"It is almost impossible to get lost"

Today's Run
I decided to run at Rancho San Antonio today. It is a county park that I have heard a lot about but I was always afraid of the trail running. Today I wanted to get outside and run. I could not fathom running on the treadmill today for some reason. I had a n emotional day and needed to just go out and run. It was raining, but not hard. I thought I would try out my run rain jacket. Apparently, the way to ensure that it does not rain is for me to wear that rain jacket. (Picture: California Newt on trail, these little suckers seriously disrupted my nice downhill run. I was so paranoid I would squash one of these buggers I had to constantly scour the trail ahead of me. This little guy was pissed at me. He is in an aggressive posture. Such a bad ass weighing in at 30 grams! Random Trivia moment: California newts secret the same powerful neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin, found in pufferfish and poison dart frogs.)

I will start this story with the preface that I am a planner. Probably to the point of obsessiveness. I also have NO sense of direction. I currently own 3 GPS units due to my complete inability to read a road map. With that in mind....

Today I had no plan and a trail map. Yikes.

The fact that I got out alive and you aren't watching my husband on TV lamenting his choice to let me go, in the middle of the day, to a well marked county park trail without a forest ranger escort is amazing. (Picture: worthless ass trail map, soaked with sweat from being carried in my waistband)


I was going to run 4-5 miles depending on how I was feeling. Note: I said I WAS going to. Again, a lack of planned course lead to crazy wanderings through the Rancho foothills for a total run distance of 7.16 miles. The really sad part if that I saw several other hikers and runners two of which gave me directions. One runner even said, "it is pretty much impossible to get lost here" Ha! He obviously seriously underestimated my ineptitude.


It was a beautiful run. I snapped a few photos since it was my first time there. The beginning of the run had a 1.5 mile hill with 590 ft of elevation gain. When I got to the top I stopped to take a

picture and met another runner and we talked for a couple of minutes about running and dogs (yes, he is the one that gave me directions that I foolishly did not follow) The first hill was a little brutal, but the rest of the run was more rolling hills with plenty of downhill and flat sections. I had a great time. I really wasn't even fretting about being lost until about 6.5 miles. I am in taper for Napa so I don't want to trash my legs too much I will keep my Friday run lighter. Hubby and I are headed to Solvang this weekend to photograph the Amgen Tour of California Bike Race. He is photographing. I will be doing homework. Here is a link (cycling photos1, cycling photos2) to some photos he took of the prologue at Stanford on Sunday.

Food
B: 2 sl. TJ French toast & banana/coffee (290 cal)
S: Powerbar (pre-run)/cottage cheese (post-run) (300 cal)
L: leftover TJ Chicken Stir fry (250 cal)
S: yogurt & cereal (150 cal)
D: more leftover TJ Chicken Stir Fry/1/2 whole wheat bagel (350 cal)
S: 1/2 whole wheat bagel/warm delights mini (275 cal)
Total: 1650 cal
Water: 2600 ml