Friday, August 22, 2008

No Cornfields on This Run

ORN: 5.2 miles, R6/W1, 53:45, 10:21/mile

A late-breaking business trip landed me in southern California yesterday. I didn’t know even where I’d be staying and awoke this morning at a hotel in Newport Beach. My body was still on Eastern Time, so I was up way early. Needing a run, I wandered out the door of the hotel.

And what a find.

Just outside the hotel was the Back Bay Loop, a 10.5 mile trail around a beautiful piece of water, just off the Pacific Ocean. I set out to explore it and was treated to one of the best runs I’ve had in a long time.

The paved path provided a wonderful view of the bay. There were a lot of runners, bikers and dog walkers. On the way out, I discovered a parallel trail, unpaved, with grit and sand and more ups and downs. What fun. I reached a turn around point way too soon. Heading back, I stayed on the dirt/sand more than the tarmac. I run on tarmac all the time in Indiana…when in SoCal, I wanted to do something different.

It was a run I hated to see end. I had to flip back to Professional Business Person Guy mode. Of course, PBPG pays the bills, so not a big problem with that.

My apologies to my southern California friends about not letting you know I was coming but this happened too quickly and I had no idea what my schedule would be. Thanks for understanding.

We persevere through all our training runs. And sometimes, a really cool run emerges.

8 comments:

Sarah said...

Very cool!

David said...

Well that beats all. I had similar thoughts running DC. New places rock and running them makes it even better.

Backofpack said...

A nice surprise for a surprise trip! Glad you had so much fun, probably made it all worthwhile.

Running Chick said...

for a split second, i thought you were in Newport, Rhode Island and you were going to be in big trouble MISTER for not telling me! Either way...you had a great run in a new place - I love that part of travelling!

Bob A said...

Isn't it fun to find a new, unexpectedly pretty place to run? That always makes the run much more pleasant. Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

Way to get off the tarmac and enjoy the trails. It looks like a great place for a run.

Darrell said...

I know the Back Bay Trail well. Glad you enjoyed it.

Sounds like a whirlwind tour, sorry I missed you.

Unknown said...

aww! that's where i run at lunch, several times a week!

bummer i missed out on a chance to meet you. give me a heads up next time you're in town.