Montana de Oro State Park - Bluff Trail

September 25, 2011

I had decided to do a trip up the coast - to the Central Coast which I have been a fan of for several years now. I stayed in Los Osos - Baywood Park, for one because I wanted to escape the crowds in Morro Bay itself, but also because I wanted to be close to Montana de Oro State Park. I had been there before, and as I had liked it I became more interested in it. Therefor I googled several trails and then decided to do the Bluff Trail at Montana de Oro State Park. A good choice. :-)  It was one of the most picturesque trails I have run so far. It was a 4.2 mile trail  (out and back), mostly along the cliffs. Only the last part lead away from the ocean towards a parking lot. It was such a wonderful experience to run there. I stopped ever so often to take some photos of all the spectacular views. It was a 4.2 mile run that I finished in 47min. As it was very sunny and warm I was pretty exhausted afterwards. Anyway..... I loved this trail as well as the State Park and I will be back for sure to explore more of it!

Running at the beach

September 15, 2011

This wasn't exactly trail running but still worth mentioning :-) It was my first day off during the new school year and of course I wanted to go running. As I had several things going on that day I didn't go trail running but decided to run at the beach instead. I drove down to Santa Monica and started running at Ocean Park towards Malibu. I had run there before of course, but it was the first time that I was able to run 5.3 miles nonstop. I ran for one hour without a break. This was a first!!! :-) I am only 0.9 miles away from being able to run a 10k!

Malibu Creek State Park - M.A.S.H. site

September 10, 2011

After the first half week of the new school year I absolutely wanted to go trail running this weekend. And as I had liked Malibu Creek State Park that much I decided to go there again. J This morning weather was overcast and cool. Also at the park it wasn’t sunny yet, my big advantage as I prefer cool temperatures to warm ones.  Just as last time I ran one half of the loop and up to Century Lake. Again I was able to run everything uphill J. Then I continued on the trail towards Malibu Lake. This time I ran much farther and was able to run all the way to the M.A.S.H. site. The trail was nice, it became smaller and smaller, I was running and jumping over rocks, roots, branches etc and had to dodge between bushes. After taking photos of the M.A.S.H. site and the gorgeous nature up there I took a little break, which wasn’t really a break as I kept walking. Then starting at M.A.S.H I ran all the way back to Century Lake, down the hill and half of the loop back to the parking lot.  I couldn’t believe it myself, but I had managed to run 5miles in exactly one hour. This was a record! I have never run 5 miles or one hour before. (I just had had two little breaks of about 2 minutes each). I guess this means I am getting closer to being able to run a 10k  (which would be 6.2 miles) J  Anyway, it was a perfect run today in my favorite place to be! :-)

Will Rogers State Park

September 6, 2011

Last day of summer break. I decided I needed to go trail running! Although the weather forecast had announced really high temperatures I decided to go for it. I went to Will Rogers State Park, where I had been many years before. There is a great loop trail going up to Inspiration Point.  When I started out running there it already was pretty warm but still okay. Great trail! The first part was rather shady as the trail was lined with trees on both sides. Soon enough though I was running in the sun! As it became pretty warm I once in a while had to hike uphill instead of running but I surprisingly was running a lot uphill. Inspiration Point itself was gorgeous! Great view onto LA (Downtown LA, Wilshire area, and Santa Monica) and the ocean. Unfortunately also the air looked really dirty that day L  The run downhill was easy of course and also rewarding with nice views onto Pacific Palisades. Except a few dog walkers and one photographer I was all by myself there – it was nice to enjoy the solitude and tranquillity of nature.   Exactly the right thing to do before the new school year hit me the following day ;-)  Total workout time was about 45 minutes, run time 21 minutes and distance about 2 miles.

Fryman Canyon

September 1, 2011

I had asked a friend about hiking trails for trail running and she recommended Fryman Canyon. So on a wonderful Thursday morning (it was still summer break) I decided to give it a try. Crazy thing, it took almost an hour to drive there, but it was worth it. Initially I wanted to park at the parking lot on Fryman Road. It turned out that the parking fee was $3 and not $1 as I had read on the internet. As I didn’t have enough cash with me I parked a few blocks away (some of the nearby streets don’t allow parking) on Briarvale Road.  The hike was great. As it started out steep right away I hiked up there instead of running.  Once it was less steep, I started running. It was such a nice trail. Crowded enough in order not to feel too lonely on a weekday but still not too crowded. I hiked/ran all the way to the Tree People and down to Coldwater Canyon.  Same way back. Overall run time was 34 minutes and total hike time was 1h10min. Great morning!

Malibu Creek State Park

August, 21^st 2011

This was my first REAL trail running experience. I had decided to drive to Malibu Creek State Park and run there.  Perfect choice! I ran the first half of the loop in the flat and then all the way up to Century Lake. How I got up there – it is pretty steep and definitely the steepest hill I have run so far – I don’t know. I remember people cheered me on and somehow I made it up there! I was so proud of myself! After a short break in order to catch my breath I continued to run beyond the lake towards Malibu Lake. At some point I turned around, ran back past Century Lake, all the way down to the flat and then finished the loop. As running was so much fun I ran half of the loop again and then walked back. It was a wonderful day and a great run! About 4 miles of running, total run time 43 minutes.

Back Bay Trail Newport Beach

August 20^th, 2011

I went to Back Bay Trail in Newport Beach, a ‘trail’ I had found in one of my hiking books. It was less of a trail though than a paved road which was very popular with runners and bicyclists. The landscape was gorgeous there and running was fun! I ran 2.4 miles in 27 minutes and after a tiny break of 5 minutes  I ran again for 23 more minutes, so my total run time was 50 minutes, not bad considering that it also got really warm there.

A new hobby is discovered

 After beginning a walking routine in August 2010, I decided to try jogging in April of this year. I got better and better after a few months (I run almost every day now and usually between 2 and 4miles) and after I got a bit tired of my neighborhood running routes I decided to start trail running.