kerClunk

On Friday I did one of my favorite new habits - run from home up through the Pogonip to UC Santa Cruz to attend one of the weekly astronomy, physics, or geophysics seminars. In this case, the IGPP Friday seminar, on chondritic meteorite age dating and what they reveal about the major impact events in the history of our solar system. It's a 9 mile total run. But after 3 miles I could tell my hip was not good. I didn't want to be late so I pressed on, and figured the ~70 minute rest during the seminar would give enough recovery for a relatively pain-free run back down the mountain before it got dark. But, this one hurt. What's interesting is that my left hip "clunk" which disappeared about ~18 months after my '07 surgery with strengthening and stretching, is back (to a minor extent). Not painful, but perhaps predisposes me to painful runs. Maybe the ~1000 mi/yr pace of the first 2.5 weeks of the year was too much, combined with missing a couple days of roller work? I'm speculating, don't really have answers. Anyway, I can still bike and swim OK, which is what I've done the past 3 days. Enjoyed biking around Pescadero (sunset pic above) and harvesting kiwis on Sunday.  Back to heavy roller work. We shall see...

A Fall Creek Runners High

A frosty morning to try a new trail - at Fall Creek State Park. I wanted to test my mettle after a long 60 mile frosty ride yesterday, with a 9 mile run today - again in prep for a Yosemite ski backpack next weekend. I'm gratified it all went very well. Awesomel scenery and very quiet trails. I ran to the tippy top of the Park on the Truck Trail, then back down to the Big Ben trail, to Fall Creek, and then miles of beautiful creekside running back to the start. No issues with my usual soft spots - again thanks (I assume) to the diligent scar tissue breakup work with the roller.

Cold Training

I hope to do a solo XC ski backpack in Yosemite next weekend. I celebrated my hours of Astro classes prep this week with a little Cold Training to prepare for Yosemite. My favorite long ride - 60 miles into the mountains and redwoods north of Santa Cruz on a very crisp January morning. My toes were not happy as I pedaled up Eureka Canyon with my cyclocomputer's thermometer reading 41F, and I couldn't wait to switchback up higher and get out of the cold air pooling along the canyon, and maybe see some sun. Turns out, I'd miss those balmy 41F miles, because as I climbed higher the thermometer dropped further. 37F as I got to Ormsby and headed downhill towards Camp Loma. As I got into the sun later, the temp climbed back up to 40F as I arrived at Summit Store and had my little reward - an avo+kale sandwich - and bantered with a few hardy mountain bikers sharing the patio. Darn if the temps didn't drop back to 37F as I continued on to Mountain Charlie Road and the bumpy descent to Scotts Valley. I nursed my Cliff bar and Chomps for every calorie. Arriving back at InShape gym, I couldn't feel my feet as I hobbled in on frozen stumps, and a welcome soak in the hot tub. Maybe that wasn't so bad! Next weekend in the snow will be great.