Running to Switzerland

My Friday afternoon running is continuing. It’s nice to get a good solid run in at the start of the weekend and then have the option to rest or not or find someone to ride with or not or just hang around on Saturday morning drinking coffee – this so far is what I have chosen this weekend – the coffee.

There were a few changes of note in yesterday’s run. One: I wore a watch for the first time in a few years while running. This helped me to estimate my mileage. Two: I was up on a new (to me) trail on the west side of Brown mountain. The trail follows the canyon bottom along the creek all the way back to Switzerland. Well, it used to be called that – now Switzer’s Camp. Apparently back in 1912 through the mid 30’s there was a mountain resort there with tennis courts and a library (M. Troy, K. Woten, Mountain Biking the San Gabriel, 1997.) Enter the motor vehicle and the Angeles Crest Highway and massive flooding in 1938 and television and what we’re left with now is a few river-rock-foundations. I didn’t make it all the way to Switzerland, though. I would like to try running back there again, though. It is so quiet back there. I didn’t see anyone beyond about three miles from the trailhead.

It’s an incredible canyon as you head deeper into it. It gets very steep and rocky with small waterfalls pouring into deep pools. The third new thing for me was wearing a hydration pack. For some reason I only filled it up about two-thirds of the way. Next time I’ll top it off. I was surprised that it wasn’t so uncomfortable as I expected. At first the pack kept pulling the back of my shirt up. Then I crossed the shoulder straps in front across my chest and that was better. Still, though, I had to turn around a couple miles short of Switzerland because I was getting low on water and was also pretty tired. I ended up only slightly dehydrated which is somewhat of a victory for me.

Fourth new thing: I brought food – two packages of gummy cubes and a mini bar. I ate these every 45 minutes. This seemed to help and I think it will also help with my recovery.

I felt very alone way back there. This was good and bad. It was great to be able to experience a fairly remote setting without using the car (I biked to the trailhead). I found myself whistling as I rounded sharp turns in the trail. I’m not sure if I was warning other hikers/bikers or lions, or bears, or ghosts or what. I was very aware of the fact that I did not want to get injured or dehydrated back there by myself. I should probably leave a detailed running plan with someone next time. I also need to find someone to run with back there. I’m not sure how that works though. You just call someone up and ask if they want to go for a three hour run through the mountains on a Friday evening? Who would accept an invitation like that?

Hilary’s Run

Although this weekend’s running event was cancelled, it was substituted by another running milestone. Hilary went for her first run since her ACL surgery four months ago. We went to the track up the street with the cushy new rubber surface and she went for an easy half-mile jog. I’m not sure if this was approved by her PT but it seemed to go pretty smoothly. “I loved it!” she said. Running partners, reactivate…

empty Friday evening rain run

Not being one to waste a good taper, rest, binge, hydration period, as soon as I heard the Mt Wilson run cancellation news I went out for a run in the rainy evening following the path up along the arroyo. The world seemed surprisingly emptied of people. Even up by the area where people normally do a lot of riding and walking and running and car cruising there were only a few people out. I stayed out a long time, turning around only after I reached Johnson Rock and took a lap around the field. This (short) route to J-Rock is about fifteen miles roundtrip for me. It’s a nice destination because it’s mostly off the roads and it helps to think about all the people that run to this spot from many, many more miles away. It was nice to run this route on a cool day and in a well-prepared state.

The Mt Wilson run should be rescheduled sometime in the next month or so. Still looking forward to it and actually glad that I’ll get to prepare a little more.

postponed!

Due to heavy rains and threat of slides in the recent burn areas surrounding the Mt Wilson trail in Sierra Madre tomorrow’s event has been postponed to a later date TBD.

Bummer! Just got that message this afternoon. Now what? I guess this rest day is scratched and I can go out for a run.

I’m assuming our margarita brunch is still on…

quick rinse

Awesome unexpected thunderstorm yesterday afternoon. I always like the early and late season rain. Mindful Mule enjoyed getting cleaned off a little as we rode to the farmer’s market. We ended up with about a quarter inch of big raindrops.

awareness training

For some reason I was totally wrecked by today’s run on El Prieto. I could barely make it up the trail and back. And the rest of the day was “game over,” too.

It would be easy to blame the heat or sun as it is quite a bit hotter today than it’s been – about ninety-something. But, it wasn’t that hot yet when I was up there this morning, although the sun was already getting pretty intense.

It could also have been a lack of sleep last night, or the subsequent overdose of coffee that followed, or the previous day’s work, or maybe I’m sick or perhaps something else unknown.

As is often the case, it was probably a combination of factors. It’s a little bit scary to think that little pieces of our lives can combine to sabotage us. Maybe our best defense against this is to be better aware of a situation as it is developing. I knew on the way up the trail that I was getting crushed, but kept going. I probably should have turned around.

I’m starting to believe that a big part of training is gaining this sort of self-awareness. How do I feel when it’s time to turn around? When will I benefit from pushing through this wall in front of me?

Sometimes, though, the crushing is worth it. If I had turned around earlier I wouldn’t have seen the hundreds of butterflies drinking from the side of the stream. Or the mellow rattlesnake stretched out across the path in the morning sun. Or the tracks that led me right up to the deer that made them. Good trade.

the breath that reminds me

Back in the flatlands again this morning - went for a one hour “bridge” run for the first time in a little while. It felt good to be able to maintain a more consistent pace after spending several runs in the mountains. The mountain runs seem to have really helped out my flatland running. The mountains have reminded me that it’s okay to push a little harder. I’ve been focusing on the number of strides per breath. Going up the mountain I max out at about four steps for every inhale/exhale cycle. Down in the flats, even when I feel like I’m going fast and pushing myself, it’s more like eight steps per breath cycle. So I guess I can step it up a bit more when running down here.

I’m looking forward to running the Mt Wilson Trail Race on May 24th. I just got the notice that “it’s a go” – the Sierra Madre fires are out and lots of volunteers have hustled to fix up the trail - thank you! Hope to get one or two more mountain runs in this weekend, then a few easy runs the week before Mt. Wilson.

Prieto and Brown

I’m pretty stoked about today’s run. Headed up El Prieto trail as I’ve been doing recently. Then continued along up to the end of the Brown mountain dirt fire road that I usually ride on. I’d never run to the end of this trail until today – about thirteen roundtrip – plus about the same distance of biking to and from the trailhead - another great car-free mountain experience.

I ran out of water/energy drink at the top with 5ish downhill miles before I could refill. Luckily it was a nice cool and foggy day. Not to bad on a day like today but could have been rough on a hot day. Next time: two water bottles. (Several years ago I ran out of water in this same spot returning from a walk to the peak of Brown. It was very hot that day and it crushed me – one of the top three dehydration crushings of my life.)

I saw a plant I’d never seen up there, too. I didn’t even know they grew up there. It’s called “Woolly Blue Curls” – the botanical name is Trichostema lanatum. At first I thought it was another Lupine which is blooming all over the place right now. I guess it’s easier to identify plants at a jogging pace then a bicycle pace.

Back down at the bottom of the hill, I think I saw some kind of herons, too - three of them. They were bluish-grey in color and big and loped along through the air – other worldly birds.

It’s funny, I read so much about runners completing 100+ mile trail runs that my short runs feel pretty insignificant. I’d really like to run and run through the mountains all the way to Wrightwood (actually, from Wrightwood to here.) That would take a lot of training and I’m not sure if I can do it. One step at a time though and we’ll see where I end up. I’m certainly enjoying these runs enough that it will be okay if they never go any farther than they do now.

El Prieto Trail

I went running up El Prieto trail again this morning – cloudy and cool. Maybe you’ve been wondering, like I have, what does El Prieto mean anyway? The dictionary tells me it means: swarthy, having a dark complexion; blackish, somewhat black; mean; tight; packed, crowded. Well, the trail is in a deep shaded canyon and it’s usually pretty dark in there. And the trail is pretty tight in places. And for those of you that are allergic to poison oak I suppose it could be a pretty mean place, too. I would also add that it can be pretty creepy when you’re alone – Blair Witch Project-esque. Here's a 10 minute video of someone riding down El Prieto trail (not me/mine).

Oh, and good news, back in January I retired some running shoes that were hurting my feet. Actually, all I did was put them in the closet for 4 months. Now I’m running in them again and they feel fine. In that amount of time my foot probably healed completely and may have even changed shape slightly, too. I’m only going to use them on the trail, though, where it’s softer. Maybe this is worth trying with other retired shoes as well…

Keep Riding The Path to Brown

I finally rode up to Brown Mtn again yesterday. I hadn’t been up there through the entire month of April. I don’t know what I've been thinking. It was a nice sunny morning with wispy white clouds drifting through the blue sky. It felt great to be up there again. (Yes, I was just there two days ago on a run, but somehow it’s a different experience on the bike.) The bloom is incredible right now – lupine, datura, yucca, yerba santa, chamise, salvia, and lots more.

I saw a few snake tracks crossing the trail and a little hopping bunny and a floating red-tail hawk and a bunch of boy scouts and someone on a cross bike (must be rough on the descent.)

There’s a rider that I see up on Brown almost every time I ride there. His name is Speedy Gonzales. It seems he’s always on the way down the mountain when I’m about half way up. He rides very fast - probably the fastest rider I’ve seen up there (hence the name speedy). He looks like your typical super skinny racing cyclist and doesn’t wear a helmet. He was there today riding his path. And so was I.

I should do this every Friday

Ride to the trailhead (7 miles). Lock up to the fence and change clothes in the parking lot. Run up the mountain on the El Prieto trail and then continue up to the “junction” (4 miles). Then down the fire road back to the bike as the sun sets. Change into pants and sweatshirt to avoid downhill chill. See how fast Mindful Mule can go down the steep road into the Arroyo Seco (37.8 mph). Then follow the winding road home. Refresh, refuel. Switch bikes and “fix” up to the pub for a couple healthful local beers. Meet up with a couple of other riders for the pre-midnight ride home through the back alleys where the smell of tomorrow’s roasting coffee wafts heavily through the night.

A few notes:

Trail running makes me huff and puff a lot more than my normal run. I can feel the smog in my lungs.

The mountain bikers coming down El Prieto seem to have forgotten the right of way rules. I realize it’s much easier for a runner or walker to stand to the side of the trail and let the bike continue, and I almost always step aside for them, but the bikes shouldn’t expect it.

I heard a pack of yelping coyotes up there on the mountain.

Three weeks until the Mt Wilson Trail Run. Days like this should be good training.