A Lucky Day in Marin

Time has been flying by lately, and suddently it's just 3 1/2 months until my wedding! Ed and I have been traveling to Mt Tam increasingly often, to take care of details, which has been wonderful and is solidifying this as an important place for us as a couple. Two weeks ago, we came up with Ed's mom to visit Cataract Falls, taste some food for the rehearsal dinner, check out a park, and try some cake. While it was fun to spend the day together, the trip was a bit of a bust. Our hike took too long, the restaurant wasn't that great (in food or price), the park felt a little off, and the cake was pretty darn bad.

So, this weekend, Ed and I decided to redeem our favorite place and retry that day.

We started out at Old Mill Park, our first idea as a rehearsal dinner spot. Revisiting the park, we both decided that, while it was gorgeous, it just didn't feel quite right. However, it was right for starting a very special run.

That's right - the Dispea trail begins "here". Now, here is in quotation marks because finding this trail is a bit of an insider's game. We had to ask a local to point us in the right direction (she told us to go up, then right, then a u turn, then left, then right, and then cross a road - yeah, good thing we asked!), but did finally find the infamous stairs.

I had forgotten how much I struggle with stairs.

(Ed at the 2nd set of stairs)

We had a slow slog going up set after set of stairs. Towards the top of the 3rd set, we got behind an older woman who was probably in her 70s, going strongly up the stairs. I certainly felt out of shape heaving behind her.

(Engraved step at the top of the last stair, commemorating an infamous Dipsea Runner)

Finally, we reached a road, where we hit our next point of confusion. We knew we were supposed to cross the road, but to which trail? Another runner ran by and we decided to follow her, which turned out to be a smart move. That took us to the next confusing part, where now the trail was gone. Again, 2 new runners ran by and we followed them into a residential area. I'm not sure what we would have done, had we not seen these runners!

The next stretch of trail was more like a real trail, and this stretch took up to Panoramic Highway!

Once we crossed over, we were going to do some "reall" Mt Tam running.

(Heading out down the trail)

We've seen the trail often driving down the highway, and it was so exciting to finally be running on it. It was also exciting to be running as, up until that point, we had be reduced to a hike (darn stairs).

The view from this trail was, simply put, spectacular. It rivaled my best trail experiences, and left me in a state of awe. The sky was a perfect blue, with a delicous sliver of ocean peaking up above the mountains. The sunl.ight was shining off the forest. Pictures can't do it justice, but they can give you an idea of the amazingness of the experience.

We're thinking that this would be a perfect trail to take out of town guests on, not too steep and it leads straight to Mountain Home Inn. We did a fair amount of running (and a bit of walking) as we traveled this spectacular trail.

It poured rain yesterday, so there were waterfalls everwhere, really reinforcing that Mt Tam is a watershed. Every few minutes we were crossing over streams that flowed downward towards the ocean far below.

In not too long, we met up with the Alice Eastwood Trail, one very familiar to me, and run on with Ed on our first Mt Tam run together. I was used to going the opposite way on these trails, and, while I enjoyed the mile downhill to start, I didn't enjoythe uphill that followed. This course was feeling much harder than I had imagined when I planned it!

(My favorite part of Troop 80 Trail)

Troop 80 was next, which I love. It is beautiful redwood groves and cushy singletrack.

Troop 80 took us to Van Wyck meadow, where we took a snack break and then headed off down Boot Jack.

Boot Jack was, well, wet. Slippery, goopy, rocky, rooty, wet. We didn't get to enjoy the downhill we counted on, as we had to watch every step. However, we were rewarded with a constant creek pouring down the rocks beside the trail. It was amazing, but very tough. I think next time, we'll head down TCC to Ben Jonson, which I remember being much more managable.

Soon, we reached the forest floor, where the creek became wider and calmer (after a final fall).

As we continued our now flat run, we began to se an increasing number of hikers, letting us know that Muir Woods wasn't far away.

Once in the Monument, there were a fair number of people walking around, admiring the towering giants. We got a few odd looks, probably because we were running in substantially fewer clothes than they were wearing (most were bundled in winter jackets). The park is paved, which made for some faster distance.

Once we made it through the park to the other side, the fun flat abruptly stopped.

More. Stairs.

The positive here was that I went on the trail on my first ever trip to Mt Tam, with some people from one of my Berkeley classes. It was fun to revisit those memories, but my legs were having substantially less fun - they were still a bit irked about those stairs in the beginning and were not amused by new sets of stairs here.

Ed ran ahead while I stopped to catch my breath (and a few photos).

Luckily, this section wasn't too long, and we soon reached a road. We figured out that we were supposed to follow it, as the real trail was clothed, and so we walked on the side of the trail up, up, and up.

(A side of the road beauty)

 In little time, we we back to Panoramic and, finally, less than a mile from the end. Just a few hundred steps between us and the car :). As soon as we reached the stairs, I "released" Ed to sprit forward, since I am unforgivibly slow going down stairs (and I had little fear of Mountain Lions at this point in the excursion).

Down, and down I went, willing myself not to trip as the continuous downward movement played tricks on my eyes. At the bottom of the first set, another runner was heading up. "See you in 3 months! 3 months from today!" I realized he was talking about the Double dipsea and wondered if Ed and I should try it!

After a long trip downward, I finally reached the park once again. But, Ed was no where to be found! I looked around and in a few minutes saw Ed heading towards me from the trail. Apparently he had gotten lost on the way down.

All in all, 9ish miles :).

The rest of the day was just as wonderful and successful as our run.

We loved our new location for the rehearsal dinner:

Had an amazing lunch at Pasta Pomodoro, and are excited to use their food for the dinner, and had a sublime experience cake tasting at Fat Angel Bakery in Fairfax.

We got to try three different cakes (2 frostings, 3 cake flavors, and 3 fillings) and decided on the unbelievable spectacular white chocolate buttercream (I still cannot believe how delicious it was) with almond flavored cake, and a filling of whipped cream/frosting, pralienes, and raspberries. I can't believe I have to wait over 3 months to take this deliciousness again.

All in all, it was a spectacular day.

I cannot wait to marry this man :).

heading home

Running Hard in Rancho San Antonio (and an Unfortunate Interaction with Nature)

This has been such an interesting week - a full 9 days of vacation (including weekends) in the middle of winter. I had enjoyed it immensely, doing little but resting, reading, and wedding planning. I got some important parts finished (made the invitations, got the envelopes mostly addressed and stamped, and got rooms at the inn sorted out) which is wonderful. I spend next to no time doing wedding things while I'm working, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get caught up!

Of course, I've been doing some running, too. After the 12 miler last week, I really wasn't in the mood for anything too long. However, having done 12, my perspective of long has finally changed. So, this week, I chose to do 2 "not so long anymore" 7 milers. I wanted to take advantage of being able to run in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, since it'll be a few months before I can do that again. They were both nice, though I did feel it in my legs afterwards.

So, in the spirit of being lazy, Ed and I decided on not going super long this weekend. It was supposed to rain and my legs were tired, all good excuses :).

We decided to go around 8, and chose to do our mileage in a nearby and apparently very popular park, "Rancho San Antonio." This was my first visit to the park, and I was impressed! Apparently, I wasn't the only one, as the place was packed. Every lot (and there were at least 5) was full, with multiple cars circling, looking for an opportunity to move in. It reminded me of holiday shopping at the mall (or, funnily enough, a sunday afternoon at my local library, where it is often filled past capacity). After joining the ranks of circlers for about 15 minutes with no success (and seeing Ed's stress level rising exponentially) I suggested that we abort, and retreat to the neighborhood outside the park.

This was a great decision (if I do say so myself), and we happily found street parking in a nice little neighborhood, maybe 30 ft from a bike path that took us into the park.

It was probably less than half a mile until we reached blessed dirt, and then we were really on our way.

(Ed turning back, as he often does, communicating to me, "Are you really taking a picture? Again?")

Now, Ed promised that, while this park didn't have really steep uphills, it certainly had mild ones. And, right of the bat, we were going up one. 

I impressed Ed and myself by actually running!! I was definitely huffing and puffing, but we were making progress and I was feeling pretty good. The hill kept heading consistently up, and I kept considering slowing down, but I was enjoying pushing myself. 

Finally, I told Ed that at the next tree, we would walk, but, when we got there, I changed my mind. It seemed to level off up ahead! In a wonderful surprise, "up ahead"was actually the end of that hill :). I had run up the whole thing! Even better, our pace for that mile of uphill was 11:46. Slow for many, but seriously awesome for me going uphill!

From there, we enjoyed a wonderful stretch of rolling downhill that paralleled a creek. Ed warned me that this would be short lived, but I enjoyed it while it lasted. We passed a number of hikers out enjoying this day, and I was having a blast.

Just like Ed promised, the uphill did eventually catch up to us and, while I tried to hold on as long as I could, this time I did decide to do some walking. Whew....I was really being pushed today.

We continued climbing, eventually going up a nice switchback, until we reached an open area that had a path up to the top of a hill. Looking like a viewpoint, we headed up, and were greeted with a spectacular view of the Silicon Valley.

The clouds were certainly coming in, 

so we took an obligatory - self portrait...

...and then we were off. Ed showed me our route, telling me about the lovely downhill coming up and then the flat section after that. 

However, when we headed out, he started going uphill! "Didn't you hear what I said about the first part?" he asked in response to my complaining. Apparently my selective hearing had totally ignored his explanation that the first stretch would be climbing further upward. 

We continued hiking (and Ed sadly revealed that this mile was at 17:30 pace..."I didn't realize we were going so slow!" he lamented). At another fork I yelled, "Come on downhill!" cheering for the pathway to the right that looked just lovely. Unfortunately Ed directed us to the uphill to the left. Luckily, he realized that that was a mistake, and we did get to go down that beautiful downhill.

This next stretch was a blast, as it was perfectly sloped downhill fire road for the foreseeable future. 

(Ed circling back as he waited for me to take a picture. He likes to do this...)

As we thundered down the hill (clocking a 9:30 mile!!) I looked out to my left and was treated with a view of the valley below, and of the trail that we would eventually be on. It's lovely to see your future laid out so clearly for you. 

All good things must end, and soon we had reached to bottom of our decent. While the downhill had ended, the rest of the run was relatively mild - almost completely flat for the last 3 or so miles. 

However, I have to admit that at this point, my legs were certainly feeling the effort of those uphill pushes. And, running with Ed, we weren't going to slow down to a slog on such runnable trail. He kept pushing me as we continued to wind next to a different section of the creek, eventually reaching the "Dear Hollow Farm," a cute little place full of sweet looking toddlers. 

I continued slowing down, ever so slightly, as Ed continued to push us forward. We had now found where all those people who filled up the parking had been hiding. The last few miles to the cars were simply full of people - many of them young families enjoying some time outside before the storm came in. 

The last mile was on the verge of being tortuous. I was very much desiring to walk, or at least slow down considerably, but Ed would have none of that (not that I really asked - just running with Ed makes me feel obligated to push farther, and run, not walk, whenever possible). 

As we neared the parking lots, Ed headed up to the right, which didn't seem right. I questioned it, and we decided to go back and try the other trail, which was the correct distance. Thank goodness, because at this point, we were not going to tack on an extra mile, "just because." As we got closer to our car, we reached a small uphill, which looked huge to my tired eyes. I gritted my teeth and up we went. 

Finally, our car was in front of us, and we were done. 

My legs were burning, after only 7.7 miles, but, I have to say, it was a hard, full effort, 7.7. 

Back in the car, I was happy to be done. I justified my sheer exhaustion by telling Ed that I wasn't planning on doing a long run this week, just a bunch of 7s. He responded by saying, "You mean, you didn't plan to do any short runs."

Hey, I guess he's right! 7 is on the longer side. 

How special that it's now feeling "shorter" :). 

_____

It a separate, but running related note, I made a huge runner faux pas over the last few weeks. Somewhere along the trails, I came into contact with the dreaded poison oak. It's been so long since I've had it, I thought it was a particularly troublesome bug bite at first. Ed and I thought perhaps a spider or something along that line had infiltrated our bed, and as more of my leg became itchy, it got a little worrisome.

However, when the full "pattern" from the poison emerged, after a week or so after the first itch, the root of my pain became all too apparent. 

(My first "outbreak," which is slowly getting better. The poison seemed to have sort of wrapped around my ankle!)

(What convinced me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this was poison oak. This part is the most itchy lately. It's driving me crazy!!!)

Two weeks later, I am still very itchy, and now much more cautious as I travel on the trails. 

Darn Poison Oak!

Pizza and a Night in the City

After our wonderful run on Valentine's Day, we decided on a romantic dinner of pizza.

With such great results the last time we used Trader Joe's pizza dough, we were excited to try again with a new kind of pizza. This time, we went with white dough to go with a BBQ chicken pizza, inspired by my favorite "California Pizza Kitchen" dish.

This was such an easy pizza to make - we topped it with Trader Joe's BBQ sauce, mozzerella cheese, and chicken that had been sauteed and then covered in more BBQ sauce. We also sauteed some red onion to top the pizza and then, after it cooked, we liberally sprinkled it with cilantro. 

Cilantro has to be my favorite herb, which is funny because I hated it as a child. I always ordered the BBQ chicken pizza without the cilantro, and even got a free pizza once when they accidently put cilantro on it. Now I can't get enough of it :). 

We both loved this pizza! It wasn't the healthiest (5 WW points, or about 250 calories a slice, with the pizza cut into 8 slices) but it was divine.

Next time we'll have to try the whole wheat dough!

_____

To keep our celebration of love going, we embarked on part 2 of our Valentine's Day, by traveling up to San Francisco for a mini vacation in the city to see "Wicked".

We left for the city around 3pm, but unfortunately hit some traffic once we got close. Our trusty GPS directed us on a detour that got us safely to our hotel. We were staying at "The Phoenix," which would have looked more in place in Palm Springs than in the middle of San Francisco. It had a tiki/60s vibe, with a beautifully tiled pool and bamboo lounge deckware. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was a fun place to stay.

After settling into the room, we began searching for a place to eat dinner. We had tried to do this before we arrived, but we couldn't make a decision, so now we were in more of a time crunch. We made a couple calls without success, but then stumbled upon "Indigo," a small, intimate restaurant blocks from the theater.

They had a 6 o'clock reservation open and a wonderful "Prix Fixe" deal: $34.95 for an appetizer, entree, and dessert. Ed and I entered the restaurant, excited about its appearance and already looking forward to the meal.

(photo courtesy of google search :) )

It was a softly lit restaurant, full of happy diners. Ed and I both went for the mixed greens with blue cheese and toasted walnuts, which was delicious, and a fabulous pork tenderloin, in a red wine sauce, served over creamy polenta, with green beans. It was amazing! I am now inspired to make polenta :). We paired it with lovely glasses of Shiraz. For desert, I had panne cotta, and Ed had a trio of sorbet. 

Sufficiently (or perhaps more than sufficiently) full, we headed for the theater. We took a round-about route past city hall that eventually got us to Market Street (apparently we aren't the best at following directions), but got to the theater at the perfect time - about 15 minutes before the play. 

(Photo courtesy of tasithoughts.wordpress.com)

The sign outside was brightly lit and the front was teeming (to use on of my students' vocabulary words) with people. 

We pushed our way inside and headed to our seats. They were way up high, in the 2nd balcony, but we were in the center, with a nice (albeit far away) view of the stage. 

The Orpheum Theater (where Wicked is playing) is gorgeous - with an intricately decorated ceiling and a huge light centerpiece. I enjoyed looking at it as I waited for the show to start. 

(photo courtesy of "flickr.com/photos/ 88077630@N00/3339886669")

The stage itself was surrounded with a scaffolding of gears, and a huge dragon towered over the stage. 

(photo courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/ krissatin/2385008200/)

I was very excited to see this play, as I had been really into the music for a while in college. I know all the songs by heart, but didn't know the story line that tied the musical together. Ed was fairly unfamiliar with the musical, so for him ti was all new. 

Overall, it was a great production! The performers were excellent and the set was well made and enjoyable to watch. I was happily surprised by the ending (which I won't give away). It was so much fun to have an evening out!

We had a lot of fun living the city life for a night, but it does feel nice to be back to our quiet reality :)

Infinitely Better Than a Box of Chocolates...

I've never been a big proponent of celebrating Valentine's Day like most traditionalists out there. Primarily because all the traditional activities are either unhealthy (chocolates) or crowded (going out to dinner) and it just isn't particularly pleasant. This year we decided no official gifts. Instead, we'd celebrate our love on Thursday (since I have this week off from teaching) by going up to SF and seeing Wicked, and then spending the night in the city. We'll be able to have a romantic getaway and avoid the crowds of this weekend :).

However, that still left us with what to do on the day itself. Ed suggested that we head up to the city and run across the Golden Gate and up into the Marin Headlands. Ed's done this a bunch of times, but I had  never had the confidence to go on those trails alone, even though I ran on the bridge all the time. Ed had found the perfect place to park, a lot just half a mile or so from the bridge - free and uncrowded at 8:30 on a Sunday!

We planned to run 10 miles, since I felt like I could handle it. However, my legs were tired! Not just from the race last week, but also because Ed and I ran together on Friday, and I decided to practice going fast(er) than normal. Ed kept wanting to speed ahead, but I kept us at a nice slow pace, which was a bit cold going over the incredibly foggy bridge.

Running over the Golden Gate is always a unique experience, as San Francisco never gives the same day twice. Today, the fog was as thick a pea soup, with the bridge practically invisible all around us. The sound of a blaring foghorn repeatedly bellowed below us, and we could imagine the giant ships traversing the bay. We were hoping that by the time we returned, some of this fog would burned off.

Once we reached the other side, we made a quick stop at the vista point. to use of the facilities and then made the journey to the other side of the bridge. What I hadn't realized was that Ed didn't know about the pedestrian bridge under the street. Instead of the lovely easy under pass, Ed led me on a somewhat dangerous path on the road through a tunnel. We went quickly, and afterwards I told him that I knew there was a better way, which we would definitely search for on the way back.

After going up the road a bit, we finally made it to the trail, a thin singletrack cut into the hills above the bridge that I had often eyed and always wanted to try. It was a bit steep, and we (or, well, I) was slowed to a hike, but I thought with happiness of running down this on our return.

After, perhaps, a half mile more of uphill, the trail finally leveled off and I got to start running again. Ed and I were both impressed with the lushness of the trail, made even more beautiful by the blue skies that began to appear. 

At the trail junction, we stopped for a photo opportunity, and then headed north.

I kept exclaiming my amazedness at the beauty of the day and the trails and the views, thanking Ed for bringing me to such a wonderful place. The trail had opened up, with views of a beautiful valley below.

I could see the road that we had driven on before to get to Rodeo Lagoon, and it was fun to see from so high above. He told me a little about running on this trail during the race - even though I had been on these trails before, it was a long time ago, and very foggy then. We could even see the ocean! 

We went through a few groves of eucalyptus, and came upon a bench. Ed's words of wisdom? "If there's a bench, there must be a good view." Up we headed, and  were greeted with a valley blanketed in a thick layer of fog, with a few peaks poking through the white. 

We climbed a bit higher, to take in even more of the view, and were treated with a beautiful view of our favorite mountain, Mt. Tam. We're getting married there in just over 4 months!!!

We were at about 4.8 miles, but neither of us wanted to turn around in two tenths of a mile. "I could probably do 11 today," I told Ed. Just an extra half mile isn't that far, right? We both gulped down a cliff shot (My first in over 2 years! They taste just the same).

We continued our journey, which was taking a downward trend (in altitude, not in fun). "Are you sure about this?" Ed asked. "This is fun, and it's worth it" I replied. "But, remind me I said that when we're hiking back up."

We ended up on the Bobcat trail and continued our slow decent as I watched the mileage slip by. At 5.5 miles, I still wasn't ready to head back. "Could we do 12 today?" I asked him. He told me it was my choice, so on we went. At six on the dot, we reversed our path and headed back. I amazed myself (and Ed) by running up a substantial amount of the uphill, which really wasn't that steep. 

Before I knew it, we were back to the amazing singletrack, which I've decided is much more fun to run, even uphill. 

The fog was still present, much to our chagrin, but the tops of the bridge were poking out, trying to escape the clouds. 

As we continued down the singletrack, we were back within the clouds. However, we were plenty distracted by the fun we were having as we pounded downhill. It really felt like we were flying, and all too soon we were back to the road.

This time, however, we were not going through the car tunnel. "You're leading the way," Ed told me, as I led him across a parking lot. Voila - a pedestrian underpass. Ed looked with a bit of dismay as we ran underneath the bridge. No more unsafe tunnels - Ed has been educated. 

We decided to stop back by the visitor's center, as we were both out of water, and I was feeling very thirsty. After refilling, it was a mere 2.5 miles between us and our goal. Our trip across the bay was still very foggy, but now also very crowded. There were lots of people, including many couples enjoying a crossing of this famous bridge. 

However, after about halfway across, we were greeted with a pleasant surprise - the sun! 

It was amazing to watch the bridge transform, from muted tones into a fiery orange, contrasted with a blue sky. 

I kept wanting to turn around while I was running to stare at the bridge, but I was, I'll admit, getting tired. Ed was also getting a bit tired of waiting for me to take pictures, so I put on my game face and pushed onward. 

Once we crossed over the bridge, I realized we were going to be a little shot on mileage and, once I set my mind on doing 12, I wasn't going to be happy with anything less. I thought that it would be fun to take a loop along some trail that I used to run on back in my Berkeley days so I told Ed to follow my lead. 

We headed down a pathway, not the one I planned (it had been a while since I'd done this), but this worked just as well. We entered into a small tunnel (which I was a bit nervous about) 

and then onto a more familiar path. I was looking forward to going onto "my trail," a short quarter mile stretch hidden within a Eucalyptus grove above Crissy Field. This was always a special stretch for me, my first experience on a "trail," where I felt like I had escaped the city. 

However, the sight that greeted me was not at all what I expected. 

The right side of the trail had been razed. The trail was destroyed, with putrid piles of muddy water covering the ground. I don't know what happened, or why this trail stretch was destroyed. I continued to cross this pathway with a bit of sadness in my heart, lamenting the loss of such a special place. I knew that this would be my last time running across this ground. 

I breathed a sigh of relief as I finally reached the other side of this disappointing, muddy pathway, and Ed and I headed up towards the car. A quick glance to my watch showed that it would be close, but we just might make the mileage. We needed 0.22 of a mile. I ran tiredly up the bike path with my eyes on the watch. I was getting closer and closer to my goal, and, with a large loop around the car completed, I heard the tell - tale beep that signaled the end of a mile - my twelfth! 

What an amazing day - 2 extra miles, spectacular scenery, and the most romantic date a girl could ask for. 

What a perfect Valentine's Day.