Penasquitos Creek Park

On Saturday, 19 November, I ventured down to meet up with some of the San Diego Dirt Devils for a trail run.  Sometimes they do group meet-ups and open it up to everyone.  This one was down at Penasquitos Creek Park, about 30 minutes away from where I live.


About 15-20 runners showed up bright and early at 0700 to venture out.  Some were there to run 6 miles, some were going to do 8, and the brave ones were planning on 12 miles.  By 0710 we were hitting the trail, and the leaders took off.  Unfortunately, the leaders (who knew the course we were supposed to run) were a little faster than me...ok, a LOT faster.  I got to a "T" in the trail and there was no one in sight!

As a well-trained Marine, I decided I could navigate my way through the canyon and back to my car without any problems.  I had no Garmin, no stopwatch, and no iPod...I was running naked!  So, off I trotted just enjoying the scenery and the peace and quiet around me!

So, what did I think of this new trail?

+Quiet area, not too close to a road or other houses
+Beautiful scenery, well marked trails
+Can run upwards of 12 miles without back tracking!
-It's 28 miles from my house...and gas is almost $4/gallon
-There are a lot of mountain bikers on those same trails...most of them were really polite though!

So, the pros win out!!!  I'll be back to run this again.  I took Leonie's dog, Teton, with me and he did great!  There were a few ladies running with me, so I did find out final mileage from one (it's impossible to give up the OCD of logging miles), and we did 10.75!

Finding New Ground

One of my goals for the month of November is to find a new trail to run every week.  Living in SoCal, there are a ton of places to run, it just takes some time to look them up online and then to navigate to them! Today I left work early enough to go on an adventure, which really took me less than 2 miles from my house!


I found the Eucalyptus Grove Trail.







Pros:
-Close to my house
-Nice and hilly (though for someone as clumsy as me, this could also be a con)
-The other runners/walkers I passed out there were all very friendly
-Beautiful scenery
-The course is short - this makes it perfect for a long run training route.  You just put all of your snacks and drinks in your car at the trailhead and refuel when you finish your two miles!!!

You might get to see some bunnies!!!

 Cons:
-The trail runs along some major roads, so it's not very peaceful.
-It also runs through some pretty ritzy neighborhoods (huge houses on both sides)!  It's fun to look at how the other half live, BUT...if you have to pee, there's really no good place to do it (and yes, I REALLY had to pee the entire run).
-The course is short - two miles out and back.

Running on Vacation...

When you're away from home, sometimes it feels like you're out of your element and makes logging miles even more challenging. But sometimes, it makes running so much more fun because everything about each run is new. No regular routes to bore you into a slower pace, always something new to catch your attention and distract you from the tired feeling you normally experience. 

One of my favorite parts of my monthly Runner's World magazine, is in the first few pages...the Rave Run that profiles incredible scenery and a beautiful runner just enjoying life. While I haven't quite found a place worthy of submission, today I did come across an excellent place to run - Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton, VA. There are paved paths for those who like the stability of the asphalt, and well-groomed trails for the rest of us. It was a short 4 mile jog that took me on both.

As fall is approaching, the air was cool and crisp and it smelled wonderful (who knows why rotting leaves smell so darn good?!).  I only passed one person out there and it was heaven. Finding this place was definitely a great start to my week, especially since I'll be here for another 2 weeks.

Pros:

1. Both pavement and trail options exist for runners.

2. The isolation is refreshing.

3. Even though I was right next to a highway, I felt like I was miles away in a forest.

Cons:

1. Trail/pavement + wet leaves = higher chances of falling (especially if you have the coordination of my sister)

2. The isolation could be somewhat scary. I recommend running in such an environment with a buddy if at all possible.

3. Run routes that require driving are always a negative in my book. 

I even got to throw in some stairs midway through miles 2 and 3! 

What a great spot to do some cool down stretching in.

Raptor Ridge Trail Half Marathon

I'm a little late in posting this, but on 9 October, Sean and I ran the final race in a four-part series, "The Dirt Devil Racing Series".  This included the Coyote 5k, Sidewinder 10k, Stairway to Heaven 15k, and finally the Raptor Ridge half marathon.  The race series was put on by the San Diego Dirt Devils and the San Diego Running Institute and they did a great job!

This was the longest race that Sean has ever done and he was awesome!

     All of the races were done in the San Diego area on beautiful trails that were very challenging.  In fact, I'd say that the Stairway to Heaven 15k was in the top three toughest races I've ever run!  The crews that coordinated the race were great and they had volunteers posted along the way to cheer on the runners.  Throughout the series, we received pint glasses with the race logo on them.  For those who finished the entire series, we all received a really nice class pitcher with all four race logos on them!

     Congratulations to all of the runners on finishing the series!  My favorite thing about the race series was how motivating and encouraging the other runners were.  Almost every time someone passed me (which was pretty often), they offered words of encouragement.  What a great group of runners!!!

Sorry that all the pictures say the word "PROOF" on them...with all the races we do, I find that it's too expensive to actually buy the pictures most times and I just did a screen capture on them :-)

What's your favorite race series?