Monday, June 06, 200540 Mile Running Weekend
Spent the weekend running...literally.
Final mile, I can taste the peach in the car!
Running down the Chantry Flats access road, closed to automobiles, but barefooters were allowed. Notice that I've got my special sandals dangling from behind (see more below).
Mt. Wilson, 5,710 feet
On Saturday, I joined Andy Kumeda, Bill Graney, Wendy and others on an 18 mile trail run from Mulholland to Trippet Ranch and back, passing Eagle Rock. Weather was perfect. I ran to Trippet barefoot. The trail is much smoother this year, had almost no problems. Coming back, I wore a pair of my special polypropylene sandals. I was testing them to see how they would handle off-roading. More about them later.
Eagle Rock in the distance, heading home
Sunday, woke up at around 6am and headed off to the top of Santa Anita Blvd. to meet Andy at 7am. We started up to Chantry Flats. The gate is closed at the entrance because of some very serious landslides that have removed the road in a couple places. 3 miles to the top on pavement.
This is how the road looks up to Chantry!
Once we got to Chantry, we headed left and up, following the AC 100 course toward Mt. Wilson. I ran/walked/hiked this section barefoot, and had little or no problems. It gets a bit technical in places, but is doable by advanced barefooters.
After some serious climbing, we finally got to the summit. On the way up we hardly ran into anyone; however, we did meet a group who were doing some trail work. We think we recognized AC 100 veteran Hal Chiasson and spoke for a moment with a coach from Arcadia High School who works with O'Brien.
View from the top of Mt. Wilson. Summitted Barefoot
We had an amazing view from the summit...cloud cover out past Catalina Island, so only the peaks of a few mountains were visible. Nice.
At the summit, I changed into my newly purchased Foxy Feet sandals (gotta love the name...catchy; however, they only weigh 5 ounces each!) for the run down the backside of Mt. Wilson to Newcomb Pass, continuing to Sturdevant Falls and finally back to Chantry. During this section, we did not run into anyone until we got just past Sturdevant Camp. That's where we met Chris and another fellow who both live at Sturdevant. I really envy those guys. Peace and quiet.
The sandals worked okay, but had problems. The straps seemed to get loose too quickly and they caught too many little rocks; otherwise, they were okay. However, my long-term goal is to create sandals from indigenous plants using native sandal patterns.
My Special Sandals: Do I hear you say, "Trendy!"
The Falls
Typical view near Chantry
The Trail
Best, Barefoot Ted
Final mile, I can taste the peach in the car!
Running down the Chantry Flats access road, closed to automobiles, but barefooters were allowed. Notice that I've got my special sandals dangling from behind (see more below).
Mt. Wilson, 5,710 feet
On Saturday, I joined Andy Kumeda, Bill Graney, Wendy and others on an 18 mile trail run from Mulholland to Trippet Ranch and back, passing Eagle Rock. Weather was perfect. I ran to Trippet barefoot. The trail is much smoother this year, had almost no problems. Coming back, I wore a pair of my special polypropylene sandals. I was testing them to see how they would handle off-roading. More about them later.
Eagle Rock in the distance, heading home
Sunday, woke up at around 6am and headed off to the top of Santa Anita Blvd. to meet Andy at 7am. We started up to Chantry Flats. The gate is closed at the entrance because of some very serious landslides that have removed the road in a couple places. 3 miles to the top on pavement.
This is how the road looks up to Chantry!
Once we got to Chantry, we headed left and up, following the AC 100 course toward Mt. Wilson. I ran/walked/hiked this section barefoot, and had little or no problems. It gets a bit technical in places, but is doable by advanced barefooters.
After some serious climbing, we finally got to the summit. On the way up we hardly ran into anyone; however, we did meet a group who were doing some trail work. We think we recognized AC 100 veteran Hal Chiasson and spoke for a moment with a coach from Arcadia High School who works with O'Brien.
View from the top of Mt. Wilson. Summitted Barefoot
We had an amazing view from the summit...cloud cover out past Catalina Island, so only the peaks of a few mountains were visible. Nice.
At the summit, I changed into my newly purchased Foxy Feet sandals (gotta love the name...catchy; however, they only weigh 5 ounces each!) for the run down the backside of Mt. Wilson to Newcomb Pass, continuing to Sturdevant Falls and finally back to Chantry. During this section, we did not run into anyone until we got just past Sturdevant Camp. That's where we met Chris and another fellow who both live at Sturdevant. I really envy those guys. Peace and quiet.
The sandals worked okay, but had problems. The straps seemed to get loose too quickly and they caught too many little rocks; otherwise, they were okay. However, my long-term goal is to create sandals from indigenous plants using native sandal patterns.
My Special Sandals: Do I hear you say, "Trendy!"
The Falls
Typical view near Chantry
The Trail
Best, Barefoot Ted
Labels: barefoot, barefoot_running, running, sandals
posted by Barefoot Ted | Monday, June 06, 2005
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