See.Kate.Run

Tucker

2013-04-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

Got puppy Tucker February 13th. He was my Valentines Day present. He is SO freaking cute!! He just finally got his final round of shots so we can start going outside to the park!! VERY excited!! Can't wait to start jogging with my new friend!

He totally knocked out at the end of every class time in his puppy kindergarten experience.

Cruising

2013-01-31T10:37:00.002-08:00

Got to go on a cruise to Ensenada Mexico this past month. It was beautiful!

Back to it

2013-01-22T09:21:00.002-08:00

Things in life got too crazy with school. I stopped running, blogging, reading, taking pictures and basically all fun extracurricular activities I enjoyed to try to deal with it. However, I am learning that life passes by too quickly to not do things that are enjoyable. Therefore I am going to make an effort to balance out my life a bit this year and start doing those activities again. I have read 2 books this year and have gone walking (not really able to run yet) several times this year. Returning to blogging is the final frontier and so here I am back at it.

I know this year is going to be amazing. I plan to get back into running and shape up a bit and I am really excited to blog about my journey. This February I am getting a new puppy and I am really looking forward to taking him along with me on my excursions. :-)

The weather has been beautiful in Southern California and I was able to get outside and enjoy it the other day. The clouds were amazing!!

Rain & Sunlight

2012-03-16T15:03:00.001-07:00

I have been writing drafts for my dissertation and do not feel like writing - not even to blog.. so I think this blog will consist a bit more of pictures for awhile. Then I can still blog but not have to write. The best of both worlds.

Here are some pictures from my last run. It was sprinkling but warm and every so often the sun would peek through the clouds. It was a great run.

Tagged - 11 Random Things

2012-02-01T07:27:00.000-08:00

Life has been crazy and not so fun lately. I started the third year of data collection for the foster care study - LOTS of interviewing is happening which is great but very time consuming. I hope I can survive these last few years I have left. I have been meaning to come visit blog land and catch up on everyones adventures and do a post but I have been lame, choosing to zone out in front of the tv instead when I get down time. Then a few days ago Lauren at laurenontherun tagged me so this is great timing!

Rules: 1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

11 Random Things About Me:

I work in Starbucks more than in my office.
I have a trained hamster that comes to you when you call her name and stands when you say stand (but you have to have a treat handy or the stand command won't work).
I have 10 siblings - 5 brothers and 5 sisters.
I am very sensitive to smells.
I hate make-up (too!). I only wear it when I feel like it is necessary professionally or if I want to feel especially beautified.
I have been to all 50 states.
I have broken my nose snowboarding.
I have hit three deer with other peoples cars while driving in three different states.
I have changed my name twice.
I like to be in cold weather more than hot weather.
I have a crazy talent (other people that I hang around a lot who have noticed it too say it is luck - but it is a talent), whenever I go into an establishment I always just beat the rush so I never have to stand in a long line. It is amazing and happens probably 90% of the time. There is no way that could just be chance probability.

Now, Lauren’s questions...

Short shorts or long shorts? I like long shorts better than short
How do you recover from a tough long run? Chocolate soy milk is my favorite for recovery!
Favorite brand running shoe? Brooks
Longest distance ever run? 15 miles
What would you do if a rattlesnake coiled up to strike a couple feet from you? That actually happened to me and my friend Ana!! We were running in Riverside and we were talking and came right up to a rattlesnake on the trail. We jumped back before it tried to strike and then threw rocks near it until it slithered away. SO freaky!
For women – do you wear make-up? For men – do you remove hair from anywhere other than your face? Yes but only 4 or 5 times a month.
Do/did your parents, guardians, siblings, children run? My siblings run marathons.
How many days is your longest running streak? I actually have no idea.
Would you rather run in extreme heat or extreme cold? Neither. If I had to pick I guess it would be the heat though. Running in extreme cold burns!
If you had to watch the same movie ten times in a row, what would it be? Clue! I love that movie.
Vanilla or Chocolate ice cream? Vanilla all the way!

Now my questions...

Where were you born?
What is your favorite way to relax?
What is something you did as a child that you got in trouble for?
What was the BEST race you ever ran and why was it the best?
Which do you prefer - ocean or mountains?
What is the furthest you have ever traveled from home?
What is your favorite restaurant?
Would you rather be able to teleport or be able to turn invisible?
What is your favorite body part?
What is your favorite song to workout to?
Would you rather run trails or the road?

Okay, now my eleven tags. I think several people on my bloglist have been tagged already and I don't have that many people anyway but here we go!

Dissertation Funding

2012-01-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

Wow these past few days I have not done any running because all the dissertation funding applications are due at the beginning of the year. This stinks!! I started a new wave of p90x and Insanity (a series of exercise programs created by beach body that you can do at home) in combination so that has been helping me get some physical excursion time in. Exercise helps me SO much with stress.

I have been thinking about what I would like to do this year in terms of races. I have not done a whole lot of racing these past few years simply because I am so stinking poor I can't even afford the entrance fees. I really enjoy racing however and I would like to make sure that I get in at least 6 races this year. I think I am going to pick them out now so I can budget them in.

My good friend just moved to Boston to get her PhD in counseling at Boston College. We had lunch together yesterday as she was back home for the holiday. There is a good chance that I might fly there this summer to spend some time and it would be awesome to do a half marathon or 10K while I am there. I also really enjoyed the Danskin Triathlon that I did in October so I plan to do that again for sure.

Christmas was fun. I got some new Brooks Cascadia trail shoes and they are awesome. I am not too into writing about items I run with but I had to for these because I think they are amazing. I have had serious issues finding trail shoes that are lightweight but at the same time durable. These shoes are so much lighter than my Salomons and they were great at keeping up with all the rocks and dirt when I took them out for a spin. I went 8 miles on the first go and had no problems at all. I love move in ready shoes.

I also got an awesome bracelet with em. :-)

Hope you are all having a great year so far!

Happy

2011-12-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

I have had a sore throat & chest cold sickness this past week. Today I finally felt good enough to get outside. I couldn't really run though because breathing heavy made my chest feel like it was on fire. It was great getting outside though! It felt so good. I took a lot of pictures because it was so pretty.

I ended up covering 10 miles or so. It has been so long that I was actually in some pain on mile 9 and 10. Bummer. I need to get back on the trails!!

Annual Blogger Gift Exchange

2011-12-22T15:26:00.000-08:00

I got my gift from the annual blogger exchange hosted by Jill! It was very exciting to open the package and I love everything I got!!! I am really excited to try all these awesome fuel options!

Thank you MCM mama!! I loved my gift it was awesome!!

Have a great holiday everybody!!

Thanksgiving in Utah

2011-12-10T21:55:00.000-08:00

I ended up driving to Utah with my faux fam this year for thanksgiving. We stayed in an awesome cabin up in the snowy woods. I felt like I was in some sort of Lifetime christmas movie.

This lake was just down a stretch from the cabin.

Mirror Lake

Martinellis on ice.

Yum!

We had two turkeys this year... one from the oven and one from the BBQ. My favorite was the BBQ.

Freaking amazing!

Good guys vs. the bad guys. The good guys won!

There were about 15 people cooking in the kitchen so I just hung around and took the pix.

After we slept for a bit... it was time for a hike. :-)

It was a very cold day as there were no clouds. Very very pretty though.

Ebby is the pro hiker now.

We take her too many places for her not to be awesome.

The hike was supposed to be a quick half mile jaunt to this "really cool" ice cave. Sounds awesome right? An ice cave?! Yeah, lets do this!! After the hike, the plan was to go sledding/snowboarding.

We had a 3 month old, a 3 year old, and a 6 year old so it was supposed to be a quick hike.

However someone made a mistake and it ended up being much longer than a half mile.

Several miles later we ran into some bunny tracks.

Then some deer tracks.

Saw some cool looking trees.

Many many miles later we see the sign!!

Yes!! We made it!! We are so close!!!

Tired but almost there!

So we hike a mile more.

There it is! The ice cave!!

The Ice Cave.

Really? This is it?

Ebbs looking around for a different cave.

I don't know what they thought it might look like... but I was imagining some sort of beautiful crystal overhang with loads of icicles hanging down, that created a small structure that you could walk into.

Instead it was a dirt pit with logs sticking out. Hm. Life.

We ran back.

It was a great hike!

Ebby was done by the end. She just wanted to sit.

I loved this white tree against the blue.

She found a tree just her size.

It was great to just relax after.

What a great time.

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving too.

Graduate School Barbie (TM)

2011-12-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

A new gift idea for your loved ones: Graduate School Barbie (TM).

Graduate School Barbie comes in two forms: Delusional Master's Barbie (TM) and Ph.D. Masochist Barbie (TM).

Every Graduate School Barbie comes with these fun filled features guaranteed to delight and entertain for hours: Grad School Barbie comes out of the box with a big grin on her face that turns into a frown after 2 weeks or her first advisor meeting (whichever comes first). She also has adorable black circles under her delightfully bloodshot eyes.

Comes with two outfits: a grubby pair of blue jeans and 5 year old gap T-shirt, and a floppy pair of gray sweatpants with a matching "I hate my life" T-shirt. Grad School Barbie talks! Just press the button on her left hand and hear her say such upbeat grad school phrases like, "Yes, Professor, It'll be done by tomorrow", "I'd love to rewrite" and "Why didn't I just get a job, I could have been making $40,000 a year by now if I had just started working with a Bachelor's. But noooooo, I chose to further my education, I wish somebody would drop a bomb on the school so that I'd have an excuse to stop working on my degree that's sucking every last drop of life force out of my withered and degraded excuse for a soul..." (9V lithium batteries sold separately)

Grad School Barbie is anatomically correct to teach kids about the exciting changes that come with pursuing a higher education. Removable panels on Barbie's head and torso allow you to watch as her cerebellum fries to a crispy brown, her heart race 150 beats per minute, and her stomach lining gradually dissolve into nothing. Deluxe Barbie comes with specially designed eye ducts. Just add a little water, and watch Grad School Barbie burst into tears at random intervals. Fun for the whole family!

Other accessories include:

Grad School Barbie's Fun Fridge (TM) Well stocked with microwave popcorn, Coca-Cola, Healthy Choice Bologna (99% fat free!),and a small bottle of Mattel Brand Rum (tm).

Grad School Barbie's Medicine Cabinet comes in Fabulous (pepto-bismal) pink and contains Barbie sized bottles of Advil, St. Johns Wort, Zantac, and your choice of three fun anti-anxiety drugs! (Barbie Medicine Cabinet not available without a prescription).

Grad School Barbie's Computer Workstation. Comes with miniature obsolete PC (in pink of course), rickety desk, and over a dozen miniature Mountain Dew cans to decorate your workstation with (Mountain Dew deposit not included in price. Tech support sold separately).

And Grad School Barbie is not alone! Order now and you'll get two of Barbie's great friends! GRADUATE ADVISOR KEN, Barbie's mentor and advisor in her quest for knowledge, higher education and decreased self esteem.

Grad Advisor Ken (tm) comes with a supply of red pens and a permanent frown. Press the button to hear Grad Advisor Ken deliver such wisdom to Barbie as "I need an update on your progress," "I don't think you're ready to defend yet", and "This is no where near ready for publication."

Buy 3 or more dolls, and you can have Barbie's Thesis Committee! (Palm Pilot and tenure sold separately.)

REAL JOB SKIPPER, When Barbie needs to talk, she knows that she can always count on her good friend Real Job Skipper (tm), who got a job after getting her bachelor degree. Press the button to hear Real Job Skipper say, "Sometimes I wish I went for my masters degree" and "Work is so hard! I had to work a half an hour of overtime!" Real Job Skipper's Work Wardrobe and Savings account sold separately.

WARNING: Do not place Grad Student Barbie and Real Job Skipper too close to each other, as there have been several cases of children leaving the room and coming back to find Barbie's hands mysteriously fused to Skipper's throat.

Excited for Thanksgiving Break!!

2011-11-20T15:49:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I haven't posted since before Halloween! Time slips away from me too fast. Halloween was a blast. The Chinese Dragon was a hit and the party was really fun. :-)

Getting ready in our psych lab before we left.

Here we are in formation.

I actually baked and decorated these. I am not too domestic so it took a long time and there was a lot of green frosting everywhere.

Since the Triathlon I have gotten back to the trails. I missed them.

I have been running Chino Hills the most.

I love November in California!

These next two pictures were taken from a run I fit in after school in my old stomping grounds (Sycamore Canyon) in Riverside. I used to run these trails everyday until I moved to OC.

The best part about going slow on the trails are the little ones you can take with you.

They did really great for 3 and 6, both completing a tough 4 mile hike. Only had to carry the little one for the last mile or so.

Today was great! I biked to Chino Hills Park from my house in Brea which was about 8 miles. Then I ran/walked 6 miles of trail and biked 8 miles back. I got back home right after it started raining. What a perfect day for pictures. :-)

I really liked the little white flowers on this branch.

This is my favorite time of the year to trail run. It is so pretty here in November. :-)

Danskin Tri!

2011-10-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

I completed the Danskin Triathlon in Palm Springs on October 9th!

It was awesome.
I have decided that I love triathlons, they are so freaking fun!! I was super nervous about it - very nervous. It was my first one and I had no idea what to expect. The triathlon was all women and the people staffing it were very supportive. There were variety of ages and body types and it was pretty small - around 400 people. I attended the expo and beginner workshop. It helped calm my anxiety.

I suck at swimming so I just decided to finish it and not worry about the time.
The swim was a open water 1/2 mile swim.

Right out of the gates of the swim portion I got kicked in the face, not hard, but enough to make me paranoid. I went super slow because I kept looking up around me so that I could avoid people after that.

Swim 21.09.

The bike was my favorite part of the race. The bike portion was 14 miles in the desert. It was flat but very windy. I was feeling awesome though, I was cruising. There were a bunch of people that I passed on the bike. Some were going my speed and I ended up chatting with several people. All the people were super nice.

Bike 55.08.

The run was tough for me. It was a flat 5K around the lake.

I was feeling really strong until I got off my bike and tried to run.. My legs felt like jello and I couldn't get them to go as fast as I wanted. I think I was pedaling harder than I realized because of the wind. It took me some time to get jogging and I had to stop and walk a couple of times. It took me longer than normal. Some of the people I passed on the bike passed me on the run.

Run 39.07.

My overall time (including transitions) was 2.01.34. I was almost sub two!! Next year I am definitely attending this race again. Shooting for a 1.45.00.

On top of a great race experience, right after I finished the race, I bumped into Olivia and her sister Hannah, the winners of the Biggest Loser Season Eleven. They were my favorite team that season so that was really cool!

School has started again which makes life extra busy. Luckily I am ABD so no more classes for me!! Yay! I do however have to teach to make money.

In addition to school starting, I just finished co-authoring my first publication. We sent it in last weekend, which means I finally have time to update my blog. Next on the list is writing my dissertation proposal. I am also in the process of writing nine to grant/fellowship funders in the hope of procuring some decent dissertation funding that will liberate me from teaching, so that I can focus on my dissertation. What a load of writing!!

I am still squeezing in biking and running though. I have not been to the pool in some time. I need to get back on that. I am also looking for another tri to sign up for to keep me motivated. I have recently started biking canyons to strengthen my legs. On my newest biking loop there is a portion of farmland with really cute cows.

I can't believe it is Halloween already. Time goes so fast. Tonight is the graduates Halloween party. This year I am 1/13th of a 13 person chinese dragon. Should be interesting. :-)

Hope you have a fun and safe Halloween!!

Hm

2011-09-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

My cycling training route has been under construction for 6 months or so. It seems that they have finalized the new bike path... The new paved path was nice and smooth and I was really enjoying it until I hit the freeway and was almost blown over by the cars cruising along beside me at 80 miles an hour 15 feet away.

Is it just me or does this seem dangerous?

Bike, Swim, Run - Nephew!

2011-09-02T05:53:00.000-07:00

This week:

Biked 100+ miles (not sure how many because my mileage counter malfunctioned :-( )on the Santa Ana River Trail (SART). I actually pulled my iPhone out of its protective case which was strapped to my bike while going very fast just to snap this photo of The Man and His Amazing Hound. I don't know why but I found them both fascinating and I love this photograph.
I didn't drop my phone thankfully.

Swam 4050 meters in the confirmed 50 meter pool. The life guard showed me a great way to count my laps! The lanes are made up of hundreds of those red plastic round things on a rope. You can use them to make a crude counter of your lengths or laps. Very cool.

Ran (?) I didn't even count. I love running in Brea, it is so much cleaner than where I used to run. Those trees are all orange trees and the oranges are delicious!

Baby Ivan was finally born! I got to witness his mom go into labor this past Wednesday... 20 minutes after she began contracting he was born - - without any Epidural or even Advil. She made it to the hospital in time but had to birth him on a gurney as he came before she could make it into a bed. I love kids but after seeing this I am not keen on having any anytime soon. Welcome to earth baby!

At home with brother the very next day.

Sprint Tri in October

2011-08-29T00:44:00.000-07:00

Currently training for the Danskin sprint Tri in Palm Springs October 9th. It is 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, and a 5K. When I told my people they said I was crazy and that I don't know how hard it will be and that I couldn't do it. Seriously.

That made me a little nervous. Thus, I got myself a coach because I figured I could use one. She put me on some type of zone training where I train in certain heart rate zones for a specified time. It seems to be working out ok.

Running and biking - I rock... swimming - oh man I suck. I have been doing lap swimming at a local 50 meter pool. The first day I asked the girl behind the counter how many laps make a mile distance and she said 32. I mentally have been building up to 16 laps nonstop to hit my 1/2 mile. THEN the other day someone told me 66 laps equal a mile in a 50 meter pool!! 33 laps non stop.. I am going to die. I tried to confirm this online but there is some confusion on what a lap is.. so I am still wondering.

Before I start harassing the local pool regs I thought I would poll you guys.. does anyone know-
1. Is a lap once across or across and back? and 2. Is a 1 mile in a 50 meter pool 32 or 66 laps?

This view was my reward after a long bike ride to Huntington Beach. :)

I can't believe it is almost September already!! The older I get the faster the time seems to go by! Did summer seem to fly by for you too??

Life in July & August

2011-08-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

I discovered I may be too klutzy to trail run at night.

Got to dog sit for my favorite pups again.

(Genian Quads ~ All Diagnosed with schizophrenia in the 1930s ~ proof that it is an inherited disease)

Upgraded from grad student to prof (just for the summer).

Currently teaching Abnormal Psych.

Thankfully, this week is my last.. it was really fun but ready to relax a bit before school begins.

Did 23 miles on the bike today averaging about 17 miles an hour. Felt great!

Camping Bass Lake

2011-07-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

Every year my family goes camping at Bass Lake in central California. It is SO beautiful. Lots of hiking, swimming, fishing, and boating. It was a great time.

It rained..

While it rained we read...

We did some local hiking on the Goat Mountain Trail.

We hung out by the lake.

We rode the Yosemite Sugar Pine Rail Road.

It was very hot.

Since it is very close we decided to spend a day in Yosemite. We saw a bear.

We decided to hike to upper Yosemite falls.

The information guide said it was a bit under 7 miles but that it was very strenuous and it would take 6 to 8 hours round trip. I was with my sister, three nephews, and my nephews girl friend. We laughed about how fast we would hike it - my nephews boasting they could complete the entire hike in 2 hours. I was thinking I could do it in 3.

I learned to never underestimate a Yosemite hike again. We started at really fast pace... The girlfriend dropped about a half mile in. My sister about a mile in. They both stopped at the first lookout point and said they were not going anymore. The rest of us told them to wait there and that we would be back in a hour. Yeah right!!

I followed the kids at their speed for another half hour and then told them to do there own thing and I would meet them at the top. It was very strenuous!

In the end it took me five hours, my nephews four hours, and two people in our party didn't make it at all.

It was very beautiful.

At the top of the falls.

It was not as awesome as Vernal Falls.. but it was still a cool hike.

Sketch staircase that you could die from falling off of. :S

My favorite picture from the hike is below.

I only had my iPhone camera but it did a great job capturing Yosemite and the lake!!

It was a great trip. Hope you are all having a great summer! Are you going or have you gone on a vacation anywhere?

Finals Week

2011-06-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

It is finals week.. the workload has caused a forced hiatus from blogging. I just need to make it past this Friday and all will be well. Then summer!! I can't wait!

Running Chino Hills

2011-05-29T16:54:00.000-07:00

Got out and ran some miles in Chino Hills State Park today. It was a visually stunning run. The cloud cover made it seem like some sort of fairy-tail. I especially love the deep purples made by the reeds that have been toasted by the sun.

No idea how many miles today.. I didn't keep track. Have a great weekend!! =)

Scary Day

2011-05-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight my sister was supposed to present her masters thesis at a small conference. I was planning on attending but today turned out to be really crazy.

My sister teaches at a high school near the bay area area. Around 3pm today she texted me that bullets had just ripped through the walls of her classroom. Her and all of her kids were on floor and the school was on lock down. One of her female students had been shot in the leg. She sent me fragmented texts for about an hour before I was able to finally get her on the phone. Very terrifying!

Seems that the shooter was some random guy who was arguing with another random guy about something across the street from the school and decided to settle it with some bullets. The bullets flew across the street and hit my sisters portable classroom. People are nuts!!

She is alright and so are all the kids minus the girl that was hit by the bullet but she should make a full recovery - luckily it just grazed her. She called to tell me that she would not be able to present because she could not leave the school in time. It turns out that she was able to get there as they let them out shortly after she called me and she made it in time to present! She is amazing! I am so so so freaking glad she is okay. So scary. :S

In other news I am planning to sign up for a half triathlon in October. I have really taken to riding and I already enjoy running so... why not?

Monday was my 8 mile loop which was great.. Nike+ stopped working in the middle of the run so I couldn't get an accurate read on my time. I will have to run it again to see if I can beat my last timed run. Tuesday I rode 48 miles from Brea to Newport and then back to Brea along the Santa Ana River Trail. This time I brought a banana and my sun glasses. It was a much better ride.

Biking the Santa Ana Trail

2011-05-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

It is fair to say I am not a serious "workout person". It is true that sometimes I sit on my couch watching movies for a week straight and I do not run or do anything other than eat and maybe take a shower so people don't think I am disgusting. However, if I get something in my head that I want to do it is pretty difficult to talk me out of it. This week it was bike from Brea to Newport Beach. I am not really a biker but I want to start cross training and I like to bike so I figured I should try it out. :)

The bike ride is pretty short, about 23 miles, so I figured it would be really easy to get there in 2 hours going 10 miles an hour.


Plan A

I had a 9:30am appointment in Newport that I really needed to get to on time. As I am terrible at following geographic directions and I had to go through a lot of different streets and turns to get to the trail I thought it would be best if I left at 6am to make sure I got there on time - and maybe even have a little time to get a banana and coffee from Bucks.

It was so pretty as the sun rose.. :)

In the beginning I was great! Felt good - happy riding along. Then the sun came out in full force and with it all these insects started flying around and then a crap ton of pollen was in the air.. little seeds blowing about. My eyes seemed to become magnets for all small particles in the air. I totally forgot my sunglasses! Ugh.


In the beginning it all looked rosy!

About 4 miles into the trail I decided things were looking "wrong" somehow... I couldn't place exactly what was "wrong" but I just felt like something was not right. I had never been on the trail and I am not exactly the person you would ask directions from even on a good day.

Knowing I suck at directions, I decided to utilize my iPhone GPS tracker. I put in the coordinates I wanted to reach and it spat out the mileage and time (15 miles to get to the park where I leave the trail and return to the road) which seemed correct so I kept riding. About 3 miles later (when I saw Weir Canyon Road from the trail) I realized that I was way, way off the mark. This was reconfirmed when I rechecked my GPS tracker and it read 18 miles to go. 18 MILES?!?! Then I re-reconfirmed it with a nearby runner who concurred with my iPhone. "Newport Beach is really, really, really far that way" he said, pointing behind us. "Really, really, really" huh?

How did this happen? I turned around and started pedaling as fast as I could go on a mountain bike that I had already been riding for and hour and a half. I was going to be late for my appointment if I didn't haul butt.

I looked again.. I think I got confused when it said "turn left onto Santa Ana River Trail"when I should have gone right.. "right toward Santa Ana River Trail" who says toward and not onto if you are not on it yet?? Anyway, should have turned right apparently. Did you know that the ability to tell North, South, East, and West is genetic? Damn my genes!

hmm

At this point I didn't take pictures.. I just pedaled as hard and as fast as I could go for the rest of the trip. There were interesting things that I wanted to photograph but I had to get there fast.. I was so lost! Here are some pictures I took before I turned around though.. so pretty!!

Lots of trees on this trail!

I got there in the end. 10 minutes late but the person I was meeting was exactly 12 minutes late so it worked out perfectly.. except I was really looking forward to that banana. I got someone to pick me up and drive me home because I didn't rub some glide on my bootie and it got chafed by my padded pants.

Plan B

I ended up doing 37 miles instead of 23. If ever I want to do that much mileage again - I am bringing my sunglasses, glide, and a banana.. a new road bike might help the knees too! :D

Bommer Canyon

2011-05-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I ran Bommer Canyon in the rain. It was awesome... the weird part is that I used to Run Quail Hill, a trail that is right off of Bommer Canyon all the time. Back then Bommer Canyon was closed, only open for guided tours. I never when in because I am a sucker for the "rules". Instead I would run through to the road and finish my runs on the street. I hated that part of the run and eventually I stopped going there because I figured that was it - nothing left to explore. Boring.

Last Friday however, even though it was closed, I decided to screw the rules and run up in there anyway. Oh wow!! I have been missing out on a lot a lot all these years!!

I took a slew of pictures but blogger can't see them at the moment even though they are in my album. (I got them!!)

Top of the trail here. It was SO muddy!!

I ran uphill about 3 miles to the top and what was on the other side you ask... The Pacific Ridge Trailhead!! Yay! More to run! I had to turn around to go back at that point but I am excited to check it out another day.

Seems this is all apart of the pacific ridge trail head!

I know this is a weather thing.. but does anyone know what it does?

Does anyone else struggle trying to post pictures in blogger??

I want to place them a certain way but it won't let me is it so friken frustrating!! That is why all my pics are posted to the left and sometimes random other places - because I give up.

For tomorrows adventure I have a 23 mile bike ride from Brea to Newport Beach planned. I decided cycling would be a fun way to cross train so I am jumping right in. There looks to be some sort of Santa Ana trail you can ride, walk, run from the Corona area to Newport so I am going to check it out.

I love my Fridays. :)

Aliso Canyon

2011-05-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I finally made it to Aliso canyon I have been wanting to go to for some time now. It was HOT but the people were super friendly - even the guy I ran into who was taking a pee. Ha! I ran about 1 1/2 miles on a main paved road (no idea what it was called) to get to the trails.

I decided I wanted to see dripping cave so I went to that site first.

It was really cool.

I decided I wasn't quite done so when I noticed a trail leading out of the other side of the little cave clearing I took it. I wanted to see if I could do a loop somehow. When I got to the end of the trail there was the option between oak grove and mathis trails but I couldn't tell from the map which would provide a loop around. Luckily, an older gentleman who had stopped to take a leak saw me perusing my trail maps and asked me if I needed help. He told me that if I went up Mathis I could go left (he stressed left) at the end of the trail at the top of the world and take Meadows back down.

So up Mathis I went - I did NOT run. I walked the entire way up that trail. I was super glad I brought my camelback. On the way up I ran into another older man riding up the trail on a bike and he told me that indeed meadows would make a loop and take me back to the right parking lot. As he was leaving me he shouted back "Stay to the left! Did you hear me? Do not go right!" I started to get a little nervous about accidentally turning right since everyone seems very adamant about NOT taking the right. :)

The Sea :)

When I got to the top I made sure to go left and I ended up at a little park I began to search for meadows trail. I was already 4.5 miles into my "8 miles" and the last trail was really intense so I was getting a bit tired. Eventually I ran into another man who told me that I should turn around and go the other way because the meadows trail was about 4 miles down a regular road and was really hard to find. After I got to the trail he said it would be another 4 miles back to the lot. I was a bit bummed out because I really wanted to do a loop. However, the guy told me that I could take Car Wreck to Oak Grove and end up back at Dripping Cave. So I decided to take his advice and I went back to Car Wreck and ran down that trail.

It was a steep single track! Really fun! I was running along and then out of nowhere a random car emerged from the trees. It was weird so I snapped a lot of pictures.

Lucky for me the trail did end up back at the correct trails to take me to my car.

It was a beautiful place. The people were very friendly and helpful too.

Cool snake I saw.

I ended up doing a little more than 9 miles. Awesome place. :)

Nike+ you suck.

2011-05-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

Okay so - I am NOT a serious runner. Not in the least. I go for runs and I don't really push myself - if I feel like walking eh - I walk. I don't really pay attention to my time. I have no idea what my PRs are for anything and I sometimes go for weeks without running and although I miss it - I don't stress about it.

However, I would like to become more serious.. I think because I would like to bomb up and down hills and generally feel as strong as I feel in the first three miles of a run - all the way through an 8 mile run (if that makes sense). I want to be strong enough to run farther and faster so I can get into the depths of a big canyon and see what I can see (sorta like that bear who wanted to see the other side of the mountain).

SO I thought now that I have more time to run that I would get really strong on a few trails around me that I can run anytime and then a couple days a week break it up and go to harder trails and check them out.

I decided that I would time myself for trail PRs (like I see many of you do) to see if I could get faster. To do that today I re-ran the same 8 miles worth of trail that I reported in my last post. I was super excited because I was beating my time pretty well but then something funny happened. I noticed that my Nike+ (the little GPS gadget on my iphone that keeps my distance and time) was indicating that I ran a half mile more than last time on the exact same trail.

Now I am not sure if the trail is 8 miles or 8.5... for all I know it could be 7 miles! This is a bummer. However I did slice some time 1st = 2:12:18 2nd = 1:57:37 from the same distance (what ever that distance was). I wish the Nike+ was more accurate - either that or the garmin was smaller and cheaper. :) Are they even compatible with macs?

Hm.

Today I went to run Bommer Canyon - I haven't been there for awhile. I used to run from Quail Hill to Bommer past the Mariners church up to the 73 and back - it is a really nice 10 mile out and back (so said my Nike+) but life got crazy so I was running Sycamore in Riverside a lot since it was nearby.

Anyways, when I got there I was so surprised! There is a nice new lot! Bommer got a makeover - there is even a restroom now! I felt a little turned around I was so surprised! I didn't think it had been that long since I had been there. I didn't end up running though - it was 11:30am and it was SO HOT. I went home and did my regular 8 mile (?) loop at 6pm.

It was really nice. :)

Finally!

2011-04-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

If you celebrate I hope you had a Happy Easter. :) I am not that into it but I woke up to a basket which was fun!!

I am all moved into my new place. Moving sucks I have decided. I wish I didn't have as much furniture as I do that is the biggest drawback. Now that I am done with quals, conferences, and moving I am hoping to get into more of a scheduled groove.

Friday was awesome I found a new favorite loop inside the Fullerton Flats. I think I am going to call it my "Parks Run" because I run through seven (?) or so parks that are along several trails that make up most of the trails in Fullerton.

Hiltscher Park

Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve

Laguna Lake Park ~ by this time I was ready for a swim!!

Juanita Cooke Greenbelt Trail

Very friendly water stop provided by private home owners that live along the Juanita Cooke Trail

Thought I would share some pictures I took of my little pet Daysi Rose.. she is getting used to her new home.

Eating a strawberry.

She is so cute. Very sweet little thing. Too bad I can't take her running with me. ;)