New Shoes, New Camera, New Bladder

I don’t try on my running shoes before I buy them, because local stores don’t stock my size (US women’s size twelve!).  I’m used to this.  Stores haven’t carried my shoe size since I was in high school (hence my first reason to love the internet – shoes!).  Sadly, in my youth, I continuously shoved my foot into shoes that were too small.  I wonder if this has anything to do with my continuous feet problems (that I am in continual denial over). 

Now, I purchase the same type of running shoe pretty much every time I get shoes online.  I always buy New Balance running shoes, always a neutral shoe with an 8mm (or less) heal-to-toe drop (that is my heal rests 8mm higher than my toe).   This formula (NB, neutral, 8mm) works pretty well.  So, I was surprised with this last purchase (New Balance Gore-Tex trail running shoe) when I experienced so much shin and calve pain on my last run which entailed 6 miles along Quail Hill Loop. 

Determined to get to the bottom of this, I decided on one last run before Calico.  First things first, because I have much to do in preparation for this family trip, I filled my truck with gas this morning and headed off to purchase a new camera.  Yes, I broke another camera.  Imagine that.  I set my heart on the Canon Elph.  I’m a nostalgic lady (reason for running Calico #7 even though it will kick my butt).  The Elph was the first camera that I ever smashed down onto the rocks, way back when, during my first Calico trail race in 2009.  Alas, Walmart didn’t have an Elph in stock.  So, I settled for a Nikon.  Then as I drove off to purchase a new replacement bladder for my hydration pack, I noticed that my newly purchased Nikon had only an internal memory and no slot for an SD card.  No, no, no!  I could not deal with that. 

To my dismay, the running store didn’t sell bladders.  I drove back to Walmart, stood in a long-ass line to return the camera I had just purchased.  Then I went back to Electronics and bought another camera (a Samsung).  Finally, at 11:30 AM, I was able to hit the trails in Wood Canyon to try out my new shoes once more.

My calves and shins felt fine.  Really fine.  I felt sluggish, but that’s pretty much because I am out of shape.  The shoes were also a little stiff (because they are waterproof – doh!  I didn’t realize that I had bought waterproof shoes).  Best of all though, these shoes have tremendous grip on the terrain.  To really test out the grip, I took them for a spin on Rock It trail.  If I were to slip, Rock It would be the place. 

Good news.  No slippage. 

After my 6+ mile run, I headed off to pick up my boys from school, ran off to the Laundromat (our washer AND dryer are broken).  While the clothes dried, I walked across the street to Big 5 and bought a new 70 ounce bladder just in time for Calico.  

Quail Hill Loop

Wednesday, I had some time after work to stop by Shady Canyon and run what is known as the Quail Hill Loop.  The nearly two mile loop is incredibly green this time of year.  With views of Saddleback Mountain, cool weather and new shoes, it all looked good for a nice run.  Problem was: my shins and calves were so tight they hurt.  The first two miles of my loop I needed to stop again and again to vigorously stretch.  Finally, about mile two, my calves and shins eased up (a tad!).  I can’t tell you that I didn’t worry that I bought the wrong pair of shoes. (yikes!!)  By mile six (the last mile), I felt okay.  Just okay.

A Little Help

Much of my life I have been the type of person who does not want help from anyone. In fact, I’ve been known to act quiet childish regarding it, by downright refusing help. This is not a good thing. One thing that trails has taught me, again and again, is that it’s good to take help from your friends. Monday, very early in the morning, I met my friend Kelly at the mouth of Trabuco Canyon. She hopped in my truck and we drove in to Holy Jim Canyon. Let me tell you – I felt like running like running to the top of the mountain like I felt like taking a swim across the ocean. I even more so didn’t feel like taking this run when I took those first steps and it felt like my legs weighed fifty pounds a piece. I could barely lift them!

Our Goal (as witness from about 3 miles up Holy Jim):

Left to my own devices on Monday, I would have turned around at the top of Holy Jim for a 10 mile out-and-back.  Yes, the mountains were green and beautiful and tranquil – but that wasn’t enough.  Every step was excruciating.  The Trek up The Main Divide adds three more uphill miles before reaching the peak, and it’s the pits.  But it isn’t so bad when you have a friend encouraging you, helping you to move on. 

I could not have been happier when we reached the peak.  It was far from my best time.  But heck, I made it, and that was a major feat in itself.  We trotted off to the ledge, took in the views, snapped some pictures and ate a snack.  We also chatted with a group of young cross country runners from Saddleback College who came up after us.  After that, it was all downhill – downhill for 8 miles!  All with a little help from a friend. 

Personal Running News

Next weekend, I run my first race of 2015 – as usual, I am undertrained.  But I am okay with that (of course) because I am the type of runner that finds triumph in merely finishing.  In about a week, I attempt my 8th Calico finish.  Secondly, I am registered for Nanny Goat 24 which takes place this spring, for which I aiming at not going into undertrained.  And thirdly, I have taken on volunteer coordinating for another Old Goat race.  The race is Old Goat 50, the same race that I was pulled at mile 41.  I believe that I have finally gotten over it, and am looking forward to working with Steve Harvey again.  He is so easy to work with.  He’s kind of a celebrity in the local ultra-running community, and I feel honored to be part of another Harvey race. 

Back to now, I have a much needed new pair of trail shoes en-route to my front porch as we speak.  So excited! Also now – that is lately, I am needing to run wherever I can which means more road running. This is a benefit in the long run because it will increase my speed.  To end this week’s training, I headed out the door for a 6.70 mile run down to the wharf, across to the harbor island which I ran in its entirety.  Crowds were out in abundance, runners, picnickers, walkers, sun-bathers, you name it – today was a day to get out under the sun!  After the island, I ran on through the marina, past the historical replica of The Pilgrim (Richard Henry Dana’s ship), and over to the marine institute where I snapped a picture of the Pacific Ocean, turned around and headed back home.