M.O.R.E.: Pessimism is Good

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Pessimism is Good

The thing about being pessimistic is that when you don’t have really high expectations, you increase your odds of being pleasantly surprised. That’s what happened today when C and I met to do our first hill workout in a very long time. I was really dreading the run and thinking we were going to suffer through it. We ran from Bridgeport and immediately headed uphill on the paseos toward Helmers. It was not easy running into a strong headwind as we were reaching the top of the first hill climb, but we managed on. Then we got a slight break until we got to the switch backs behind Helmers. We ran to the top of the switch backs until it leveled off and then turned back at 1.5 miles. The way back was mostly downhill except for a short steep incline on Fairview back to the paseos. Yeah it was hard, but it was not as hard as I thought it was going to be. Don’t get me wrong, I was breathing pretty hard at the top of the switch backs, but my legs felt pretty good. I was really surprised that it wasn’t as hard as I imagined it to be and we even ran the entire 3 miles at 9.4 pace! I can definitely see us running this on a weekly basis and increasing the distance to 4 miles or more into Northpark. It was a good run and the view was really pretty from the top. It will also be a great training run for the C.O.C. series. It was too bad Patty couldn’t join us, but hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I think she would have liked this run.

2 comments:

Patty said...: I am sorry I missed it, I did think it was going to be a tough run, and when I saw how windy it was, I was thinking "miserable". I am glad it wasn't too bad, since I think we will be running it again next week. I needed a day off, but HATE to miss out on a run, I will be back to it tomorrow, and hopefully be in a better frame of mind. Good job getting it done!; January 13, 2010 at 9:51 PM
Patty said...: I like the quote for today, I think a lot of our days are just that, us trying to be productive, get things done, no matter how we feel. I think we all need to know that everyone else is doing the same thing.; January 13, 2010 at 10:34 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.