But, before I get to the escándalo, I want to talk about my trail run on Monday. I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned my love of trail running. Oh, wait…you say I have? Frequently? And you’re pretty much sick of hearing about it by now? Hmmmm……this is the last time I’ll mention it, I promise.
So – anyways – Monday, after a morning of homework (still no toga party invitations, and you’d think they’d be rolling in…I’m the only female in my class!), I headed out to the trail. My goal for 2009 is to run the entire length of Wildwood Trail in Forest Park – all 30.25 miles of it. Not in one go, of course. Since I don’t often feel like doing a 2-car crazy drop-off pick-up thing, I’ve been doing mostly out & backs, with a few semi-loops if I can arrange it. As of Monday morning, I had 13 miles of trail left to do, 11 of it consecutive miles. Unfortunately, without car support, there was no way to do the whole 10 on Monday, because that would’ve actually ended up being about a 20 mile run. So, I headed out to Springville Road off of Skyline, and proceeded to knock off 6 more Wildwood miles, for a total run of 10.1 miles. I did a kind of loop…I ran almost a mile down Springville to Wildwood & then headed towards Portland. I ran just over 6 miles of Wildwood, turned around for 2.5 miles more before hitting the very short looking (on the map) Trillium Trail, which would take me back to Fire Road 7, which would take me back to the parking lot.
It turns out that according to Garmin, Trillium Trail was about .5 miles long. And if a trail LOOKS short on a map, but isn’t, that’s generally because it’s nothing but straight-up switchbacks. I’m not sure how many feet I climbed in that .5 miles (and the .15 miles of Fireroad 7 back to the car), but it was a lot. It was so steep, that I actually couldn’t run on Trillium. And I love hills. A lot. I still made it up that hill in about 7 minutes, though, so I was still booking. I did the whole 10.1 miles in 2 hrs, 3 minutes & 37 seconds. Even including two five-minute walk breaks for water (I can drink & run on the roads, but not on the trails….too many tripping hazards) & my uphill power-hike, that’s still averaging about 12 minute miles, and if you take out the 1 mile total walked (my two walk breaks were about .25 miles each, and the power hike was .5 miles) that’s 1 hr 46 minutes, 9 miles, and an 11:47 pace. Not that I’d actually take the time to figure all that out.
Ahem. The only bad was when I took off my socks at home, there was BLOOD! Poor little toe (damn! I had a photo, but it is not currently available…you’ll just have to imagine my bloody toe now…sorry!)
So, to recap – great run. I really did intend to bring my pepper spray, but couldn’t figure out how to carry it, so I came up with a new plan that was basically, “don’t get attacked.” And it worked! The power of positive thinking.
Tuesday, still enjoying my time off, I did homework (a theme, perhaps?) and then headed to the pool. I did 1000 yds again. 1 lap warm (next time, will warm for 2 at least), and then a set of 800 (to make sure I could), which I completed in just under 20 minutes. Which is not so fast. And then I cooled down for 3 more laps. And then, as I finished my last lap, I popped out of the pool at the end of the lane. Where a new swimmer was waiting to ask if he could split the lane with me. And the man in the other lane was taking a short break. And do you know what else popped out? Go ahead. Guess.
Major wardrobe malfunction. And unfortunately, it wasn’t JT catching the show. Later I looked at my suit (which I bought 2 years ago) and realized it was a size 12. Yeah….classy! Needless to say, I just let that guy have the whole lane to himself.
And then, I headed east. To a tri-athlete store. And I spent a lot of money. I bought a new swimsuit, and some tri-gear. Now I just have to lose enough weight around my middle that I won’t be ashamed for people to see me in my super-duper tight top that is supposed to hold my wily chest in check.
***
Now, finally, the love story.
It all started back in 2004, right before Christmas. The architect took me to a bike store. And I bought Trixie, my beautiful green mountain bike. Two weeks later, I broke my hand (long story), so it was a while before we really bonded. But we did bond. We rode all over the Santa Monica mountains. The first time I rode up this long steep hill on Mulholland, I was so proud of how far I’d come.
And then, we moved to Portland. And Trixie only got out a couple of times. And then….I betrayed her. I bought a road bike. And the road bike was so light, and aerodynamic, and better for commuting & doing road rides. And Trixie moved to the castle, where spiders lived in her, and plants grew on her, and she didn’t see the light of day for almost 2 years. TWO YEARS!
A few weeks ago, when I was bitching about my road bike that doesn’t really shift well on hills, which is a bit on the unfortunate side, the architect got Trixie out of the castle & cleaned her up. She’s been living on my porch (safe from rain) while I make sure she’s spider-free, and yesterday, I took her out to the trails for the first time.
And fell in love all over again. We had such a great ride, and yeah she’s a little heavier than my road bike (that doesn’t have a name), but she shifts so smoothly, and has great shocks! And yesterday we went 27 mph together (also, we went 3.2 mpg together riding up Saltzman).
I think that I’m just a trail girl. It’s just not as much fun if you don’t get a little muddy!
We’re pretty cute, though, right?
