Monday, August 27, 2007

Busy Life (and not much running!)

Having fun being a tree-hugger with "The Advocate" a redwood 45 ft in circumference!!! Taken while Hiking in Nisene Marks on Saturday

Well, I haven't been posting much, as the past week has been quite full of non running things. I had to move (housing mix-up) last week, meaning that I missed my thursday run, instead spending about 3 hours lugging boxes down one flight of stairs and up two. Figure that sort of counted as a workout, as I was breathing hard and sweating lots for much of it :D. I'm finally all settled and enjoying my new place, which is essentially the same as my old, except with vaulted ceilings and a nice view of a forested area. I'll post pictures when I get a chance :). The other interruption to my training was the visiting of a very old friend (my childhood next door neighbor). He's just recently moved to Northern California (to work in the Capitol!) and had never been to Santa Cruz, so came down for the weekend. I need to figure out how to better get my runs in when I have out of town guests though, as I ended up with no runs until he left! We did go on a 5 mile hike on Saturday, but that didn't exactly make up for the dearth of running.

After he took off around 1:30pm Sunday, I realized I needed to do some kind of redeeming run, even though it was already pretty late to be starting a long run (at least in my book). After reading about Andy's Nisene Mark's experience, I decided to head out there myself for a similar 18 mile run. I ran from outside the park to the overlook, plus a little extra loop for what I think was just about 20 miles (the garmin, again, didn't work, so I went by the posted trail measurements that I saw out there. I've gotta to send that garmin in. It hasn't successfully worked since Mt tam!). It was really cool, though, to be so low key about running 20 miles. After the 50k last weekend, 20 didn't seem all that long :). And, once I got about 3 or 4 miles in, it just got gorgeous!!! So many beautiful redwoods. Plus, it was mostly uphill on the way out, meaning a fabulous 2nd half of over a 1/2 hour of really great downhill running, and then relatively downhill after that.

It took just about 4 hours, including the 20 minute break I took at the overlook chatting with a few bikers. There were 4 bikers hanging out there when I left. I felt half naked without a bike of my own! Not too many runners were all the way up at the overlook (actually, I didn't see any) which I thought was sort of cool. I finished just before 7pm, which is definitely the latest I've ever finished a long run, and was proud that I never felt scared while I was out there alone. There was lots of traffic on the trail, and it was all just so beautiful. I'm actually getting more comfortable with the idea of exploring out there alone now, especially now that I've been given a great site to access free maps of the parks (www.virtualparks.org).

As I've now had 2 low mileage weeks in a row, I'm thinking trying to step it up this week with 2 long runs on the weekend. Of course, I'm starting my Student Teaching Placement today (Ack!! scary thought!) and have finals this week, so I'm thinking just getting in my runs will be a challenge :P I'll do my best though!

9 comments:

Unknown said...

you're getting braver, aren't you, addy. way to go on your redemption run there.

Andy B. said...

I'm really happy to hear you were comfortable running up there. I thing you will really enjoy exploring that place, and it will give you confidence to try other areas as well.

You can also check the mileage in the Santa Cruz Guide for Runners book. Just add 1.6 miles for the round trip from the dirt parking lot to the entrance station and back to whatever else you ran.

Adelyn said...

e-rod- I am getting braver, just a bit :) Thanks!

Andy- I think I will too! I'm excited to visit "five finger falls" after its been rainy for a bit :) I still need to get me one of those books!

runningtwig said...

Addy, thanks for the comments, they are much appreciated. I'm going to try my best to rock the 20 miler this weekend!! I'm hoping once it cools off around here my running will get better. Keep it up out there!!

By the way, what grade are you student teaching?

Adelyn said...

cooler temperatures will make a huge difference, I'm sure! You'll definitely have to let us know how the run goes :D

I'm in a first grade class :) Just had my first day today, they're so cute!!!

Jean said...

Good grief, that is a big tree! :)

I would say that a 20 mile run the weekend after doing a 50k is extremely redeeming and downright impressive. Way to go!

Ugh, moving is no fun, but it is good you feel settled. Best wishes with you finals and your training!

runningtwig said...

First grade? Wow...I could never do that! I'm definitely a high school teacher...my husband teaches P-K through 5th grade and he tells me hilarious stories about the little ones. Good luck!t

Rick Gaston said...

I've heard a lot about the Nisene Marks but never got a chance to run there yet, sounds like a great place.
"After the 50k last weekend, 20 didn't seem all that long :)" haha such an ultra thing to say. Soon it will be "after the 50-miler, 50k doesn't seem that long anymore". Good luck getting in the runs this weekend.

Unknown said...

hi addy,

this is hao. great to read about your running. great job on the 50k and the back-to-back runs. you are turning into quite a runner. i'm planning on doing a couple of runs in santa cruz area in september, i'll email you about it. have fun with your run this weekend.

cheers!

hao