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January 23, 2005
day off & Pt. Reyes 20
saturday:
i ended up taking the day off. i set out for a run but my legs were tired from my fast run on the ridge on friday and the arch of my left foot has been bugging me now for 3 days...not when i run just when i'm not running. it tightens up on me especially over night when i'm sleeping and then gets very sore when it s first moved.
sunday:
ran 20 miles in pt. reyes national park (this is about 30 miles or so from where i live--it's located right on the coast ). this park is truly a great place to run...you can run along the coastal trail and witness the ocean's roar and breakers galore, there are miles of trails that meander via beautiful grasslands, there's bushlands and forested ridges galores. the park is long (parallels the ocean) and a great portion of the park is cut by a tall ridge...that provides wonderful forest trails, camping, exploration...and of course hills to climb (there are tons of ways to reach the ocean from the many trailheads near the entrance of the park...in most cases however...you do have to climb at least 800 feet or more to get over this ridge!!)
we started our run early in the morning at five brooks trail head. we took the ridge trail (about a 2 mile up hill climb) over to Palomarin (which is right on the coast!!!). by the time we hit the coastal trail...the sun was out and it had warmed up a bit. the fog was not clinging onto the coast like it was the valleys. we ran by bass lake (a great summer swimming hole w/a rope swing and all) and then continued on to wildcat camp. the views of the pacific were just AWEsome! the bright blue waters with crashing white foam hitting the sands at regular intervals...right up against the green winter grasslands...it was a fabulous scene. from here i headed right up Stewart trail (another very big climb on a fire trail..over a mile long--you run by shrubs and via a pine forest...all with the ocean to your back!!! ) to a great single track trail called Greenpicker. This trail is short but fun. It's extremely narrow. Very wooded. Lots of tight turns to meander around. Rolling hills. One feels like a small little lucky speck running under the canopy of the lush douglas fir forest. within this wooded area i came across three banana slugs and two newts. The ground here is really moist..douglas fir trees are very good at capturing moisture out of the air...even where there's not much rain... after getting off this trail i hit stewart again...the big fire trail road and made my way back down to five brooks. although i still feel a bit congested...i felt pretty good on the run and of course very inspired by the setting. during the run my arch didn't bother me at all...however now it's sore. i'm going to start icing it and looking after it a bit more aggressively.
Posted by liz at January 23, 2005 12:42 PM
Comments
Liz - It sounds like you had a GREAT 20 miler! I wish I was there with you. Definitely one of my ALL time favorite places to run. Hope you are feeling great today.
Posted by: Mary at January 24, 2005 08:02 AM
I heard you were out there on the Bandito Run. I ran with a small group that started at 8:30, we did about 18+ miles. (Five Brooks, up to the ridge, down Lake Ranch, along the coast, took a sidetrip to Alamere Falls, then up Stewart, over to Glen Camp, and back along the Bear Valley Trail to our finish at Bear Vlley Visitors Center. It was further than I had planned on going, and I was quite tired at the end, but I actually feel pretty good today. We are so lucky to have such a fabulous running area so close by, eh? I'll have to run out there more often.
Posted by: Dave at January 24, 2005 09:28 PM