Running the Trails of Almaden Quicksilver to Get Ready for a Couple Races

Trail running is great on multiple levels. Running over uneven ground builds a strength, resiliency and balance that can't be developed on the roads. Working up and down the hills really gets the heart rate up without the pounding and monotony of running laps around the track.  No wonder hill running has long been considered "speed work in disguise".  Of course, the views our awesome, especially at the top of the hills where they've been earned.

So I've been hitting the trails of my favorite place for trail running, Almaden Quicksilver Park to get ready for a couple of races coming up.  In a little over a week, I'll be part of the mob surging through the streets of Santa Cruz for Wharf to Wharf, a six miler over a few rolling hills that starts at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and finishes at the Capitola Wharf.  Then in early August is the Dammit Run in Los Gatos.  The Dammit starts on the Los Gatos High School track before hitting the gravel Los Gatos Creek trail. Than the race gets even more interesting as runs up Lexington Dam diagonally before encountering the real hill of the course on the Los Gatos trail system.  It's then a mostly down hill roller coaster of a trail run before a short stint on the Los Gatos streets and a finish back on the Los Gatos High School Track.

I've taken the family on a number of walks in Quicksilver through the years, but it's been six years since I've been running its trails on a regular basis.  It feels good to be back.

California Trails Article in Adventure Sports Journal

The lastest issue of Adventure Sports Journal is out, and I have a small contribution with a write up on trail running and hiking on three South Bay trails.  You can read it here.

A Strange Trail Running Affair

I have the same problem with running trails I used to have with women.  I seek out the one that are gorgeous and difficult ones, and the few and fleeting good times seemed to be worth all the pain.  Sure, trail running is full of aesthetic beauty and training benefits you can’t find on the roads, and it’s a great way to train as you constantly have to adapt to the changing terrain.  But that leads to more risk for injuries, and I’ve had plenty of bruised toes, sore knees, strained ankles, and even a dislocated shoulder to show for it. 

All course seeking beauty and overcoming barriers and taking risks is good attitude for a runner, but this approach in your personal life can cause you to seek love from people you shouldn’t fall in love with.  Thankfully, a good therapist showed me the errors of my ways in personal relationships, but this desire to keep running on the trails seems like I’m stuck in a bad love affair.

I first realized this on a hiking trip to Berry Creek Falls in Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains a couple years ago.   I had run a competitive half-marathon through those very trails only a few months earlier, but found the trails on that hike almost completely unrecognizable. That’s because I ran the half-marathon like a hunted animal, desperately focused on the uneven, rocky ground just a few feet ahead of me in order to avoid a serious face plant, ignoring the towering redwoods overhead and panoramic views of the surrounding mountains.  The set of cascading waterfalls in the center of the park is a place where people linger, relax, and enjoy the unique sights and peaceful sounds, but they were just an anomalous sparkling blip I blew by during the half-marathon race.  This leisurely hike through these same woods made me realize that running or hiking through the woods creates a totally different perspective and appreciation of the forest. 

So these days, a bit older and presumably wiser, when I get to the top of the hill or to a scenic overlook, it’s time to stop for a few seconds and enjoy the view before hurrying along.  I now realize this brief interlude is something I deserve, but the nagging injuries from the trails keep coming, especially since I'm not getting any younger.  But despite the problems, I don't want to give up on this relationship.  I may be blind, but I still think we can work through all this.

Get Ready Sacramento Beer Runners: Blood, Sweat and Beers is On!

On August 16th, Fleet Feet Sacramento is putting on Blood, Sweat and Beers. It's a trail race starting and finishing at Railhead Park in Auburn, CA along the picturesque American Canyon trails. There are two courses for this race, the short course measuring 5.5 miles, while the long course consists of 9.3 trail miles. Finisher of either race course over the age of 21 earn two complimentary beers, courtesy of Sierra Nevada Brewing. The field is limited to 750 entries, which the organizers expect to fill before race day. More information and online registration can be found on the race website.

If you hike to Berry Creek Falls slowly, you'll miss things

Last week, I hiked to Berry Creek Falls with my girlfriend Linda. Berry Creek Falls is located in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, in the middle of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It's about a five mile hike to Berry Creek Falls, and then you can hike up another trail to Silver Falls, and finally a little further to the Golden Cascades, another series of falls. Then, it's another five miles back through the redwood forest to the trail head.

Linda and I stopped many times along the way to capture it all in. We'd stop and gaze up at the massive redwood trees, or look at various hidden wildflowers along the way. When we got the the falls, we'd stop, take a seat on one of the benches provided, and take in the view. We set up a little picnic at the foot of Silver Creek and had lunch before making our way back.

I had actually run a half marathon race on these very trails once before. Then, these scenic waterfalls were a basically a blip in a sea of redwoods as I motored on by. Instead of the looking around the scenery, my eyes were fixed along the ground, searching for each spot to plant my foot for the next step. A meandering, down hill trail with a rocks and roots sticking out isn't a pleasure stroll in a trail race, but a face-plant waiting to happen.

At one point in the trail, the terrain becomes very barren, rocky, and highly exposed to sunlight on a mountain ridge. On our hike, we took off our jackets to enjoy the sunlight and get out of the cool forest air, and enjoy the diversion from the redwood forests. I remembered this spot on the half marathon. The sun beating down on me here was a dehydration concern on a trail run where there are no water stops, and I was relieved during the race when the trail dipped back down into the monotonous line of redwoods and brought back the cool air.

Some might say I missed a lot running a race on these trails. But aren't the waterfalls simply an anomaly in the middle of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and by lingering about them, we distort their significance in the forest? If we focus on the tall trees and pretty flowers, do we ignore the ground and topography which is very much a part of the forest as well? I'm not suggesting people run through the forest instead of hiking at their own pace. But our speed and purpose in the forest creates a unique lens that creates our experience. And each lens has its own focus and distortions.

When we finished our hike, we drove through the nearby town of Boulder Creek. It's a small town of about 4,000, rather isolated in the middle of the Santa Cruz Mountains. I've never stopped their before, having passed through a few times on my way to Santa Cruz. This time, Linda and I stopped at the Boulder Creek Brewing Company at the edge of town.

It's in an old, rustic looking building that indeed looks like in belongs in the middle of the mountains somewhere. Like any good brewpub, it has a great neighborhood vibe, where everyone seems to know each other and is there to relax and have a good time. The bar was full of maybe ten locals who all seemed to be on a first name basis, but Linda and I never really felt like outsiders.

If you can imagine a cross between a hunting lodge, a brewpub, and a vegan co-op, that would describe the atmosphere and the menu. It seems as if the hippie culture of Santa Cruz has splashed 15 miles northward into the mountains here. We asked about the various beers and the dread-locked bartender seemed happy to explain them to us. There was only one house beer available, their Big Basin Brown Ale, since the brewing equipment was being renovated. I generally like nut brown ales, and this was a solid one, with a decent amount of nutty malt and a little grassy hops underneath.

I couldn't tell much about Boulder Creek looking through the car window on my previous trips through, but I now have a lot better feel for the place now that I've stopped here. I hope to drop by Boulder Creek Brewing again the next time my travels take me this way. I wouldn't want to miss it.