Alpine Lake- Shorter!

Alpine Lake- Round 2
(Azalea Hill- Bullfrog Rd- Kent Trail- Stocking- Rocky Ridge- Bullfrog Rd- Azalea Hill)
(8.5-9.0? miles)

There are two (mentionable) activities that are guaranteed to make me really, really happy. One is salsa dancing (as mentioned in the previous post) and the second is trail running. Yesterday I finally ended up going salsa dancing at The Ramp- one of my absolutely favorite places in San Francisco. (You can't beat a live band outdoors, on a Saturday afternoon, right next to the water, in my opinion.) Today I headed over to Marin for a longer trail run than I had planned, but I was reminded of how much I love this trail AND how much I love long runs in the dirt.

For parking and starting point for this run, go back to my previous post. Today I took it very easy on the beginning downhills, but then was running pretty well by the time I got to Bon Tempe Dam. From there, I took the Kent trail alongside Alpine Lake. I will not go on at great length about its beauty, but it's still my new favorite lake in Marin. This time, instead of taking the Helen Markt trail to the (rather painful) Cataract Trail, I went left at the fork and continued on Kent Trail as it climbed up the hill. Kent trail is not exactly what I would call flat, and there were a couple of "fast-walking" sections, but it was nowhere near as grueling as Cataract-- or that was my impression today, at any rate. Kent trail IS a gorgeous trail though. Shaded most of the way by huge redwoods (see first picture) or overhanging manzanitas, like the picture to the right, it makes for great summer running.

At the next fork in the trail, I headed toward Rocky Ridge. The last time I ran this section of the trail, Alex and I were hot, tired, very low on blood sugar and not in the mood to be impressed by much. (Nor were feeling grateful, to the dismay of the waitress at Cafe Gratitude...) As a result, I wasn't waxing poetic about the view. Today I was much more aware of how far I could see on the top of this ridge. It was not crystal clear today (a few smoky vestiges still), but I could still see the Bay on one side of me, and then, on the other side, the Pacific Ocean. Ah, Marin. Why must you justify your astronomical housing prices?

I must say that I need to find another way to start this run though. For some reason, the grueling uphill at the end (0.8 miles of rather impossible-to-run climbing) didn't seem as painful in my memory as it is actuality. Apparently I could have parked near the golf course, but I was not feeling exploratory today. Too bad.

The great news is that my knee felt fine-- and this was not an easy run. I'm very happy about this. I'm also happy about the fact that I just got back from a five-course dinner at Chelsea and Louis'. In short-- this was a brilliant weekend. This last picture (which was at the top of Azalea Hill as I finished my run) completely sums up how I feel right now...

Salsa withdrawal... on the trail??

Tilden Regional Park

(Wildcat Creek- Jewel Lake- Laurel Canyon-Wildcat Peak- Nimitz Way- Meadows Canyon- Nature Center)

(5.5 miles)

You know you've been without salsa for too long when you start dancing by yourself on the trail. I had my shuffle with me today, which I haven't used in a long time, and when Fulanito came on, I simply needed to have a moment in the middle of the trail. Maybe I need to get out this weekend...

Today was another needed run. I am SO tired of working on the computer right now. I have been trying to finish a paper today and get some other work done at the same time... with highly limited success on both tasks. I didn't really think I should be running steep hills, but I wanted to do a little bit of hill running-- especially to try and get a view of the current view-- or lack thereof.

This trail started at the Nature Center at Tilden Regional Park. It is true that Tilden is not necessarily my favorite place to run, but I used to run here a lot, and it brought

back some memories. The trail starts on Wildcat Creek trail, which I could take all the way to the Wildcat Canyon trail head I usually run from, but instead I turned off to take the miniscule trail shown above to Jewel Lake. The raised wooden walkway is only a quarter-mile long, but I think it's one of the prettiest little moments possible in all of Tilden. This tiny walkway leads to Jewel Lake, an adorable little lake/large pond that usually has a population of ducks and/or turtles. (For those who have children, this walk from the Nature Center parking lot to Jewel Lake is probably a great option for the 2-4 age group.)

Once I reached Jewel Lake, I took Laurel Canyon for a half-mile or so, until the Wildcat Peak trail forked to the left. These two trails climb sharply-- and it was here, in the middle of a hill-climbing moment, that I felt the need to do some solo salsa. Fortunately it was the middle of the week and no one was around-- but let this stand as evidence for the tragedy that could befall the world if I do not get some dancing in soon... who knows where I will next be forced to shake my derrière?

At the top of Wildcat Peak, visibility was pretty dismal. Normally one can see across the Bay, and all the way to Mt. Diablo on the other side-- today it was completely grey in front of me, and this was the view looking to the northeast. The body of water is San Pablo Reservoir, where I am planning to run soon.

I'm sure people already know about the fires in Northern California. The terrible visibility is partly from the smoke and partly from fog-- it's pretty cold and unimpressive as far as weather goes right now.

From Wildcat Peak, I took Nimitz Way. This is a paved path that leads from Inspiration Point, and it's one of the most popular places to run/bike/rollerblade in Tilden, but there were few people on the trail today. After I reached Inspiration Point, I took Meadows Canyon to the right and ran back to the Nature Center on a long and gentle downhill--and my knee felt great!

To end, a picture of some late-blooming wildflowers. As seen in the picture, Tilden and the surrounding hills are pretty brown and dry right now (hence all the fires), but these flowers were exploding in pink right next to the trail. I think they're wild sweet peas, but maybe I should ask my amateur botanist mother--the birthday girl, as I mentioned earlier today. (There's another way I'm turning into my mother! I want to know more about plants!)

Dogs? Well, they are not allowed in the Nature Area, and they have to be on leash on Nimitz Way, but they can be off leash on Meadows Canyon. Go figure.

La vida es un carnaval...

Ended up running on the treadmill in San Jose today. I hate the treadmill. I hate the gym. It's rather confining, and people don't seem to know what to do with someone who is actually sweating. Someone needs to let certain members at my gym know that 5 minutes of the treadmill won't technically do much for their level of fitness. (10 points to the older gentleman who comes with his sweats pulled up so high he might as well have been in "Revenge of the Nerds" and then tucked into his long ankle socks. You, sir, rock the Casbah.) 

But I DID have a Celia Cruz moment and almost started dancing in the gym. I have been known (by Neko and some cows) to have a salsa moment on the trail when this song comes on. Despite having to take Neko to the emergency room yesterday (she's fine now), this is how I'm feeling:

Todo aquel piense 

que la vida es desigual,

tiene que saber que no es así,

que la vida es un hermosura, hay que vivirla.

.......

Todo aquel que piense que la vida siempre es cruel,

tiene que saber que no es así,

que tan solo hay momentos malos, y todo pasa.

Todo aquel piense que esto nunca va a cambiar,

tiene que saber que no es así,

que al mal tiempo buena cara y todo pasa....

One of the greatest compliments I ever got from a student was when he said this song reminded him of me. There's more to the song and if you don't know it, get thee to iTunes! I do realize there aren't a whole lot of salsa dancing trail runners out there... but you never know!