The top of the world!

View from the top of the world

Sunday night, after I put on Facebook that I had the following three days off, Lisa (Lisa's Ironman Training Log) asked me if I wanted to ride Mount Diablo Monday morning with her. My stomach dropped and I told her I would think about it. She seemed very anxious to be the first one to take me to the top of the mountain so I thought about it some more. She told me it was a climb of over 3,500 feet and the steady climb up the road was 12 miles long. I finally said, "what the heck, I have nothing to lose by trying." TRY I did! And I made it! I could not have done it without Lisa's patience and her encouragement. She told me everything she could about the ride - how far until the first rest stop, which landmark to look at to know it levels out for a minute there, a hard turn coming up, stay on the outside. She was so happy for me when I got to the top, it was awesome. THANKS LISA!!



The smile on my face is totally fake. I couldn't even feel my legs.


This is the last portion of the climb. It's about 300 feet. Lisa warned me about it. She said we could go up it but we would be standing up in our granny gear. I wanted to give it a try. I was that far, I wanted to go to the top. I started pedalling but only got half way up before I had to stop. I pushed my bike up the last .09/mile of the road. As we were leaving, there was another person doing the same thing. Lisa says it's not unusual, so that made me feel a little better.

I had another tip-over with my bike. This was #3 for me. I was trying to get back in my clips, on an incline, sideways. I got one in and was looking at my other foot when the hill took me over. BAM! I crashed down on my elbow and my upper thigh. I have a couple of pretty good bruises that will be around for a while.

I ended up getting called in to work Tuesday so I didn't get out with Boomer at all. I went to a class at the gym that night.

By Wednesday I was definitely ready to RUN. However, my bruised thigh wasn't. When I run, the junk in my trunk bounces and that was hurting my thigh. SO, Boomer and I had a lovely 90-minute hike at Garin. No snakes this time.

Fresh blackberries should be on these bushes very soon. ;)

This morning I was overdue for a run!! I decided to drive up to Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland where I knew it would be nice and cool and covered by these beautiful redwood trees.

The trails are surrounded by ferns and flowers.

It was so clear I could actually see San Francisco (on the far side of the water). If you enlarge the photo, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge on the far right.

I did take a wrong turn at one point and ended up on Castle Road, in a residential area. I finally admitted to one man that was trimming some trees in his backyard, that I was lost (because I'm not a man, and I can actually ask for directions). He was very nice and told me to turn right after the fifth house down the street and I would find a trail and after that I would hopefully recognize where I was. I did! Before leaving his driveway he refilled my hydration pack and gave Boomer a cookie.

It was at this point, I knew I was on the right trail that would take me back to my car. Thank you Mr. Upper Class Oakland Resident. :)

It was an adventure, that's for sure. I had planned on running six miles and when I was done, my Garmin said 6.25 miles so I was happy.

"MED2010" Accountability:

05/01 - 2 mile walk

05/02 - 4 mile run

05/03 - 23 mile bike ride

05/04 - "24SET" class

05/05 - 4 mile hike, "CAMP24" class

05/06 - 6.25 mile trail run, "24SET" class

Until later...........