Training Log Archive: kissy

I had been planning to run a course yesterday at the official event, but since it was the season opener, we were pretty much mobbed with people. And, as the meet director, I was pretty busy for the first few hours. By the time things calmed down enough for me to think about going out, my knees were in extreme pain. The worst thing for my knees is to just stand around for any amount of time, especially on concrete. So, I opted out of running yesterday and, instead, came back today and ran the Green course.

There were no controls out, and I forgot my Garmin, so I can't prove I was at the correct control sites, but I'm 99.9% sure I found them all correctly. The first few controls took me through some pretty junky stuff...dried thistle, cactus, and general trash. For the next few controls, it was basically a trail run along the river, collecting controls along the way. Then the course turned more north, up to the top plateau. This also required crossing the irrigation ditch, twice, which was about knee deep in water. With the second crossing, I almost slipped down the bank for a total immersion, but I caught myself in time. Thank God, because my iPhone was in my pocket. I also flushed out a coyote up on top there. It was kind of cool, but a little scary. He kept running off, but at one point, he turned around and looked at me. I told him to "move along, little doggie" and he did.

Then, the course went back down to the river. I messed up on #10. I didn't see the little sliver of "clearing" that wrapped around the marsh, and ended up on top of the little ridge. I had to come back down and go back in. Just not paying attention. Then we went across the river to the little plateau on the other side for a few controls. I got a little confused at #14, not seeing the trail that went through the fence to the parking lot. After that, it was a sidewalk run to the finish.

It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of cyclists in the park, as usual. I was trying to be careful to not be seen by any rangers since the ones in this park are not so happy when we go off-trail. I think I managed to avoid any notice. I'm pretty glad I went back to do this course. I have to try harder to not let working at an event prevent me from going out on a course.

Body Pump class

After a long day at work, I headed over to the park for some laps. It was such a nice evening and the biking felt great.