May Miles

I added a table called "My 2009 At A Glance" to my blog. Now I can see what I have been doing all year at a - well, at a glance.

Gee, I ran more miles this week than I did during the entire month of February!

May was my first 100+ month this year. In fact, more than 1/3 of all my miles in 2009 were during the month of May. I sure like seeing progress, but I just hope I'm not ramping up too fast.

Too Fast

Nobody ever tells me I run too fast, but everyone tells me I drive too fast. I love to slide around corners and whatnot. When the roads are a little slick, as they were this morning on my way to Quail Hill for a trail run, it's a special treat for me. There were no other cars around, so I was doing my thing and having a great time. Except for one minor miscalulation - I went wide by just a few inches, and my rim smacked into the curb. Ouch! Luckily the tire stayed up so I could get to the run on time and back home, albeit with a slight shimmy.


When I told my wife what happened, she just shook her head and asked, "How old are you?". OK, I'm 54, but folks, there was no sympathy at all. In fact, I could have sworn I saw her smiling to herself. Hey, at least I don't run over big concrete balls!

Photo Caption Contest

While sitting at Starbucks after a pleasant run in Whiting Ranch, we were treated to a little entertainment out on the driveway. Never seen anything like this before, at least on the street. I guess this is one of those times where a 4 wheel drive comes in handy!

Can you come up with a good caption for this picture? Mine is below.

Wait up, I've got a rock in my shoe!

Don't get me wrong - this morning's run was great, but not quite as interesting as this. Here are a few more views:

Suddenly Symmetry!

My body is a work of asymmetric art.

Examples? One arch is normal and the other is kind of flat. The IT band on one side sometimes gets sore, as does the hamstring on the other side. My nose always runs on one side only. I sometimes get PF on one side, but a sore knee on the other. And whenever my hip hurts, it's always on the same side. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a little symmetry! It would make me feel a bit more...normal.

This afternoon I began to sense a dull ache on both shins right below the knee. As the feeling intensified, it suddenly dawned on me. This was a first. I thought, "Hey, it hurts in exactly the same spot on both legs at exactly the same time!", and then I went off to find some ice.

Later at home I continued to relish in my new-found self-symmetry, utilizing my extra large ice mat (with bi-lateral symmetry, of course) to service the same spot on both legs at the same time.

Holy Jim Falls

What a great feeling to be able to do long runs over 10 miles again! It opens up so many new possibilities. This day, I wanted something with trees but without too much climbing. I decided to run to Holy Jim Falls, but started at the beginning of Trabuco Creek Road, not the Holy Jim trailhead. That gave me about an hour of easy jogging with a gradual incline on a wide road before I hit the single track. At the 6th creek crossing the trail splits - the main trail continuing with about 5 miles of switchbacks straight up the side of a mountain, and the other trail going about 400 yards up the creekbed to the falls. I chose the falls.

The Holy Jim trailhead, about 5 miles into the run.

Not much water falling this time of year!

Just a couple of notes on gear: First, it was pretty humid, so instead of running with a sweat-soaked shirt (which can wreak havoc on one's nips), I ran shirtless. Not much possibility for sunburn today. Second, partly due to the humidity-induced sweating and partly due to the distance, I had quite a bit of chafing. Ouch! I had forgotten that I always used to apply vaseline to sensitive areas on runs over 10 miles.

Summary: Easy, scenic run of 12.3 miles with 1544 ft. elevation gain.

Running Like A Faucet

...My nose, that is. Lots of sneezing, too. For the last several days I have not been able to stray too far from a box of Kleenex. Funny thing, it's not a problem while my legs are running.

This was my first visit to Chino Hills State Park since the "Freeway Complex Fire" of last November. The park looks much as it did last May, except for the charred trees everywhere!

The imposing trail head at Rim Crest

One of the many burn areas

Weeds-in-the-face single track all the way to yonder ridge

Although I felt a bit run down from my cold, I managed to log 9.5 miles with 1,200 ft. of climbing.