Thursday, August 30, 2007

Singletrack

Tuesday I headed to Bonelli yet again. I went out my usual route for 2 miles out, 2 miles back. I do a lot of my midweek runs here. I sometimes think about switching things up a little and running elsewhere, but then I think why? I'll be back on the roads in the fall.

The way these runs usually go, I walk to the freeway overpass, hit the watch and take off. For the 4 miler I get to turn around point and head back. Once I'm back over the freeway overpass I hit the watch again to see how long I was gone. I can't get much simpler.

I usually have the roads to myself. I occasionally see mountain bikers, other runners, hikers and even horse riders. Tuesday within a couple of hundred yards of my turn around point I came upon 2 horse riders. If I turned around as usual I would be running right back past them in a minute or two. So instead I decided to keep going. At the far end of the park or about half way around the 5 mile Sunday morning loop version of this run I am very near the main road through the park. I decided just to head back via the road.

About a half mile down the road I began to notice a trail just off to my left. Upon investigation I found a sweet little single track. Three years ago when I started running Bonelli much of it was singletrack. As I've mentioned before most of those have become wide fire roads due to extremely dry conditions. The little single track was a whole bunch of fun to run. It was more technical than the fire roads, although still really easy to run. All the rocks gave the eyes and ankles a nice little work out. The singletrack eventually came to an end on a little section of fire road I usually don't take. That particular road is a short cut of my normal loop.

Tonight I headed back over there with the intent of finding where the single track really begins on the opposite end. So I took the short cut fireroad to where I had ended on Tuesday and ran the singletrack in the opposite direction. One cool thing about tonight's run is that I was the first person to run the trail today. I know that because it rained last night (yes we had a freak thunderstorm overnight, believe it or not) so all the previous tracks were wiped clean. Mine were the first prints on the trail. It was kind of like being the first person to walk through fresh snow.

It turns out the singletrack comes out at about the 3 mile mark of my usual route. The trail connects at an acute angle over my left shoulder so I wouldn't really notice it. There is even a sign that says Parkside Trail 1.0 mile that I've never really noticed before. I guess I was just focused on going where I knew I was going and not really paying attention.

Wednesday I took the day off due to another commitment. I may on Friday night, I may not. We are in the middle of the hottest week all summer, 110 degrees Wednesday, so skipping the run isn't very hard to do. 9 miles so far this week.
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So the big question of the week is what did I bring for goodies last Friday? Nothing too terribly exciting. My wife happened to be making a trip to Sam's Club that evening so she picked up a couple of trays of those big muffins for me. They usually have a variety pack. Each muffin is probably a good 400 or more calories. I bring them on most of my days because not a lot of other people do.

9 comments:

Wes said...

Mmmmm. I lov the Banana Nut muffins from Sams. Just the right amount of calories for me for breakfast too :-) Thanks for the helpful advice!!

Anne said...

Isn't it nice when you make such a great discovery? When I am out on the trails near my house, I like to sometimes take a less traveled path (but I keep a map handy because the last time I ended up in Del Mar!).

I used to eat one of those muffins before my long run, motivated to make sure I burned all those calories off before I even thought of stopping.

Backofpack said...

I stay away from the big muffins - too many calories for me to think about! I'd rather eat the equivalent (or more) in french fries. Yum. Too bad those wouldn't work for a snack!

That's cool about the trail discovery. Makes me wonder if I've missed in anything on my usual runs...

Unknown said...

That's awesome, finding those nice little hidden treasures.

In Concord park, there is a new trail that was formed and I don't know where it goes... I am really anxious to find out though. Next time!

Joe said...

Cool trip to find the new trail, Darrell. And the fresh rain making the trail clear of footprints is as close as you'll get to fresh-fallen snow at those elevations!!

Anonymous said...

Those muffins are a little heavy, but they're yummy! Thanks for bring goodies :)

Unknown said...

I get the muffins from Costco, but I presume they are similar. My favorite are the chocolate ones, no surprise.

The single track sounds like a nice little variance in the routine.

Sarah said...

I can sleep peacefully now that I know you brought muffins! : )

Nice to find a new trail. I know that I'm first on the trail if I'm breaking through spider webs. yuck.

Mike said...

Darrell- discovering a new trail is always fun eh!? I'm looking forward to focusing on my running here thru the winter myself...will be looking to you for some inspiration in that dept.

Funny stuff regarding the "goody friday" in your last post...not sure if I could handle that on a regular basis...I CAN'T say no to the sweet stuff! ;-)