing about all the barefoot and sandal running going around.  I’ve seen runners wear sandals in big races, like the Chimera 100.  I’ve seen countless barefoot markings on my trails.  And I even saw at least 3 or 4 barefoot runners in the last San Diego Rock N’ Roll Marathon. 

After reading Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run and learning about the Tarahumara Indians, I grew even more curious.  The Tarahumara Indians who live in the mountains of Northern Mexico, run fantastic distances, seemingly effortless.  And they run all these miles in sandals!!  Before reading Born to Run, I couldn’t even walk around the house barefoot.  I ALWAYS wore something on my feet – they were that tender.  Venturing onto the trails barefoot or even in sandals was unimaginable.

Tarahumara sandals:

My friend Tom Bychowski wears sandals similar to those above when he runs the same trails that I run.  Tom is the man behind Tommie Toes.  As you can see he worked with the Tarahumara design a bit and came up with a sandal like this:

Well, I’m not sure if I’m going to become a barefoot or sandal runner.  But I’m for sure going to give it a try.  First, I wanted to get my feet ready.  I began barefoot hiking early this summer.  Ouch!  Ouch! Ouch! The first trip was a bit painful to my feet (while my youngest son ran circles around me in his barefeet on the trail).  Amazingly, my feet grew stronger and barefoot hiking was really cool (as in groovy) and comfortable.  What was NOT cool was stepping on sharp rocks or burning my feet on scorching hot trails.  That’s when I slapped on my Tommie Toes. The sandals took care of both of those problems.  I didn’t notice sharp rocks.  AND the bottoms of my feet remained scorch free while at the same time feeling closely like they were bare.  I don’t think I have the strap adjusted perfectly yet.  But there is a video with strap adjustment directions on the website that I haven’t taken the time to watch very closely.

Hiking with my sons on Car Wreck Trail wearing Tommie Toes:

While they are comfy and attractive, here’s the very best thing about Tommie Toes so far:  They stay on my feet at the beach!!!! The waves do not grab them and wash them away.  I have lost more than one pair of “flip-flops” to the ocean.  Tommie Toes, though minimal, are nothing like flip-flops.  They stay on my feet and they fit snuggly.  I would never be able to hike any distances in flip-flops.  I can in these. 

Just Do It

It’s been a long, long time.  Too long.  This week, I began cross-training again (that is doing workouts that include activities other than running).  This of course is fantastic news for me because I only cross-train in a gym.  In fact I was a gym rat for many years.  THEREFORE, this means . . .  wait for it . . . I have a gym membership once again!  (Thanks to my hubby for this wonderful gift.)

So excited to visit the gym again, I wasn’t able to get out for a run this week until this evening.  But beforehand, I  spent two hours in the gym doing cardio and strength training in the early afternoon.  Back home, I rested up for about two hours.  Then I was off again headed for the coastal hills.  My objective:  to run on tired legs.  And boy were they TIRED.  My legs were so tired in fact, as I set off into Wood Canyon, I really didn’t want to do this short out-and-back at all. 

“Just do it,” I said to myself.  I wonder if Nike, or whoever it was, knew the power of those words when they began using it in their ad campaign.  Just do it.  Just do it.  And I was off, one foot in front of the other, knowing that all I had to do was “do it,” and I would soon be finished.  The steepest portion (Cholla Trail) I found profoundly difficult to run, especially with no breeze and hot weather.  After that, each step became more and more bearable.

I saw two other runners, running together, one hiker and two mountain bikers.  I also saw two coyotes, on separate occasions, one bunny and about twenty-five lizards.   I didn’t run any loop-de-lu’s, like I usually do to fancy-up this out-and-back.  Instead, I ran straight to Top of the World, re-filled my handheld, turned around and ran straight back.  Total miles: 6

Glorious.

View of Pacific Ocean from West Ridge:

Top of the World:

View of Saddleback Mountains from West Ridge:

The Happiest Place on Earth

Around here, a popular saying is “Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth.”  Though I love Disney, I have not found this to be true.  People are agitated, overheated, overcrowded, and extremely tired of crowds and long lines at Disneyland.  Because of this chaos, some people aren’t very polite, and parents here and there are ticked off at their children for tantrums and other misbehaving.  Definitely NOT the happiest place on Earth.  Sorry Disneyland, in my experience, I’ve found ski resorts to be the happiest place on Earth.  Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE smiles at ski resorts.  There’s no overheating, the crowds are nothing like Disneyland’s and everyone is polite to one another.  I once lost $40 at a ski resort.  I went to the “lost and found” – and someone had turned it in!!  This is how happy people are at ski resorts. 

This morning I found a new “happiest place on Earth.”  I arrived to Aliso Wood Canyons at 7AM to find the lots and streets more crowded than I’ve ever seen.  Perhaps people were getting their last adventures in before summer vacation ends.  There were different groups of runners, groups of hikers, and a tremendous amount of mountain bikers.  I ran into Aliso Canyon with an entire high school cross country team.  They all passed me of course.  But everyone, I mean EVERYONE was smiling and polite. 

I turned off the beaten path pretty early on to take Mentally Sensitive up to the ridge.  So, I had the park to myself for a while.  The only adventure was the running in itself, which is a-okay with me.  I’ve had a bit more adventure than I need for now.  As I ran Meadows on the way to Mentally Sensitive I noticed lots of tiny bobcat tracks.  I hoped that I might see her up a ways.  She probably would have been smiling too.  But alas, no bobcat.

Mentally Sensitive:

So much like delicate diamond necklaces:

At the top of Mentally Sensitive, I ran out of the park.  This is where I always run along Top of the World to re-enter the park about a mile away.  I came upon another high school cross country team on this portion.  And at Top of the World, where I posed for a quick picture, twenty or so mountain bikers were resting up at the benches.  All smiling.

I experimented with calories on this run also, that is I took in double than my usual for such a run.  Normally, I would have about 300 calories.  I took in 600 today.  That seemed like too much.  But I felt stronger coming in for the finish.  In fact. I finished this run 15 minutes earlier than I usually do.  And it didn’t seem at all like I ran any faster.

Running up toward Top of the World:

Top of the World, ready to enter the park again and finish up my 13.5 mile loop:

Elevation Profile (the dark vertical line is where I accidentally hit the “lap” button just before re-entering the park):

I Learn

So.  I have no antenna on my truck.  I lost it off-roading.  I witnessed it fling off the truck and whip into the bushes.  When I told my hubby this (months ago), he said, “Nah.  You couldn’t have been driving so hard that you ripped off your antenna.” 

“Yup, I was, and I’m sorry.”

“No.  Look, the threads are still there.  Someone must have unscrewed it.”

“No.  It came off when I was driving.”

“It’s impossible,” he said.  “Someone definitely stole it.”

“Okay, maybe someone stole it.”  I didn’t have the heart to keep insisting that it was all me.   But when we’re super old, sitting in our rocking chairs on the front porch, I’ll bring it up again and come clean.   

Obviously, purchasing an antenna is not top priority.  The downside is that I have no access to the car radio.  This means my truck is now scattered with cd’s.  What point am I getting to here?  None really (let’s just see where it goes).  Today when I ran out to my office to grab yet another cd (because of said antenna), I picked one that I haven’t listened to for years and years.  And as luck would have it, the words to one particular song really hit home.  It made me feel better about all the stupid mistakes I’ve made running trails.  It made me feel better about all my mistakes period.  It made me feel better about trying to running 50 miles when I might not be able to, and if I do, there’s not a chance in heck that I’d come anywhere near placing.  It made me feel better about trying to do a cartwheel or attempting a black diamond run when I’m a mediocre skier.  It made me feel better about losing my car antenna. 

The song is called, “You Learn.”  And I do learn, I really do.  I may not learn as quickly as I’d like to, but I do learn lots running these trails.  I learn lots falling flat on my face.  I learn lots plopping to the dirt from dehydration.  I learn from the rattlesnakes who cross my path.  I learn from the people I meet along the way.  Trails aren’t all beauty.  They aren’t all just an escape.  They are little lessons all over the place waiting to be learned.  This is why I’ve got to get back, and why I’m taking baby steps to do it. 

This afternoon I went out for another “no pressure” run.  Again, I took in some elevation, but shied away from the mileage.  In all I ran about 8 miles.  I brought lots of fluids, and even calories that I knew I would never need.  But I brought them anyway.  Why?  I learned. 

Today’s run down Rock It:

Running along Coyote Run Trail:

Coming out of Wood Canyon:

Wear it out (the way a three-year-old would do)
Melt it down (you're gonna have to eventually anyway)
The fire trucks are coming up around the bend

“You Learn,” Alanis Morissette

Baby Steps

It’s time to come back.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been going through a rough time for a couple years now.  A really rough time running-wise, for about 9 months.  It seems that I’ve lost my way in life which also means my way in running.  And I want to get back! 

Today, I decided not to make any big sweeping promises to myself.  I’m just going to get out there and do it.  As far as the life troubles go, I’ve been motivated lately by a Japanese saying that I took from the book Farewell to Manzanar.  We’ve always said in our family, “It is what it is.”  But those words don’t go far enough.  Instead, I now say, “Shikata ga nai,”  which means, “It must be done.”  The way I see things now is that it is what it is, but it must be done, and I have no choice but to endure.  If trail running hasn’t taught me endurance, then it hasn’t taught me anything.  That’s what I say.

So, I’m picking myself up off the ground, and I’m taking baby steps.  Whatever I’m going through Shikata ga nai.  There’s no use beating myself up over my troubles.  Instead, I’ll just run.  Just like I did this afternoon.

My feet moved seamlessly over the dirt.  And that surprised me.  I get so worried that I will have lost my running by not putting in as much as I used to.  I took some tough hills.  But I didn’t go for the long mileage.  I headed to one of my first trail running accomplishments – Top of the World. 

(If you click on the picture or a bigger view, you can see where I tried to I mark Top of the World in this picture):

It felt so right to run the trails this evening.  It felt so right to sweat the hills and scour the landscape for rattlesnakes.  Anytime a problem entered my mind, I scolded it, “No!”  and the thought disappeared into the dirt.  Today’s run gave me one of the greatest gifts a run can give.  It gave me peace.

Water source at Top of the World (the little one is for the doggies):

Looking at The Saddleback Mountains from Top of the World:

Heading back to the truck after a refill:

I noticed this along the rolling hills of West Ridge (The trails are my friend!):

Back on the Horse

I have finished moping recuperating from Saturday’s fail.  Sunday and Monday I got in some nice neighborhood walks with my boys.  But I did not run.  It’s not that I thought that I would never run again.  Nothing’s that bad.  I do believe I’ve reached the point of no return.  As long as I am able to run, I will run.  Still, I think that I owed myself a rest.  Sunday, I was not all-together well, still a bit weak.  I slept most of the day away. 

Today, I dusted myself off and “got back on the horse.”  While hubby cooked dinner, I decided to put in a short run in and about the marina.  I ran five easy miles.  I had no goal whatsoever in mind.  I merely ran.