Sunday, August 29, 2010

Trail running

I had never understood what was so great about running until I started running trails in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I used to run a bit when I lived in Palo Alto in the 80s and in NJ in the 90s, but I never really took to it, and knee injuries (from skiing) made me wary of the impact. I hate running on a treadmill, the constant stride really bothers me. But now, I can't wait for my next trail exploration. I don't run as fast as on pavement, but it's still a much more engaging experience. Like backcountry skiing compared with lift-skiing groomers. Today I ran (and walked a couple of steep pitches on the way back) from the Monte Bello parking lot to the preserve gate to Stevens Creek, and back, just under 9 miles. It was slow (just under 12 minute miles) and demanding (almost 2000 vertical ft of climbing according to my phone GPS, but I suspect it's quite a bit less than that, GPS is bad for elevation changes, I should have used my altimeter watch but forgot -- next time). I'm a bit sore, but I can't wait for the next run.

3 comments:

Kenley said...

Thanks for sharing your experience. My trail running (new to it) is a bit on the slow side now, as I have only been running for 1.5 years. I bet you can not wait till your next go at it. Something about trails just makes you want to come back for more and the same trail is NOT the same trail twice or even more than that.

Jacob said...

You should check out Russian Ridge as well (right where Skyline intersects Page Mill) . There's some great loops with fantastic views.

William Cohen said...

Nice....I've also gotten into running, tho on smaller scale. I've been running into CMU from home (about 2.2mi) most mornings this summer...and planning to run the return routes as soon as it cools off a bit more. I've also done a bit of trail running in Frick Park. It is interesting how different a trail feels when you run it than when you walk it.