My Fall Tanline

I kid you not.

Farmer's Almanac says to expect a cold winter this year. I'm glad I'm closer to the equator!

T minus 9 days to Marathon time!

I will *NOT* set fire to the forest with my eyes.

I just drove all the way out of town for 16 lovely miles at Penasquitos, only to discover I left my Garmin forerunner at home.


It is now too hot there to turn around and go back, which means 2.5 hours of running by the same homeless people along the water. Again.

So very frustrating.

My feet hurt.

There is no end to blisters.

The hair on my arms has long-ago been bleached white in the sun -- all the way up my shoulders. I can see peach fuzz everywhere!

My skin is latte' brown, aside from this dollop of cream where my Garmin rests on my wrist. I am amazed that I keep getting browner and browner when I go out. I though that would stop.

I indulged my doubt and ran 23 miles today.

T minus 14 days to raceday!

20 Miles - Penasquitos Canyon

Time: 8:30am
Distance: 20 miles
Route: Penasquitos Canyon - Lopez Canyon and Waterfall Detours
Completed In: 3:05:49
Shoes: Asics GT 2130 - narrow width
Fuel: Sharkies
Mood: Good - the buoyant, then happy, then ecstatic, then buoyant, then tired. Then done!
Weather:Overcast - 73 degrees. Then rainy for a spella round 7.5 miles. By time I finished - over 80 degrees.

Delicious.

It was early -- the desert aromatic in scents of grass, sage, ozone and fresh rain. When it sprinkles in the desert, the fine dirt clumps under your shoes and sticks there, making it feel as though you are running after receiving local anesthesia in your feet.

Novocaine for the Sole, man.

It rained on me for about half a mile, which was refreshing and fun. My energy was good, my tunes were better, and it was easy to receive huge surges of dopamine along the trail. I played a bit - deviating off the main path to explore Lopez canyon (too hilly too early on, so I headed back) and find this mysterious waterfall, which right now is just a pool of water under some rock.


It wasn't until mile 17 or so that I began to get tired. My left hamstring started talking at the end in an unsettling way, but has not bothered me since. Yoga and thai massage have helped loosen everything up.
Now we begin the maddening tapering phase.

I'm tempted to follow coach's schedule to the nose just to see what it would be like. I have 2 weeks of 20 mile long runs, then the race. I have never run less than a 24 mile long run before a race. I don't doubt I will finish -- but part of me wants to do it the old way because it seems I will be less likely to feel pain upon finish if it is only 2 miles longer than my longest training run, instead of 6.
We'll see how I feel Sunday.

Coronado Sunrise

Smells.

Food science taught me that warm things smell more. The particles of scent vaporize at higher temperatures and waft into our nose and mouth, providing scent and what we know as flavor.

Another Southern California anomaly pertains to this. As I have switched to running in early morning or evening, or - by the Grace of Mercy - had the opportunity to run in cool weather, I've noticed more scent. The desert is sweet, peppered with sage and other spicier aromas that I cannot identify. I can smell the sweet dry grass and the vanilla aroma of temporary construction near sidewalks (see above). In the cool morning air, less pleasant scents like sewage and rotting fish waft from the water near the harbor or at Mission Bay. Without heat comes scent. I cannot find scientific justification for this.