Rock Climbing, Trail Running, and a Superhero Fun Run 10k

Ah, the end to probably one of the most active weeks of my life! I will sleep well tonight.

This weekend was packed full of activity. Saturday, Rini took me out for some outdoor rock climbing in Cragmont Park in Berkeley. This park kind of popped up out of nowhere in the middle of a very residential area. There was one porta potty there, which was nice, and the park was full of climbers. We got there around 2:30, and after a half hour everyone cleared out and we had the place to ourselves!

I need to give another special thanks to Rini, because she taught me a lot, and was brave enough to have me belay her (first time outdoors). Honestly, it was terrifying. I'm not used to climbing on a wall without noticeable holds. It didn't help that I started out with a 510.b for my first climb. I was hoping for like...a 5.4 ladder. Did I mention that I have a slight fear of heights? What you can't see from the static photo is that my legs were visibly trembling. I was also pretty scared to hold someone's dear life in my own two hands, using a device that was new to me. :| Luckily, the simplicity of the device, combined with my sheer terror resulted in the safety of my friend. 

After a handful of climbs to get myself a bit more used to it, a couple of Rini's very experienced and buff rock climbing friends joined us, and we decided to try out some bouldering at Indian Rock which was four blocks away. 

If you don't know all the climbing terms, what we did with the rope was top roping. Bouldering is without a rope, and you have these portable pads that you bring to land on. I prefer bouldering in the gyms for speed, technique, and independence, but outdoor it scares the daylights out of me because the pads aren't as thick, and you have to land more precisely on them. If you land wrong, you can hurt yourself pretty quick.

The thing about Indian Rock was that the climbs were pretttttty long. I definitely start to get nervous after about 13-15 feet. Some of these climbs reached a point beyond no return, so I decided to stick with either the super easy stuff or playing around with traverses (just sideways climbing). Once I build up some confidence, I'll come back to give it another shot.

Prior to all this climbing madness, Jon and I drove to the nearby Wunderlich County Park for a "quick" trail run. I wasn't feeling the run, and almost chose to sleep in and not go at all. I seem to have a lot of inner conflict when it comes to choosing whether I want to wake up early to run or not.

Following Jon through the eucalyptus and redwood trees

I have to say that I think Wunderlich might be bumped up to my new favorite trail to run on. I still love Huddart's shaded and soft paths, but Wunderlich varied a bit more, and I feel like the ascent was more gradual but regular. 

After two miles in, I really started to get into the groove, and my original plan of doing 5 miles turned into a 9 mile run. 

The best part of it was getting to the 4.5 mile mark, and hitting the cloud line. I thought it was raining! The forest looked so eerie and mystical. Not to mention that's when I turned around and coasted the 4.5 downhill miles. 

Entering the eerie forest

This awesome burnt stump was probably over 5' across.

Jon and I ended our Saturday with some food at Mission Heirloom. It was a bad time for a paleo dinner, because all I had eaten before this were three eggs and a protein bar. PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN. I wanted to gag. I also wanted carbs. BAD. We had an extremely active day and a burger salad wasn't going to cut it.

After crashing from all that activity, I woke up bright and early to head out to a Superhero 10k Fun Run for a Cure (benefiting blood cancer research). Rini and I had won spots in the race through our premium active.com membership. I will definitely be donating to the cause though, because it was well worth it and a very cute and fun race!

We jogged two miles to the start from my house, and then went all out for the 10k. I tried keeping up with Rini but apparently her cape gave her superhero powers and she was uncatchable. She moved even faster on the 2nd loop around!

My heart was PUMPING. I have a hard time pushing the pace now a days, so this was a real effort for me. My hr average was 173! It seems about right for race pace.

The funny thing is that Rini and I actually finished 1st and 2nd overall in the 10k race! Granted, I doubt many people even signed up for the 10k race. And it's the same day as the super duper popular Bay to Breakers race, that attracts tens of thousands of participants. I'll still take it though.

I loved seeing all the little kids dressed as super heroes. They had their own kids race around a small circle, it was so cute! Amazingly almost everyone that ran had dressed up! It was really fun, and I'll be back for more next year!

Alright, that's enough out of me. Time to hit the hay to start another crazy week! I'm going to try my best to focus on slowing down and giving my heart a break. :)