More trails. More bugs.

I did about 4 hours worth of hiking this past weekend, hitting up a few of our local trails that I hadn't been on recently.  One hosts a marathon and I always head south which is more runnable - this time I went north and was like "People RUN this??"  Talk about rocky!

One of the more runnable spots through the rock garden

Not sure why there's a chimney out in the middle of the woods

Rock walls from when this was farm land, I think

One hike started off with a bear sighting.  I've never seen a bear in real life!  He was cute.  Just meandering across the street like it was a normal Sunday.  Tra la la.  He completely ignored us.

I have been trying to find the right combination of bug repellents but these buggers are persistent.  DEET, Permethrin-infused clothes, Badger "natural" bug spray which makes me smell like a citronella candle... nothing worked.   I really need some suggestions because I expend more energy swatting bugs than I do walking.  Wait, maybe I can consider that my upper body workout?  Hmmm.

My post-op bucket list

These are the things that I want to do when I'm done with this hip stuff:

1.  Put my socks on myself.  (figured I'd start off with an easy one)
2.  Bay to Breakers.   I love San Francisco and a race that needs to actually ask that people wear clothing sounds like it would be a fun time.
3. The San Francisco Half Marathon.  Mostly because I had to DNS this year because of surgery.  I basically bought a $100 t-shirt for a race I didn't run.
4.  A kayak-bike-run triathlon.  There aren't that many of these around, but I'd love to do one.
5. To be able to use my standing desk.   It sounds silly, but the standing desk has so dramatically improved my health, I don't know what I am going to do if my hip doesn't allow me to stand while at work!
6. Ten Penny Duathlon. Every.Damn.Year. I am injured for this race.  Last year was my first year doing it, but it was coming off an injury so I really hadn't trained at all. I think I had two or three bike rides before race day.   I'd like to be able to do this race healthy.
7. Steeple Chase Bike Tour.  I've done this bike ride several years, and it's one of those events I love doing over and over, mostly because the rest stops are all churches who bake goodies for the riders  (calories in > calories out for this event!).  I've had to miss it the last few years.
8. Soapstone Mountain Trail race.  It's local, it's put on by a great group and it has this warning:  The courses include a number of steep, rocky, slippery or otherwise treacherous areas. Though injuries have been few and minor during the races history, a serious injury is possible. Because parts of the long course are relatively inaccessible, it is possible that an injured runner might have to wait an hour or more for emergency medical care.
9.  Bolton XC Summer Series.  For 7 Wednesdays in the summer, $3 will get you entry into a tough 2.9 mile XC race.  No electronic timing, no t-shirts, no frills, but loads of fun.

I think that's all doable, right?  :)

Hitting the trails!

I love trail running.  Love, love, love.  Unfortunately, I'm also quite clumsy and usually end up eating dirt and also can't find my way out of a paperbag without getting lost.

Today was a great day - perfect weather, no tripping and falling, no getting off trail, and the trails were in great condition.

I do a 4- mile loop, but there are several off-shoots that allow you to add on. I've done the 6-mile loop but it gets really technical and then I don't much enjoy that as much, because I'm constantly worried about killing myself on one of the rock gardens.   The 4-miler is perfect.   Technical in parts, a good number of short, steep climbs, a bunch of trees to jump and just enough of a challenge.

Here's the view at about mile 1.5 - the route crosses over a road here, so I'm actually on the overpass looking back over the trails.

Once you duck back into the woods, from miles 2-4 you are pretty much running along the water, or close to it.   At mile 2.5, this is the view:

It's interesting - there's an old, unkept road that is visible in pieces along this part.  Many times, it's completely under water if the water table is high enough.  I don't know what it used to be though - I wonder if this road was there before they dammed the river to make the reservoir?

This isn't the greatest picture, but this is about mile 3-ish - it's a swooping downhill right into another climb.  The mountain bikers who passed me were clearly not in the right gear and I heard some mashing of gears as they tried to quickly downshift in order to make it up the steep incline.  At least when running you don't have to worry about shifting, just about making it up the climb!