The usual notes on random hikes and runs. Nothing to see here!
Mar 29 / Santiago Truck Trail Re-Injury Cluster (3m)
Thought hip was feeling better, so, went for a slow jog on Santiago. Felt fine and then…nope. Back to square one. Walking around neighborhood a lot. Seriously going to lose it if I can’t do anything in the near future. For now, quarantine! Finishing on a whimper, but it’s better than…something worse.
Mar 25 / Harding Truck Trail Social Distance Walk III (6m)
Made it to the second viewpoint. Jogged a very tiny bit. Hip getting better, and very few people out. Got yelled at lady driving away, but mom thinks she was just stressed about the virus. Who knows. People are tense.
Yesterday, I’d gone to do same hike but ended up just walking on road for a mile because, well, I forgot my damn shoes ;(.
Mar 22 / Harding Truck Trail Social Distance Walk II (6m)
Same as yesterday but further. Lots of yahoos out and about, locals put up “don’t park here you asshole” signs. People are a plague unto themselves. That said, made it longer before hip hurtage turned me around. Progress!
Mar 21 / Harding Truck Trail Social Distance Walk (3m)
So, hip injured. Walked up a hill. A few others out. Surprised by groups of mountain bikers. Not sure they got the memo. Very nice views after the rains. Need to rehab the hip. From the hills, you can hardly tell it’s all gone crazy down here.
Mar 19 / Black Star to Crest (9m+ / Blah)
Started of well on nice cool, post-rain morning. Not many people out. Hip, tight but seemingly okay, then realized I desperately needed a bathroom and…of course there wasn’t one. Run and clench, clench and run. Finally surrendered and ran into the bushes to leave no trace in a very nicely dug hole. Wiped with sage? Some kinda pokey bush? I have splinters in my ass. But, net-net, it was a win and run continued. Did well but hip went to hell near crest, so 1:03 to top probably 0:58 or less moving. Probably would have done PB if not for reality. Ran a mile or so down and then hip hurt and I walked from there on. Bah. Must deal with this nonsense. Happy little Friday!
Mar 17 / Maple Springs Trail to Bedford (7.2m+ / 1:32)
Usual local-ish single track on nice cool day. Finally able run / jog comfortably up (0:58 PB) and run down for 1:32 (PB). Good energy, but a lot of aches and pains to work on. Few people on trail except for one group of girls and two other pairs. Great views now that the rain has cleared the air a bit.
Mar 14 / Black Star to Beek’s+ (16.5m, 3:53) – Pi Day!
Well, this was painful. No idea why, but legs were dead from the start. Slow 1:03 to the first crest. Slogged up 8+ miles (all jogging) to the radio tower in 1:53, oddly a personal best, even catching the couple that passed me at first, and all of it sucked. Though it was pretty. Then cracked on the way down and walked most of it. No idea why this was so much harder than last time. Middle age is fun. To put this in perspective, I was a min or two faster than my best time up, and still 30 min slower on the full RT, so I positive-split the downhill (1:53 up, 2:00 down). On the plus side the weather was nice, it was green, the mud wasn’t too bad, and it wasn’t crowded. I was wrecked afterward. Wrecked. Waaahhh!!!
Mar 11 / Black Star to Crest (9.5m, 1:38)
Careful run after various injuries are hopefully “healed” (which in middle age apparently means “waiting to come back later just to screw with you”) but made it to crest in 56:40, which I think is my best time? Oddly unsatisfying after being passed by some guy who looked way too relaxed. Then back to car relatively 1:38 (also PB?) fast but definitely out of running shape. Hips tight. Achilles questionable. Judgement beyond repair. Seventy and humid. Still nice to be outside.
Mar 7 / Skyline Trail (Kam, Nikky)
Long Valley Ridge from Skyline
Nice mellow climb on a cool, mostly sunny day. Met a new friend. On my end, felt fine but think the EFS electrolytes might have upset my stomach. Not sure. Drank 3 liters vs 1.5 last time, didn’t eat that much. Ran into David Juarez again; impressive guy.
Mar 3 / Maple Springs Partial
Did a little test hike / run on my wacked hip thingy. Seemed 90% better from Saturday. Should be able to do something biggish this weekend, if not R2R2R.
Feb 29 / Black Star Partial + Bonus Injury (Leap Day!)
Started run to Beek’s and possibly beyond feeling crappy, but made good time (usually 1:00 split at crest) then pulled something in my hip or butt at mile 6.95. Turned around and mile 7 and walked back, bummed but not willing to make it worse. Hopefully just overuse and nothing serious. Took some shortcuts on the way back so something less than 14 miles, running all 7 of the uphill and feeling great aerobically until the end.
Feb 27 / Black Star Partial
First tiny slow run after surgery. Maybe five miles? Pokey. 90+ at car. WTF. May have signed up for a race I’m doomed to never finish. But we’ll see. Hope and registration fees spring eternal
Feb 23-25 / Various
Another partial on Black Star, two partials on Maple Springs, mostly walking and thinking. Hard not to be able to run, but damn it’s hot. Eight in February is just wrong. Wrong!
Feb 22 / Black Star Amble
Not allowed to run since surgery, so did a bit of walk. Met one runner from OC Craft Beer pub running group or something, some other guys from Long Beach Experience (?) running group. Following both on FB. Would have been a great day for running with nice cool weather and rain.
Feb 19 / Mt. Woodson from Upper Lot (7M+, 1:43H)
Super weird week. Was wiped after Mondays’ run for some reason, spent Tuesday like a zombie, then ran up Woodson so I’d get some exercise before surgery. Managed to run all of the bottom hills, but felt bonky by top and crested at like 59:50, so basically 1 hour (same as last time) despite running portion. Silly. Just had nothing left on the way down (wanted to lie down and take a nap) so slow jog-walked and got down by 1:43, only 2-3 min slower than last time. These splits make no sense, but at least I got to eat Pizza Port for lunch. Then car battery died, somehow got it started, did the surgery (well, it was done to me), then came out and battery was dead again. Waited 1.5 hours for AAA, then they didn’t have a batter, so drove around Encinitas following driver to find other driver who had battery, then drove back to Orange County. Long silly day. I was grumpy at the and, but still glad I did the morning run…
Feb 17 / Santiago Truck Trail to 4M Crest (8M, 1:37)
Weirdly warm (70+) February day, but still a pleasant run after a weekend of all eaty no sleepy. Bit tired on the return and stomach didn’t like the goo, which was odd, but probably more to do with what I ate at the writing conference in San Diego. Fun day, and another run where my legs were tired before I got bonky or out of breath, which is a nice change. Some mountain-bikers, mostly polite. No other runners. Not sure I get the splits on these runs; seems to take proportionately too long to get back, so maybe there’s more uphill than I realize. To the app!
Feb 12 / Maple Springs Trail to Bedford Peak (7.5M, 1:41H)
After a weekend of crappy skiing but good friends, and some terrible gym workouts (muscles, what muscles?), my mood needed a run. Nice day up to peak in 1:02 (PB), down in 1:41 (PB), running all the way in both directions. No real body pains, but definitely a bit tired by end. Gotten to point where on this run my legs / fatigue are limiter vs. bonk or aerobic fitness, which is nice. As usual, time eerily close to Woodson from Upper Lot, but overall exertion perceived as less despite longer distance and climb. Odd.
Feb 6 / Black Star to Beek’s (16M+, 3:23H)
After an utter failure of a night trying to sleep, followed by groggy and pathetic writing session, I bailed for the lush and verdant foothills of Orange County. Thought I’d try for the full climb to the peak, but bagged it at the Beeks radio tower (1:54) and dragged my carcass back (3:23). Surprised by how tired I was on the way down (not bonky, but achy-breaky-sluggy). Given that I lost nearly seven pounds in water weight, I’d guess I needed more water. Stupid body, needing things. Then got hungry and paid $11 for a grilled cheese sandwich. Never making that bad decision again. Still, feel better than this morning. Victory!
Feb 2 / Iron Mountain via Ellie Lane (8M+)
Mosey with Juli. Nice sunset and fun conversation. Probably shouldn’t wear sunglasses after sunset.
Feb 2 / Mt. Woodson from Upper Lot (7M+, 1:40H)
Fast hike up (1:00 not PB to top), run down with Kam. Close but not better than PB. Runner dude passed us like we were standing still. More athletic in the 20 seconds I saw him than anything in my life. Damn. Nice day.
Feb 1 / Maple Springs Trail to Bedford Peak (7.5M, 1:45H)
Jog up, run down. 1:05 (PB) to top, 1:45 RT. Saw snake. Attacked my loud stingy bug and stung / bitten behind right ear. Stabbed by yucca stalk. Nearly face-planted. Hot as hell at bottom (85?). Good run.
Jan 29 / Santiago Truck Trail to 4M Crest (8M, 1:40)
Surprisingly pleasant, no-bonk run to the usual turn-around (0:54). One of those odd days when everything works and running is fun again. No other runners around noon, but a few mountain bikers. No water, one goo.
Jan 25 / Black Star to Beek’s Place (16.5m, 3:45)
So, this was a weird study in entropy. I started off dead tired and poorly motivated, legs full of lead and head full of mud, but slowly got into a sort of staggering rhythm. Made the crest in 1:04, just four min or so off pace, and to the radio tower above Beek’s Place in two hours exactly. Not exactly speedy (took about the same time to get to the Modjeska junction last Saturday on Harding, and that had 2k more elevation gain), but I made it. Then, I started jogging down and about 2:30 my legs turned to anchors I was dragging through quicksand. Didn’t feel bonked so much as beat, so either I wasn’t recovered still from the earlier week (possible) or I was just a bit over-worked generally (possible) or both. Anyhoo, walk-jog-sweat back to car was at least injury free. Meh.
Jan 23 / Maple Springs Partial
Oof. No energy. Rest of day no energy. So, no energy..zzz…
Jan 21 / Black Star to Crest (9.5m, 1:47)
Ran most of the way up, some of the way down. Felt okay, but hip / back definitely need work. Time to crest exactly one hour, which I think is 1 min above PB. Overall, pretty good.
Jan 18 / Harding Truck Trail with Kam (21.5m, 5:01)
First long run I’ve done in a long time. Ran about 8 miles in each direction, so 16 mile run plus 5.5 mile hike. Kam kicked my ass in both directions. Now I need yoga. A lot of yoga.
Jan 14 / Maple Springs Trail (5m+)
No motivation. Sat for a while on a rock and checked out the view. It was a nice rock.
Jan 13 / Black Star Jog? (6m+)
Don’t really remember. Suspect I was a bit tired.
Jan 11 / Skyline with Huy and Kam (8.5m, 5:12)
Gained some weight recently, so this is my FKT – Fattest Known Time on Skyline ;). Good time with friends. Made it up in 5:12 despite sluggishness and snow from Flat Rock up. Kam set her PB at 5:10 (Nice!), Huy his worst time at 5:20 or so (ha ha). Didn’t really feel tired except for legs at top, but was sucking wind a lot of the way. Altitude? Not sure. Without snow we would’ve been under five, which is still pretty slow for me and very slow for Huy. For some reason, I only drank 1.5-1.75 liters of water, far less than normal (which is closer to 2.5-3 liters). Never really felt thirsty, but maybe that was part of the sucking wind thing. Not sure. Food-wise, had 3x Luna coconut bars, some crackers and 2x Cliff Gus (1 with Caffeine), some Perpetuem in the water and one salt pill. Say, 1,100 calories, or roughly 275 calories per hour for the last four hours. A bit low, but didn’t really feel bonky until right at end. Should eat and drink more. Stomach was fine. This put total miles for week at 51.2 (almost all hiking), which is pretty good considering just getting back from and still fighting injuries.
Jan 9 / Black Star Partial (6.6 Miles)
Had high hopes after Tuesday on Harding, but tired legs slowed things way down. Less pain, though, so still glad I got out there.
Jan 7 / Harding Truck Trail (19 Miles)
Started with low expectations given hip pain and general lethargy, but oddly turned out to be a great day. Mostly hiked, but managed to run 6-7 miles, hip pain minimal, clearly really a lower back problem. Energy fine. Finished feeling pretty good. Freakin’ weird. Honestly, could have pushed a lot harder. No bonk, nothing. Now, to eat things!
Jan 5 / Maple Springs Rim (17.1 Miles)
Hiked up Maple Springs Trail to Bedford, then along North Main Divide Road to base of Modjesksa, and down Maple Springs Road. Worth doing once. Would be good training route while running, though I’d probably go the other way (the road down is deadly boring). Hip still tight, but a little better.
Jan 4 / Maple Springs Trail to Side Peak (6m?)
Walk to see how hip / butt was feeling. Enjoyable, but still super tight on right side. Maybe 6 miles. Took a right on the trail under the power lines. Not a maintained trail, but enjoyable views.
Jan 2 / Black Star Amble (6m?)
I was able to run 8 miles of this (to crest) on Dec 30 of prior year (3 days earlier), but had real pain in butt and hip and no energy. Achilles oddly fine, but damn I have jacked myself up somehow. Pain is now chronic and substantial. Was able to work through it and do some Fartleks on way down, but it’s ugly. Grr.
Jan 1 / Maple Springs Trail to Bedford Peak (7.5M, 2H)
Walk up, jog down to be careful on ankle and some weird hip pain action. 1:11 up, rest and whatnot, 1:59 RT. Given similarity to Woodson in San Diego, should be able to do this in 1:30-1:40 once I can run again. Aerobically and energy-wise, I felt fine. Happy New Year!
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