Follow the Yellow Shirt Boy

Wednesday, July 27, I headed out the door about 5PM. On the way out, I hollered, “I’m going for a short run.” That’s when my youngest (the yellow shirt boy) asked if he could ride his bike along with me. Knowing that I will be approaching the years when he doesn’t want to hang out with Mom, and the fact that he picks up my pace, I readily agreed.

And so I followed the boy with the yellow shirt, as we headed along my route. It entailed riding to the bluff, and down the winding sidewalk into the harbor. From there, we took the bridge over to the island, where we covered its entirety. About that time, the yellow shirt boy began to complain that he was tired. He got off his bike and began walking, and even limping a bit. He said that he hurt his leg. I knew we were in trouble, as the remaining one mile or so was all uphill. “Come on yellow shirt boy! You can do this!!”

“Short Run!!” he rebuffed. “This is NOT short.”

That’s when I remembered so abruptly that words like short are relative. Doh!

At mile 4.15, I called my husband. And he drove down to the harbor to pick us up and drive us home.

Following the yellow shirt boy . . .

Can’t Hack the Heat

Heat just kills me nowadays. I can’t hack running in it, I can’t hack working it it, I can’t even hack sleeping in it. My husband says that he has to fight a gale force wind when he comes into our bedroom at night because I have the fan running so high. 

It’s more the idea of running in heat that gets to me than the actual doing it. Sitting around in a furnace, makes it very difficult to get out the door for a run. But once I get there, the heat is bearable, and amazingly I can kick out some miles. Most of the time though, I don’t get as far as the front door. I say, heck with it, and drive to an air-conditioned gym instead.

The last time I was able to drag my butt out there was four days ago, Saturday the 23rd at about 4:30PM. The trails were empty, with only a few people hiking up and around Top of the World. But West Ridge, it was a lonely oven with ocean views. 5.16 miles in all, and that was quite enough for the next few days!

Beach Miles

Ran 5.2 miles on Monday evening, locally, and accompanied by my youngest and oldest sons (on their bikes). They kept my pace up, which is plus. But the biggest plus is putting time on my feet and being with family at the same time. The oldest, who is much used to putting in miles and working hard, handled the miles on his bike no problem. My youngest though, on his way back Highway One, threw his bike down and collapsed in the grass. “No, more,” he said. I had to do some persuading to get him going again.  Part of the agreement was that I walk his bike back the remaining half mile. My pleasure!!

Another good thing about beach runs is there’s plenty of these! (No need to carry fluids )

The troopers:

Downhill and Shade

So far, so good, in sticking to my low-mileage-every-other-day agenda. Sunday morning, I met with Tom F. for another run in Laguna Wilderness. The sun was already hot, and the Willow Staging area parking lot was fast filling up. We ran a loop that I have not run before, one with lots of shade, and plenty of single track – my two best picks for trails. We had a good amount of down hill too (of course, that meant some climbing as well). It is doing me well to get in some trails that I haven’t “run” countless times before. I enjoy the explore aspect of trail running. That’s what kept me going for so many years.

In all, we put in 5.61 miles with a little over 800 feet of elevation gain. The last of it was one nice long shady decline. And thanks to that downhill and shade, I will live to run again.

The route: Laurel Canyon, Stage Coach, Camarillo, Serrano Ridge, Laurel Canyon. The title to this blog entry is Tom’s, as if I remember correctly (& sometimes I don’t), he suggested “downhill and shade,” or at least something like that. 

Short Cut to Top of the World

Friday, July 16, I hit the trails at 4:30PM (way too early – it was hot!). I figured the time of day would be okay since I was putting in a short run. I amusingly imagined that it was be a leisure trip. It was not. It was sweaty, it was hot, and it was hard. But it was lovely as well, and I enjoyed the struggle.

I ran the short version to Top of the World in Laguna Beach (5.10 miles total). By short, I mean I drove practically right up to West Ridge (omitting Cholla Trail entirely). The hills were rolling, and the trails were basically empty along West Ridge, with just a few cyclists, runners and hikers.  Most people venture into the canyons instead of up along the ridgeline during the heat of the day.  The lizards like the ridgeline though – lots of them scurried about the rocks, even little baby ones. I noticed several bunnies as well, and oh yes, plenty of stink bugs sticking their rears up into the air. Other than the creatures, the run was uneventful, which sometimes is a good thing because it means no falls or injuries. Yay! (Thus, for the life of me, I could not think of anything more creative for a title to this blog )

Wood Canyon in the Summertime

So far, I have stuck to my goal to run every other day. (I didn’t post this goal, but decided it last Thursday).  Things sure aren’t the same as they used to be. It’s difficult to get out there and run. It seems the longer I wait in the day, the more difficult it is. But I’m also really digging sleeping in lately (and that’s not really like me). Wednesday, I waited so long that I opted for an evening run, which is a good thing when it concerns trails in the summer (even if they are in the coastal hills). It starts to cool down noticeably around here at about 5:00 PM.

I set out at 5:15 PM into Wood Canyon for what I thought would be a 6 mile run. I didn’t take into account the trip to and from the canyon out of my truck. The run ended up totaling 7.07 miles, which is a-okay, though I do plan on keeping to my plan of taking it slow (that is upping my mileage slowly). 

The weather was warm and slightly humid in Wood Canyon. I felt grateful for the ample shade. An occasional cool breeze came my way as well. The canyon was also full of hikers, runners and cyclists. Often though, I found myself alone on the trail.  Even in the summertime, with all the heat and brown colors, Wood Canyon was beautiful. The climb was just gradual (mainly on the way back), with a gain of only 416 feet. I had a good workout. Wood Canyon is definitely not a place I’d run during a heat wave, but in the evening with fairly mild temperatures, it’s a wonderful summertime run.