M.O.R.E.: Snakes Alive!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Snakes Alive!

Today Marathon Mom and I ran the hills behind Helmers, and were surprised on the way back by a 4 ft snake in the middle of the path. Needless to say we both screamed and stood there for some time, trying to decide if it was safe to run past it. Since it seemed to want to crawl off the path and toward the hill, we figured it would not back up while we ran by. It seems like all kinds of "wildlife" is out with the warmer weather, we complain during every run about the bugs that fly in our mouths, and noses (yuk), and it seems like we are constantly dodging the lizards that seem to like to play chicken and run right in front of us.

Today we started from the pool at Fairview and Grandview, and headed toward Helmers to run the hills and switchbacks in the paseos behind the school. It was a good run for me today, a little slow starting, especially on the first hill, which is a switchback that seems to go on forever. Once I got going however, I felt pretty good, much better than our hill repeats last week. The worst part was the last block going up Grandview, back to the pool. It was a slight uphill and into the wind, and for some reason the legs just gave out. I think we ran 3.95 miles, so I will round up to 4, and I have no idea about pace, but have to take the hills in to account. Glad it is over, glad I did it, not happy about all the critters!

2 comments:

marathon mom said...: I hate to break the news to you, but it was actually just over 3.5 miles and the pace was 10.3. I know it feels a lot longer on the hills. My legs were spent from the moment we left the parking lot. I think the snake was a welcome distraction from how crappy I was feeling. I thought it was funny how we were "fighting" over who would get to run past it first. Oh, and chewing gum and bug at the same time is not fun. I thought starting by the pool would be tempting and may eventually convince you to swim one day instead of running. Like the article you read said, we need to increase the intensity of our workouts or we're just going to keep packing on the pounds. How depressing is that!; March 24, 2010 at 8:53 PM
Patty said...: For some reason I thought we were just under 4 miles. Wishful thinking! I felt better today than I did last week so I am not complaining about the mileage or the pace. I am just tired of reading and hearing about how as we get older we need at least an hour a day of exercise just to maintain our weight, not even to lose! I need to do something on the days we don't run, walk, or strength train, maybe even swim. I like just sitting and reading, or watching TV, that is the problem. Also, I am giving up gum on runs because of the bugs, GROSS.; March 24, 2010 at 10:47 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.