M.O.R.E.: Remains of the Day

Monday, November 2, 2009

Remains of the Day

It was quite warm when we started our run from Cheesepark tonight, and as we were running up McBean toward Copperhill, we discovered the remains of what looked to be an animal. The spine was quite long and we thought maybe it was a dog, or a coyote! It was in the middle of the sidewalk, and quite creepy. We decided to run along the far side of the trail to avoid having the sun in our eyes, and once we got going it was really quite a pleasant run. The wind had really died down and every so often we would hit a nice cold pocket, that just felt so good. We were talking about how we have been running so slow, and really not getting our heart rate going lately with all the long runs. Marathon Mom decided to change that tonight, and really picked up the pace on the way back to Copperhill. The conversation is very one sided when she does that, and I really felt the faster pace. I didn't talk much but I did feel really good, my knee didn't hurt at all, and I felt like I had something in the tank, which is a nice change from all the miserable runs we have had lately. We ran a bit over 4 miles, and I think we kept about a 9.26 pace, which really felt good to be able to do. We will keep our miles low this week, because of the Half on Sunday, but tonight it was just about the speed work, and the skeletons!

2 comments:

marathon mom said...: The REAL reason I decided to run faster wasn't so much for our heartrate, but because I kept thinking about:
1. Those skeletal remains
2. The fact that it was getting dark
3. How full and sort of creepy the moon was
4. The story about the young woman hiker recently killed by coyotes
5. The fact that we were in coyote country!

So I was basically running faster because I was chicken and wanted to get the heck out of there! I'm just glad we got back in one piece. I am also concerned about this weekend and not really sure what to expect. All I can do is just go out there and do the best I can do, but I just don't know how to go about doing that yet.; November 2, 2009 at 8:43 PM
Patty said...: It is so funny that we can have two such different perspectives on the same run. I was thinking:

1. That looks like a big stick (oops it's bones)
2. It's cooler now that it is almost dark
3. What a beautiful full moon, it was so low
4. A coyote wouldn't attack two people
5. I am glad we got out for a run tonight!

I guess it just goes to show that if I was running alone, I wouldn't notice much. Thanks for getting my heart rate up.; November 2, 2009 at 9:58 PM

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Favorite Trails

South Fork 3.1: Start from dirt parking lot on Magic Mtn Pkway and run to the loop at Wiley Bridge and return the same way.

Tesoro 3.25: Start in Albertson parking lot and take sidewalk/trail until it ends and then enter the water tower road to the top two towers where the ends. Return the same way.

Chesebrough 3.25/4.60: From Chesebrough Park, N. to Copperhill, So. on Bike Trail, turn around at Decoro, back up trail to power lines to bridge at park. Turn around at Heritage will give you 4.6 miles.

Chesebrough 3.5: Chesebrough Park down to McBean, south to Northpark Dr., the paseo trailhead. Take the paseo to Helmers and back. Very hilly.

Bridgeport 4.0: Fairly flat, run toward Lowes and under Bouquet bridge to RiverPark community until you reach the closed gates and return. For a hilly run, go north into Helmers and run up the paseo switchbacks into Northpark where the paseo ends and return the same way.

Chesebrough 4.0: N. to Copperhill to west side of river trail, run S. on Bike Trail past Decoro bridge, across Decoro to the east side of river trail, up back to power lines trail, back to park.

Chesebrough 4.0: From park down power line trail to Heritage Park and back same way.

Bridgeport 4.0: From School, cross McBean via bridge or street and head into industrial center on Ave. Scott Bridge and enter bike trail going south toward the train bridge. Turn around at train bridge and return same way or cross the bridge and head toward Peet's after crossing train bridge and back onto the Lowes Trail.

Heritage 4.0: From park, run up bike trail to Decoro, over McBean Bridge into Helmers, and into Bridgeport through lake trail back to park. Can be done in reverse. Moderately hilly.

Chesebrough 4.25: Chesebrough north to Copperhill, left to Albertson side of bike trail. Run south on trail to Decoro and cross over bridge and head north all the way to Copperhill on east side of river trail and back to the park the same way as started.

Cheese/Decoro/Helmers 4.25: From the park, down dirt trail to bike path, south to Decoro. Leave bike path at Decoro and cross paseo bridge at McBean. Stay on paseo up hill towards Helmers. Run up water tower trail once then continue on to switchbacks and paseos back to park.

Heritage/Bridgeport 3.3: Heritage Park south to McBean Bridge @ Panera. Cross and head toward Lowes bike trail and head east toward Bridgeport Park. Halfway mark is at park bathroom, head back by entering trail along the lake and back onto the bridge.

Lowes 4.25: Lowe's parking lot to McBean, cross the bridge and to South Fork. At Valencia Bridge, enter trail behind Hart Baseball diamonds. Continue on trail to Bouquet and across the bridge on the east side and back under the bridge again towards Lowes.

Peet's & Decoro 5.2: Peet's Coffee to train bridge path; to Decoro and across bridge; back down McBean side of bike trail back to Peete's.

Peet's & Wiley 6.0: Start at Peet's Coffee and head east toward South Fork trail and past the Wiley Bridge. Keep running another 200 yards to where the trail forks left and right. Turn back same way.

Peet's & Copperhill 6.0: From Peet's to bike trail heading north to Copperhill and back.

Albertson 7.0: From the Albertson parking lot on Copperhill, enter the westside bike trail and head south until the train bridge. Return the same way.

Peet's 8.5: Run to Copperhill on east side of river trail and return via train bridge on other side.

Lowes 10: Start in the Lowes parking lot. Enter the bike trail heading west. At McBean, cross the bridge and head east toward SouthFork trail. Continue on trail until you come to the Wiley bridge and head back the same way.

McBean 14: This route can be done from anywhere along the trail route. Starting from McDonald's across the post office, run to the end of the South Fork trail and return the same way, cross the McBean bridge and run on the Lowes trail until you hit Bridgeport Elementary and then cross Newhall Ranch via the bridge or street and run back towards McBean. Continue north on McBean until you hit Copperhill. At Copperhill, cross McBean and enter San Francisquito bike trail and run south on the trail until you are back at McDonalds.