Trail Running

The Atascosa Mountains have always intrigued me.  In them live bears, mountain lions, coyotes and foxes, raccoons, coatamundi, javelina, tiny Coues whitetail deer, and very large mule deer.  Not to mention it's crawling with border patrol chasing around illegal immigrants.  And perhaps the craziest thing, there are jaguars that frequent the mountain range!  But definitely the most dangerous thing out there are the drug traffickers hauling loads of various types of dope north through the canyons.  In these mountains in the past two years there have been several bodies found (shoot outs between rival smuggler groups, supposedly), as well as the shooting death of a border patrol agent. 

Here's a picture I took of some mountain lion prints a few years ago:

I live in the foothills of those mountains, my bedroom window looks out on them.  I've done a bit of exploring through some of the trails, especially when I was into 4-wheeling.  But now I'm into running, not Jeeps.  I want to run those trails I used to drive.

Today I did a route that leads  right up to the very base of the mountain.  Last year at this time I'd ride this route on a mountain bike for a good workout.  Today, I'm dead legged from yesterday's windy 73 mile bike ride (I rode almost 200 miles this week!).  Things change, don't they?

I decided that I'd take my time and just relax, try to sneak in 8 miles on my tired legs.  I did a little warm up, threw on my toe shoes and trusty knee wrap (notice the excellent salt stains).  I need the knee wrap because sometimes one injury creates another.  Due to a weakened hamstring, I've developed some patellar tendon issues from riding with a muscular imbalance between the hamstring and quad! DOH!!

I knew I wanted to stop and take in some of the views and shoot some unworthy pictures on my phone.  Here's the first.

 As you can see, it's a hard packed road, and most of today's run was just that.  However, in toe shoes, that's not a fast surface.  Often it was like running on marbles (I imagine).  Again, today that was fine as I just wanted to go run around.

When I started I didn't warm up enough and my injured hamstring was quite tight.  So, I just went real slow until it loosened (about a half mile).  Everything felt great until I stopped to take a picture.  After that, my piriformis felt heavy, like lead.  Eh, what are you gonna do, stay home?

The terrain here is high desert, mostly grass land.  The mountains were covered in live oaks, but there were two huge fires last summer that denuded them. 

After running about three miles I happened across a military-type, 6X6 vehicle.  That's 3 sets of axles for a total of six wheels.  They were perched on a hillside looking south.

I'm pretty new to running and often learn things that are obvious to others.  Today I learned that when trail running, the terrain dictates the pace.  That goes doubly true for running trails in toe shoes!  However, they keep my stride short and form in check, so it's a good trade off!

Today's eight mile run capped off a monster week.  I missed a forty minute run due to the previously stated patella issue, but still amassed 207 total miles of running and riding.  I had three TOUGH rides where I started using my heart rate monitor to determine my pace instead of the speedometer. 

The last thing I wanted to share was this:

I mentioned the quote in my last post, but today I saw a similar picture.  I thought they fit together nicely.  For me, right now, all of that squiggely line in the middle is injury and dietary indiscretion.  :D

I'm learning so much ... how dumb could I really be?

I'm 38.  Between the ages of 26 and 37 I was pretty much exercise free.  The exercise I've done in my life before last spring was the sort that involved a little running here and there, hitting the weights now and then, and playing a little basketball or something.

In the next 60 days I have a 111 mile road bike race and a half marathon.  So now not only do I have a mapped training plan, it's two activities.  At the end of every day the past two weeks, I've wondered, "Can I really manage that workout tomorrow?"

Sunday I ran a 5K race, my first, and was very sore Monday.  Monday I went on a 32 mile hilly ride with a friend that's not a serious rider.  I knew the pace would be easy, but didn't know how I'd feel.  I know a 5K isn't much, but I ran really hard and haven't run hard in months!  I almost backed out of Monday's ride.

Tuesday was a real time crunch.  I had about an hour of light in the afternoon.  So I decided to do intervals (on the bike).  Three miles fast, then cruise over the overpasses.  I did 20 miles this fashion and was toast.

Wednesday morning I did NOT want to get out of bed.  I went on a short 2 mile run, then hit the gym for some upper body work.  Wednesdays I teach two classes for the community college in the evenings, so even without a long work out, it's a draining day.

Thursday I had a 40 mile "tempo" workout on the bike.  I agreed that I would not drop below 17.5 mph on the bike.  On flat ground that's no problem.  But, look at the elevation profile.  When I showered Thursday night, I had crusted dry salt that made my eye brows and temples white.  It was awesome confirmation of the effort I gave.

This morning I was supposed to do an 8 mile slow run.  It's my first run of what I'd consider a significant distance since June.  I was anxious and didn't sleep well.  I wasn't sure how I'd feel but with the races around the corner, I had to stay on schedule and give it a shot.

I wanted to keep around a 9:30 pace or so and did a pretty good job.  I had some new vibrams to break in (second pair of toe shoes).

Where I live is hilly, even if you avoid hills.  The first mile is down hill and I did it in 9:01.  Legs felt good, sore left calf had no problems.  Second mile had a climb in it and was 10:11.  I felt great, like I could do this pace all day, even with dead legs from riding.  The third was 9:56 and at the end of mile 4 was a turn around.  4th was 9:30, and 5 was 9:45.  I labored on mile 6 and started thinking about some things that make me angry.  Normally, if I run or ride, or work mad, I'm very efficient.  But this time, I realized, I thought of those things in that fashion because I was tired and didn't have the resistance to reframe the situation appropriately.  Mile 7 had the hill again and was uphill even without the climb, 11:01.  I felt good again and decided to make the last mile my best, at 8:57.


Did I mention I got up at 4 am to do that run?  


That makes for a little over 100 miles going into the weekend.  I have my long ride tomorrow, maybe.  It's going to be a minimum of 85 miles.  We'll see how it goes.  

One thing I'm learning is that dietary advice regarding weight loss is totally useless at the moment.  I eat as much as I want as frequently as I want.  Those people write magazine articles about diet and exercise aren't performing 2 hour tempo workouts on a hilly course.  


I saw a shirt the other day that really captured the sentiment I've had lately, especially on rides like Thursday and mornings like today's. It said, "Nobody says, let's play triathlon."  While I'm not participating in a triathlon, the sentiment was dead-on!

Running with Cousins

Tonight we (Brianna and I) ran with our cousins, Sarah and Alyssa. We did about 3 1/2 miles and had a great pace. Poor Alyssa does NOT run (yet) and looked miserable. But, being Alyssa, she was upbeat and happy and fun to be around.



The route we took is a portion of the de Anza trail that runs parallel to the Santa Cruz River. It's soft ground, well shaded and meanders. There are some fallen trees crossing the trail that must be jumped over and some pretty cool views of the surrounding mountains.

Today was supposed to be a recovery run. I'm not sure what happened, but Brianna was keeping pace. On the way back she took off like I'd never seen her do. We were booking! It was so much fun. The dog was BEAT, as were the two of us.

Here's the pace-setter today:



In this pic, a bit blurry on my face (you're welcome), you can see my cheap toe-shoes. I love these things.

It's so fun to run with my daughter and cousins.

And here's the route we took: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/34631194

Anyhow, here's to running. :D