Priest Rock Trail Run

Sunday, I joined L and his youngest son, S, for a run in the 
Santa Cruz Mountains near Los Gatos. I visited the area a 
year ago but not that trail. Worrying about missing the
7:00am start time and loathing alarm clocks, I had to check
once every half an hour through the night. I probably slept
less than an hour in total.

I arrived at the trail head 15 min early and was trying to
nap in the car when my friends showed up in ultra-running
gears. L was about my height and 15 lbs heavier. S was tall
and big (over 200 lbs I think) and it was hard to imagine
him run a marathon at 13 and finish a 100-mile race the last
year of high school. He won almost every race he was in 
because he was the only one in his age bracket. He just came
back from the first semester of college and was going to
join his dad for a race in Texas in a week.

L designed his 10-mile training route to look like the
number 8. We would start on the PR trail, cross the Limekiln
Trail, turn right on the Kennedy Trail, meet the Limekiln
again and come back down on it.

The air was chilly, crisp, and very pleasant. No one was
racing and I stuck mostly with L. He lost 15 lbs over two 
years and was aiming at a 150lbs bodyweight. That would help 
his game a lot. We chatted about this and that on our way
up, stopping at a couple of places to take in the views of
the hills and dales.

I was able to enjoy the run until the last leg. The rocks
left from a dilapidated road (for the lime kiln, I suppose?)
tested my feet in the Xeros. L joked this was the easiest
part and shot ahead. I had to slow down significantly and
gingerly descend to avoid stepping on the pointy little
suckers. The lack of sleep seemed to catch up with me at
this moment. My quads started to feel sore from all the
downhill and I even had to walk a few steps now and then.
It was frustrating and I was never happier when finally
catching the sight of my car.

Driving back was like dreaming (I should've rested in the car
at the trail head) and I lied down on the sofa for two hours
to recover. I haven't been this tired for a very long time.
No sleeping pill could have better put me through that 
night. The next morning, my legs were a little sore. I did
yoga and felt good.

[After the run, I binged on cakes, candies, and other "goodies,"
thinking I earned it. The next morning, my weight shot up 1.5 lbs.
It probably didn't help recovery either. A good lesson.]

[7grizzly]

回复 '暖冬cool夏' 的评论 : Thanks for your comments and Merry Christmas! Tim suggested next time he set his alarm clock and wake me up in time. That idea was accepted right away ;-) Yes. Downhill is the worst and cushioned shoes don't help by hiding the truth. As for relaxing, I found I had to exert first. Otherwise, there were no relaxing no matter how hard I try :-)

[暖冬cool夏]

A good sound sleep is just as important, if not more so. I couldn't sleep well either when we had to hike at 6:30 in the mornings, even with the alarm clock on. Good for you that you gingerly descended. Downhill descent hurts more when it comes to knees.
Relax well-- eat, sleep, and have fun! Merry Christmas!