Saguaros are the New Redwoods?

Hi everyone! Sorry for the abandoning of my blog. I promise, I haven't been holding out on you, this is just the only trail/running experience I've really had since we've moved! Now that the weather is changing (it's going to get down to 95 later this week!!) Hopefully more will be in my future :).

It shouldn't be any surprise that our natural surroundings here have taken a little adjustment.

Okay, make that a lot of adjustment. Ed and I both agree that as long as we're in town, it does feel a bit like we could be almost anywhere. Sure, there are a few more cacti than in California, but there are a surprising amount of trees, too.

But, leave the safe haven of suburbia, and you're reminded exactly where you are.

Which is the Sonoran Desert.

 

Needless to say, I may have been avoiding trails, mostly because I have what I believe to be a healthy fear of rattlesnakes (substantiated by a recent tv report that I saw last week about how rattlesnake bites are almost double this year, and that this is their most active time of year). But it's also because being on these trails is a little, well, depressing. Mostly because it just isn't the same, and I'm not exactly good with change.

So, when Ed and I decided to finally hit the trails, it was with some level of trepedation. In fact, we'd first planned to go someplace different, and I had second doubts (it was going to be exposed, rocky, and very steep), so we rerouted and headed here instead, to McDowell park, for a somewhat better option.

I have to admit, a couple of tears may have been shed as we started. I told Ed I couldnt' promise more than a 10 minute hike. It was emotionally and physically tiring and I just didn't really want to be there. Plus, it's possible that my soon to hit stomach flu was already making me feel off. Just like our first trail experience back in April, I kept repeating to myself, "this is pretty," trying to make myself believe it.

Ed was a great support, totally willing to do whatever I wanted/needed. He even put up with the mandatory photo ops.

We ended up making it a mile. Something I was really proud of myself for. It helped that there were plenty of other people out there enjoying the day.

As we turned around, and saw the beautiful mountain sillouettes, it really did look pretty.

But being in the desert is almost like being on another planet. Everything is so very different.

Out here, these are our "new redwoods" - the mighty saguaro. These giant plants are pretty impressive, if a little less friendly looking.

Ed's been doing a much better job adapting. He even ran 9 miles on trails this weekend! I'm so proud of him for getting out there and doing awesome. I'm still not totally sure if I'll ever get there.

Our final, prehaps ill-fated, stop, was for breakfast at this place we saw on our way out. There's a chance my flu was in fact food poisoning, a good enough reason to not revisit this place, but it was fun in the moment to be out together for breakfast after our outdoor experience.

The active part is certainly the hardest adjustment and one I'm not totally confident about conquoring. We'll just have to take it one weekend at a time.

In the meantime, I wanted to share something that I'll be posting about soon. I got contacted recently by an runner/author to read and review his book! Now, reading is my favorite pastime, and running books? I love. So, I'm getting going on that and will share about it when I'm done. (Side note: anyone else out there with a book they want me to review? Since I'm not running as much, I'd love to stay involved in the running community this way :) ).

The book is called, The Longest Race, which is by Ed Ayres, and is about his running of the 2001 JFK 50 miler, through which he also recounts the history of endurance running in general. Totally right up my alley, and I can't wait to read it! So excited about this opportunity, because, really, getting a free book and then getting to talk about it is pretty amazing!

So, through books or trails, I'm glad to be posting again :)

Celebrating Two Years of Marriage

Okay, so let's be honest. Me and running? Not really happening since the move. I'm still really struggling with nerve pain in both feet that just keeps getting worse, what with being on my feet all day at work. Added to which, I still can't quite convince myself that desert scenery is really my cup of tea. I'm still working on it :).

In the mean time? Let's relive some California running together :)

So, let's rewind to June 27th. Picture a young couple, their furniture gone from their home, having just returned from 2 nights of backpacking. This is their last taste of California, before they head to this:

If you can put yourself in their shoes, you can understanding how wonderfully excited they would be to be staying in such an amazing place.

In true to form fashion, we arrived early so that we could go on a wonderful trail run before check in. Ed left the planning up to me, which was good and bad. The bad part was that one of my favorite trails (troop 80) was closed, so it knocked out a whole bunch of my favorite loops. The good part was that we ended up doing an amazing loop I never would have otherwise chosen that gave us the perfect goodbye taste of Mt Tam.
We began by heading down the Ocean View trail, one I apparently had never taken Ed on that is actually one of my favorites.

 I couldn't believe how much fun it was running down this trail. It brought back so many fun memories of running this trail in college, back when trail running was brand new and surprisingly amazing at every step.
If I could only run one trail for the rest of my life, single track redwoods might just have to be it.

In what seemed like next to no time, we hit the bottom of the valley and entered Muir Woods, complete with lots and lots of tourists.However, our time on the valley floor was all to short. 

In next to no time, we were climbing rapidly, at which point I started to question my loop choice quite seriously. 
Now, don't get me wrong, it was beautiful. Jaw droopingly, I miss those redwoods so much I could cry right now, beautiful. It was also crazy steep. I may have made Ed stop and pose for pictures so I could catch my breath. 

I made Ed pause with the switchbacks because it was so exciting to hit a less steep part of the trail.

Finally, we hit the pan toll sign, and I knew we were getting close to the end of this slogging uphill, which made me very excited.

Once we got there, we stopped, we rested, drank water, and, if I''m not mistaken, ate some cookies we'd packed.

Then, we were back on the trails, Matt Davis, to be precise. I was worried, because in my memory Matt Davis was full of exposed uphill, and I was so not ready for that, after 30+ miles of backpacking only two days before. 

But, since there really wasn't any other choice, we kept going.
And, I am so, so thankful we did. Because, what I did forget was that this part of Matt Davis was actually quite flat and/or downhill, and full of spectacular views.

Seeing San Francisco from this vantage is one of my favorites.

And, the Pacific Ocean from here is even better. I have to admit, looking at these pictures right now, when I feel so far away from California, almost makes me a little teary. I cannot wait to make another visit sometime soon. 

I know I said redwood single track was my favorite, but this comes a close second.



We grabbed a quick "us" picture, to commemorate our anniversary, as we came to the close of our trail.

Finally, with one last glance at the view, we headed downward and we were back at the inn, done. 

Okay, this is really old (like over 2 months old), but I'd still love to share this wonderful day trip. We took this the day before we went on our (successful) home buying trip, as a farewell to east bay.

The main event was for this guy:

Ed had a 30k race that he'd signed up for with Coastal Trail Runs, which he was pretty excited about. It was super cold at the start, which is generally a good thing, since it means it won't get to hot. We didn't have that long to wait until the runners were off!

In just a few minutes, they were all gone, leaving us spectators to ourselves. I enjoyed walking down the race trail, taking in the morning sunlight, and glad to not be in a rush.

However, I'd be remiss if I neglected to go on my own run of one of my favorite haunts. So, up I headed to the lookout point in Tilden. Up here is a nice paved trail with excellent views and easy running, or so I'd remembered. 

Piece of advice: when going on a run you haven't done in 5 years, that you last did when you were in incredible shape, don't take your memory at face value.

Yes, the views were wonderful, but it was a bit more rolling than I'd remembered (the flat that my 2 weeks post marathon legs were counting on wasn't quite there), and my favorite chunk ended up closer to 4 miles out, much further than I'd wanted to go.

I also discounted my very real phobia of solo running. In fact, I turned around not once, not twice, but three times during this run out of fear, only to turn back around when another person went past. I have this slightly embarrassing, but incredibly helpful habit of "tagging" along with unsuspecting runners on trails. I give them a head start and then hang behind them as long as I can (pace permitting). One wonderful gentleman got me from 0.8 miles to 1.5 miles and another from 2ish miles to 3. 

An equally lovely (but unfortunately faster) runner (the figure in the picture above) got me from the turn around to about 4.5, at which point there were enough people out that I just dealt with it :).

At least I had the views to keep me company! And, even though I almost gave up so many times, I still got in my 6 miles :).

I got back just in time to catch Ed at the turn around, and again at the ending.

Ed had a great race, despite getting a little lost! It was definitely challenging, but a very fun course. 

From there, we headed down to Berkeley to tour the campus and say "goodbye" to this beautiful place (for now anyways).

If you'd like to read about the non running part of the day, visit here later this week!

Double Dipsea

Hi Everyone! (All 3 of you :) ). Ed and I are here safely in Arizona, though not a lot of running is going on, as we're having lovely 114 degree days here, with it close to 100 when we wake up in the morning. I've run once, Ed's gone 2 or 3 times. Compounding that, I accidentally caught my big toe nail on a recliner that I was moving in our new home and completely detached the nail from the nail bed. That poor foot seems to have something bad happen to it just about every year. I'm hoping that keeping it clean and bandaged will get it back to normal (or at least healed?) sometime soon.

In any event, it's a good thing I have lots of adventures to recount on here from before we moved!

Almost a month ago at this point (gosh, how can it have been that long?), Ed checked something off on his Bay Area bucket list - the Double Dipsea!

For those not in the know, this is the doubled version of the famous Dipsea race, a 7ish mile footrace from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach. Like that race, this one follows the Dipsea trail. However, this one starts at Stinson Beach. It still features about a million stairs, and the option to take shortcuts and one other special feature.

Guys like Ed? They start over an hour after the race begins! 

First ones to start the race (if there are any) are 80 year old and up women. Our first starters were 10 minutes later, at 70-74 year old women. From there on, every 3-5 minutes, a new wave of runners started.

The winner is whoever crosses the finish line first!

Ed promised he wouldn't push too hard (seeing as how we were starting our backpacking adventure that afternoon). After an hour of waiting, he (and the other 39 and under men) was off!

Meanwhile, I went to my "usual" spot - a nice little breakfast spot right next to Stinson Beach. I spent a lovely hour with my oatmeal, pot of tea, and book.

Apparently I usually come during off season, as about an hour in, I was not too gently encouraged to clear out to give them back their table. I was a little put off by that, but I understood.

Since I still had a little under two hours left, I headed to the beach to take in some beautiful views like this:

Being a Northern California beach, though, so I had to deal with this:

Beautiful but very chilly fog. I put on an extra jacket but was still too cold, so I headed back up to the race. About 15 minutes later, the winner came in! I had a great time cheering along as the runners poured in, while I looked for my guy.

Finally, I saw him (coming in behind the guy with the hat) flying in with a smile on his face.

Ed had a great time, and I had an equally great time spectating.