Tag: vacation

Consistent

Not a word often used to describe me. Even more surprising when you factor in that vacation for me usually means a vacation from coffee too. What???

That said, last week was a good mix of doing nothing, sticking to my training plan and doing nothing. Wait did I say that already? Seriously though it was a pretty good week. I meant to write a post last week but I was just so busy doing nothing, it was a distraction.

When the week started, I had planned to stick to my training plan like it was written but reality saw me moving things around. With my doctor’s appointments and first service on my car, moving things fit my week better. And I added on the extra 2 miler instead of cross training. Woo hoo!

Actually, the 2 miler was the first work out errr, walk out of the week on Tuesday. I kept it close to home and quick. Well, as quick as walking can be. Only downside was a band aid malfunction. I’ve learned I am allergic to band aids-yay- and the sensitive skin ones have less than ideal sticking power.

Wednesday’s speech therapy appointment put me in the same town as the lake path so, yay! It was warm! Plan called for 3.5 miles and I know 3 laps around the lake is 3.5 miles. Instead of carrying water, I made my car an aid station and stopped when I needed to. My watch has been malfunctioning- I broke the dial- so sometimes it starts or stops and sometimes it doesn’t. Partway through my second lap, I realized it hadn’t started again and shorted me around 1/4 mile. So of course I had to walk an extra 1/4 mile to make up for it.

Thursday saw a rest day as my heel was sore. I need better work shoes so this is nothing new plus I had a few appointments.

Friday was supposed to be a hike but just wasn’t feeling it so I headed out for 3.5 miles at the river path. Where there was a nice breeze. I also had another band aid malfunction a little over a mile in so I turned around and headed back for the car. I hit 3.1 miles for the day instead. Grrr.

Saturday was supposed to be hiking and shopping… and it was! It was supposed to be a harder trail but I wasn’t feeling it so my mom and I headed for the Headlands trail. Very user friendly with views of the ocean- sign me up! All was good until almost 2 miles when I bottomed out. Occasionally I get what feels like low blood sugar attacks where I get real clammy, shaky and both feel starving and nauseous at the same time. Usually I have snacks in my purse but because this was an “easy” hike and the weather was nice, I had nothing on me. Not even water. Stupid. I leveled out enough to stare at the ocean some and get back to the car where I had fruit snacks, water and soda.

Sunday was an intentional do nothing day. Except instead of napping, I did some laundry and some cleaning and generally got ready to go back to work.

All in all, it was a pretty steady week. How was your week?

Escape Day 3- Devil’s Bridge

Friday was our last full day in Arizona and as amazing as the Canyon is, we wanted to see some other sights as well. We were up early and headed off for Sedona.

Sedona feels like a completely different world from the Grand Canyon. There’s just something about it. We were both super sore from the previous 2 days so we knew we weren’t up for something intense. So after a stop at the local Golden, errr Teal, Arches, my mother says- hey I found a trail. It’s called Devil’s Bridge and it’s only a 1.8 mile round trip hike. Ok, sounds pretty chill.

The trail head was crowded so we had to park on the street just as many others were doing. That should have been the first sign. Since it was a short hike, I didn’t feel like taking my pack and almost didn’t take water. I grabbed a bottle at the last moment and shoved it in my handheld.

As we walked into the trail area, the second sign appeared. This one literal- Devil’s Bridge, 2 miles from this point, take water. Hmmm, ok, I knew we parked on the street but it shouldn’t be 1 mile to the trail head??? And it wasn’t. Color me confused.

We picked up the trail and headed out. I was even more confused as there were a lot of cars in the trailhead lot not to mention those that parked on the street- but there was no one on the trail? The only people we saw were a couple of mountain bikers who were headed for a different trail. This continued for almost a mile. Were we lost?? The trail finally dumped us out onto an OHV road with an arrow saying it was the way to Devil’s Bridge. Ok?

Other than the deep sand we were walking in, the trail was fairly easy. But there was no way this was 1.8 miles roundtrip. Then we hit another trailhead. Huh? This one was only accessible by foot or by a high-lifted 4X4. Interesting. Not only were we running into more people, the trail was getting a little more technical. Ok. We kept going.

The views were amazing, so the extra distance wasn’t an issue. I had a Buff so I was keeping it up when people got a little close on the trail. It also helped me hide my facial expression when I overheard a conversation. A woman and man were hiking together and judging by their gear and clothes- they were athletes- runners or cyclists- something. But then I hear the woman say that she doesn’t like how spaced out the stone steps/ dirt was. It just wasn’t working for her stride and she wished it was different. Huh????? Sure, let me call Mother Nature about that right now.

The trail became more intense the closer you got to the Devil’s Bridge- like you now needed your hands to climb up rocks and steps to reach higher parts of the trail. Again, the parents letting their children run wild surprised me. There was a lookout point and then one last rocky climb up to the level of Devil’s Bridge– only to discover where all the people were. There was an hour+ line for top of the bridge photo ops! What??

No, I didn’t wait. There were way too many people. I tried to take some arch pics from where I was and then I headed back. Now we had to negotiate those same rock climbs going down- and I ate it on the first one- like I bounced. So much for having a big backside- other hikers told me they heard my tailbone hit rock. Yep, felt that one. Ouch.

Then we hiked back out following the OHV trail the whole way. Where once again we saw a sign- it too said Devil’s Bridge was 2 miles from that point- but it was still 1/2 mile or so to the other sign that said the same thing. So the true length of the trail is anyone’s guess. My watch showed 4.6 miles roundtrip.

The trail was gorgeous but I was a little broken- so the rest of the day was spent just strolling around downtown Sedona, hitting all the tourist stops. I would love to go back and spend more time on trails, maybe just in better shape.

Oh and my backside? Bruises that rivaled my dog attack- and it hurt to sit for over a week.

Escape Day 2- Rim Trail

I woke sore and a little tired the morning after Bright Angel. Ok, my calves were screaming a little.

I headed back to the Grand Canyon later in the day, I had some fool idea about taking it chill on the Rim Trail and then watching the sunset at the Grand Canyon. Now, if you’ve ever been to the South Rim or pay attention to anything related to a compass or sunsets/ sunrises you might think this doesn’t make sense. Because it doesn’t. The sun does not set over the Grand Canyon, at least not from this rim. Which I realized I knew but forgot? Told you I needed a vacation.

Back to the trail- the Rim Trail is not a “trail”, it’s a paved path that runs the length of the South Rim. A one way trip on the path from point to point is around 13 miles. Even paved, I didn’t have that in me. I started at Bright Angel and headed East towards the Mather Point.

The path takes you along the Rim and is fairly accessible to everyone. That also means it was more crowded than Bright Angel the day before. My buff was up over my face most of the time. That didn’t detract from the views at all. Again, I think I took a few hundred pictures.

The path took us through The Trail of Time too, a exhibit about how the Grand Canyon formed over millions of years with rock examples. My former wanna-be geologist self was geeking out over the rock displays.

The various lookout points were the most popular so I didn’t spend a lot of time there. I was surprised at how many parents let their kids run wild. Most of the path is not secured by a fence or guard rail of some sort. It wouldn’t take much to slip or fall. But then I am also clumsy so I generally think of worst case scenarios.

And of course, there were the rule breakers- the ones who jump fences and go down rocks all to get a good selfie. The number of people backing up to edges was ridiculous.

The Rim Trail is advertised as little to no elevation change. And had I not done Bright Angel the day before I might have agreed. But the 600 ish feet we gained and lost in the 6ish miles we went did not feel easy. Ha!

I kind of feel like the Grand Canyon is the Disneyland of trails. Plenty of trash cans, recycle bins, bathrooms and water stations. I have never seen so many rangers out working the trail before either.

But for the love of Pete, pick up your damn masks people!

Escape Day 1- Bright Angel

Ever feel like you need to run away?

That’s kind of how I have been feeling for a while now. I had PTO to use, so I packed up the car, made a fairly last minute reservation and ran away. Ok… I drove away. And yes, I packed plenty of hand sanitizer, masks and clorox wipes.

I headed for Arizona. And some dirt.

On Wednesday morning, I was up early and prepared for an adventure. I headed to the Grand Canyon. And the Bright Angel trail.

As soon as I knew I was heading to the Grand Canyon, I checked out a couple of posts over at Running to Travel-very helpful. I also poured over the NPS site for the Grand Canyon. I didn’t have a lot of time and I knew I was super out of shape so I knew I couldn’t be too crazy.

I got there early but not too early as I knew November could mean ice on the trail. I loaded my pack, laced up my shoes and hit the trail. Even with my research, I fell within less than 1/4 mile. I hit ice and slipped but pulled out out before falling. Only to fully fall less than 4 feet later. I landed on my butt and kind of slid across the trail. I was more startled than hurt and bounced up fairly quickly. I then continued my trek.

The Bright Angel trail continues for miles down the side of the canyon- down to the River rest house and back would be arround 15 miles. Luckily, I am not that stupid and I turned around at the 3 mile rest house. There was also an option to turn around at the 1.5 mile rest house but I wanted to push further than that. As much as I love a good downhill on a trail, this had some steep moments and my left knee was none too pleased. Someone help me with trail shoes, please?

I laughed at the sign at the 3 mile rest house- Going down is optional but going up is mandatory. And it was time to go up.

My mom was also with me and she was starting to have some issues. She occasionally has hip issues and it was acting up in a very bad way. In some ways the climb back up was easier to me than going down as there was less ice to worry about. Also for some reason, my body likes a good trail climb. My brain turns off and my legs take over and they just go.

Which sounds ok until I realize I have way outpaced my injured mother. Oops. And that’s not to say I was moving speedily up the mountain side- the Canyon is a beast. Which I knew going in but I don’t think I fully realized it.

Even as I was huffing and puffing my way up the trail, the amazing-ness of the view was too much to ignore. I think I took a few hundred pictures. No joke. I am having a hard time choosing which ones to post here.

There were other hikers out so I masked up anytime another person was near. I was kind of surprised at the some of the things people were wearing on the trail though. I saw sandals, jeans, Vans and even a woman carrying her purse. It made me wonder how far they were going- how did they not slip on the ice?? Was I really that out of shape or were they going to have serious regrets later?

Dude, the Bright Angel trail is hard. After 6ish miles and lots of elevation loss/ gain -I was whipped. Yes, I am out of shape, but still. How was I going to a do a few more days of slightly adventurous things?

36-Vacation

I spent the last week sleeping in, not doing my hair, not wearing eyeliner. No alarms, no phone calls, no emails. Ok, that’s a lie, I checked my emails a few times.

I also ran/ walked more miles in the last 10 days than I did in July and August combined. That said, it was still less than I had hoped.

The original vacation plan was the 2 race weekends but COVID. The second plan was to road trip and visit some National Parks. I even ordered new trail shoes and a fancy new pack from Orange Mud. Not that I really needed an extra reason to buy those. But other things put those plans on hold. Reality was a staycation with a little shopping and a little adventuring. And a lot of melting… but we’ll get to that.

The vacation fun started with the previous weekend’s runs. I had planned on a run on Monday, but my stomach decided to remind me that it was an asshat. Boo.

Tuesday, I wanted to break in the new trail shoes but was still feeling a little off. So I headed for the lake path. I think it’s been more than a year since I ran there? I miss it but it’s no longer on my way home from work. Boo. I did 4ish laps of the lake, switching directions while testing my shoes. The lake looked good, I have to say that it had more water than I had expected. I really need to get back there more often. 4.88 miles. And yes, I could have run back and forth until I hit 5 but nah.

Wednesday, I rested in prep for Thursday’s adventure. My legs were slightly sore from almost 15 miles in 4 days. That was more than I ran in July.

Thursday was The Pinnacles! I haven’t been in years, my goal was to reach the top and not get lost. I loaded my pack, my mother prepped and we were off! We got there early in the morning but it was already hot. We’re in the middle of a heatwave here in CA, yay. We started the climb and boy it just got toastier. I was feeling pretty good actually. We got slightly turned around for a moment at the top but success! The High Peaks Trail at the Pinnacles throws all sorts of fun things at you- quasi steps in the rocks, a railing so you don’t fall, and even more tiny “steps” down. The plan was to do the High Peaks and continue on to the old trail before looping around the caves. It would have been around 10ish miles. There’s one last junction which will take you back to the parking lot around mile 3 but after that there is no shortcut. Period. My mother was having a rough time- and if she reads this, she’ll be pissed I wrote that- and I convinced her we had to take the shortcut. She was bummer but hey we got to go through a tunnel! We came out around 5 miles but I know my GPS had some issues.

Oh, Friday…. I had plans to run the 5K portion of the Giant Race Lou Seal Challenge but it was 110. Oh and the air conditioner in my house died. The Friday of the hottest weekend of the year. Oh crap.

Saturday, I was up and off to the beach for the 10K portion of the Lou Seal Challenge. I straight up ran away from the heat- we hit 117. I enjoyed lovely mild beach weather for all 6.2 miles. Yay! But more about that next post. Then it was back to heat.

Sunday, I meant to run the 5K. I mean it was the actual race day after all. However my beach run had left me with some nasty blisters. On both feet. The one on my right foot was the problem. I have never had a blister that big before. What the heck?? I wore the same shoes and socks I used for all my beach runs and never had a problem before- I even kept my feet dry until the very end. Boo. Staying in my house and being lazy wasn’t awesome- it was 93* in my house. My cats are miserable. The dog can be hosed off, they can’t. Every fan possible is running in this house.

So that brought my weekly mileage to just under 16. Not marvelous but massively better that the rest of the year. I’m not calling it a comeback yet. Will my motivation last once I return to work?

How was your week?