Montana de Oro State Park

December 30, 2011

I pretty spontaneously had decided to drive up to the Morro Bay area, which I love. I especially like the Montana de Oro State Park there and so I decided to drive up there for the day. I first started with a short trail - Sand Spit Trail, which led right down to the ocean and was so short that I decided right away to run back up again and look for another trail. I found one... although it was a horse trail ;-) This one was fun to run and also challenging as the sand was very soft and deep. I loved that challenge! The trail eventually led down to the ocean after passing through most beautiful dunes. The ocean and the light were amazing. The light was so white and grey (it was still overcast and the sun not quite through yet) - it was "otherworldly". And as there were no other people around it felt so much like being back to the "elements"... it was just me and the very rough ocean. Amazing views! Just what I had needed on that day! I eventually ran back to the parking lot, drove to a wonderful, picturesque little bay where I had lunch. This bay had the most amazing and oddly shaped pebbles I have ever seen. As I still felt like running I chose a second trail to run on - Dune Loop. Also this one was very beautiful and almost no people in sight. Wonderful! Again the sand was very soft and deep to run on... I ended up on a beautiful hilly dune which nice views onto the ocean. As it started to get dark pretty early on I ran back a short cut to the road and from there back to my car. All in all it was an amazing day... me and the rough nature and not much else .... very healing and healthy!

All those photos were taken on beautiful Dune Loop Trail

Beautiful impressions from the Sand Spit trail and the views onto the ocean. The light was truly  otherwordly. I saw my favorite birds (besides pelicans) - whimbrels.

I had a very relaxing lunch with spectacular views at Spooner's cove.

I ended the day in Morro Bay where I stayed for a wonderful sunset before heading back home.

Finally increasing my mileage again!

December 27, 2011

So happy! I finally was able to increase my mileage.... my old "record" was 6.3 miles.... today I was able to improve this and ran the distance of 7 miles, nonstop, on the beautiful Santa Monica-Venice boardwalk! :-) My goal of running 13.1 miles (half-marathon distance) is slowly, oh so slowly coming closer :-)

My first trail race! :-)

December 11, 2011

Finally my first trail race! It took place at beautiful Crystal Cove State Park, where I had trained two weeks prior to the race. There was a change though.... the race route was different! So the entire route was new to me :-) It was very exciting to finally run a race again (I had run several 5ks years ago), esp as this was my first trail race! The route was nice but included one really tough incline! First the race started out nicely, running mostly in the flat into the canyon... then the big incline started.. I was able to run uphill a bit and was very proud of myself just to figure out that this was one ENDLESS incline and there was no way to run uphill ;-) It was a 600 feet incline over 1.3 miles.. so just as all the other 6k runners I was trying to walk uphill as fast as possible. Finally we reached the top and were rewarded by a water station ;-) The race continued in the flat for a while and then the big downhill run started. It was nice to finally run downhill combined with some wonderful views into the canyons and onto the ocean. I felt so energized and happy! Towards the end of the race I felt completely overwhelmed and happy (and almost started crying because of complete happiness) as I realized this was the second proof to myself that after 2 really bad years in my personal life I am finally who I was years ago - a healthy, sporty and active woman! This overwhelmed me completely and gave me just the necessary final bout of energy I needed to run through the finish line! What a feeling!!!! Although I ended up on place 13 out of 15 in my age group I was proud to have run this race in 52 minutes as considering that long incline I had anticipated a time of over an hour. This first trail race sure was a great experience and I plan to run many more!

El Moro Canyon at Crystal Cove State Park

November 26th, 2011

I can't believe it, I finally got to go trail running again! The past few weeks have been busy and also I had to take a break from running for two weeks. Those two weeks threw me back tremendously. :-( As I had registered for the Crystal Cove Trail Race (which will take place in December) though I was more than happy to go trail running again. So on a beautiful and warm November day over the Thanksgiving weekend I drove down to Newport Beach to find this trail at Crystal Cove State Park. I absolutely wanted to see and run the route before actually running in the race. What can I say? Another beautiful trail (and SO worth the drive down to Newport Beach) but challenging. Not the distance of course (3.5miles or 6km), but the incline. It started right away with a long and steep incline, which I wasn't able to run - especially as it was an extremely warm November day in the upper 70s. Also the trail was exposed to sun at all times. But I was able to speedwalk uphill and once the hill was less steep I was able to run. I tried to run most of the time of course. It was a wonderful trail, with views onto the entire canyon and the other trails (there are several trails there which make you want to go hiking). Gorgeous! The route included also a nice downhill trail, just to be followed by a very steep incline, called Poles, again. This one almost knocked me out in the heat ;-) But I made it up there walking and after this last challenge the rest of the route was downhill. I finished the entire route - running and walking - in 49min, including taking pictures here and there (although I stopped taking time most of them time when taking photos). So my big hope for race day is that there will be overcast weather and cooler temperatures! :-) I liked the trail a lot and definitely will be back for running or hiking! Last but not least it is worth mentioning that the rangers in the state park there were really friendly and helpful, one of them took lots of time explaining the different trails to me, showing them to me on a relief map and finding out the names of the trails for the race. :-)

And if this wasn't enough I continued running along the beach for 1.5 miles to Crystal Cove Cottages... again wonderful views and just awesome to feel and smell the fresh ocean air! :-)

And me happily recovering from the run at the beach :-)