Good Echo Mountain Hike

I had a great hike with Ayana today. She was driving me home so I could leave my car in the shop in Irvine. We went up to Echo Mountain and back down in just over 2 hours. What I am most happy about is that I think my heart rate on the hike is improving.

Summary

Distance:	5.06 mi
Time:	1:54:38 + 9 mins not timed
Avg Pace:	22:13 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	1,437 ft

Another Personal Best in a Half Marathon

Me and Irene celebrating 2:56

Rock and Roll Half Marathons are fun, and Pasadena did not disappoint again this year. Irene and I improved our previous PB by 3 minutes to get a 2:56. Of course once I told Irene that we were at 2:41 just before the 12 mile marker, I had to jog the rest of the race to keep up with her wicked pace. Who else can walk a mile in 12:13 minutes? Wow. It was a great race. Weather was perfect - cooler than the Surf City Half. And we both felt really good at the end of the Half.

Irene and I at Surf City, our first sub 3 hour Half

Other than the uphill on mile 9, we had a pretty fast race overall. That last mile was really fast.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	2:56:07.0	12.92	13:38
1	12:59.6	1.00	13:00
2	14:09.4	1.00	14:09
3	13:43.1	1.00	13:43
4	13:26.3	1.00	13:26
5	12:46.0	1.00	12:46
6	13:30.7	1.00	13:31
7	13:45.2	1.00	13:45
8	14:05.3	1.00	14:05
9	15:05.8	1.00	15:06
10	14:07.3	1.00	14:07
11	13:56.0	1.00	13:56
12	13:15.8	1.00	13:16
13	11:16.4	0.92	12:13

Steps and Personal Best Time on a Half

Amazing view of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Catalina just visible on the horizon

Irene and I had a great walking weekend. I was actually staying at the Terranea Spa with the Organization of Executive Women (OWE). Great food, great company, great spa. Irene's friend Nancy told us about a tough set up 220 steps off of Hawthorn in PV. Luckily my roommate didn't come to Terranea until Saturday afternoon. So my departure at 6:45 am didn't bother anyone. Irene picked me up and we drove over near the steps. We found them pretty quickly on Rue De La Pierre, but you have to watch for a little narrow walkway between 2 walls. Irene counted out 220 steps. We decided to try it 3 times. Definitely felt that in my calves. Then we decided to keep following Crest Rd up the hill. It eventually comes out a Hawthorn again. Since we had a half marathon planned for the next day, we decided to take it easy, and just headed back down Hawthorn.

Summary

Distance:	4.68 mi
Time:	1:32:22
Avg Pace:	20:00 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	837 ft
Calories:	436 C

Irene, Jenny, Jill - Ready to go

Sunday, my poor roommate had to deal with me leaving the hotel at 5:15 am. I tried to get out quickly and quietly. Irene and I then drove down to Surf City - Huntington Beach for the Surf City Half-Marathon. After parking at Irene's friend's house (THANKS NICK), we found Jenny at the Snail's Pace tent near the start line. She was pacing a 2:45 group. Very slow for her, but too fast for Irene and I to keep up. So we went on our own. We got off to a pretty good start, and basically just kept it going for the whole time. I really think my hiking as made it easier for me. We actually got a little faster towards the end, especially once we realized we had a real chance to make it at or maybe slightly under 3 hours. We really pushed hard. Irene started flying when the bands started playing. I actually had to jog a bit to keep up with her. I was very surprised to learn that my heart rate actually went down when I started jogging. Maybe a slow jog puts less pressure on the body than absolute top speed walking. We both ran a bit at the end when we realized that after pushing that hard, we still were in danger of just missing the 3 hour mark. That little jog just did it. We ended up with an official time of 2:59:34. Good thing I had my watch to realize just how close we were.

Official Stats:

Split Times
3 Mi: 42:32 Pace: 14:11 6 Mi: 1:23:40 Pace: 13:57 9 Mi: 2:04:45 Pace: 13:52 11 Mi: 2:29:45 Pace: 13:37

Times from my watch:

Laps14

View Splits

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 2:59:39.0 13.03 13:38 1 13:26.9 1.00 13:27 2 13:12.8 1.00 13:13 3 15:30.8 1.00 15:31 4 14:02.8 1.00 14:03 5 14:09.4 1.00 14:09 6 13:49.8 1.00 13:50 7 13:50.6 1.00 13:50 8 13:49.4 1.00 13:50 9 13:54.1 1.00 13:54 10 13:35.6 1.00 13:36 11 13:10.0 1.00 13:10 12 13:35.8 1.00 13:36 13 13:12.6 1.00 13:13 14 :18.3 0.03 8:55

Catalina View and Two Peaks

Saturday, Irene and I went on a nice walk with Irene's friend Nancy. We meet at the small parking lot off Palos Verdes Drive and walked out to Hawthorne Rd. It was only a 7 mile walk, but other than the rain, it was really nice. I was glad that Irene and I both had our rain jackets on. Whenever the clouds parted, we were able to see out to Catalina. Nancy took us on a different route than we normal go. It was a nice change. I hope Nancy comes out again. As always, we stopped at the Saint Honore French Bakery for coffee and muffins. It was a nice start for our Avon Walk training. We have until May to get ready for the first one.

Our favorite breakfast stop

Distance:	7.28 mi
Time:	2:01:17
Avg Pace:	16:40 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	449 ft
Calories:	515 C

Then Jenny and I went for a hike on Sunday. It was a little tricky because of the weather. It was cold and very rainy in the morning. Jenny went for a trail run in early. After eating some lunch, we waited for the rain to slow down before we took off. We drove up Route 2, the Angeles Cress Highway, about 14 miles from La Canada. Then up Red Box Road towards Mt Wilson.

Once we found the parking lot at Eaton Saddle, and got out of the car, we realized it was really cold. 37 degrees and very damp. The starting was already pretty high - 5,184 feet. I was very happy to have a wool hat, gloves wool socks and a rain coat. We started up the path, and found rocks every where. The Station fire went right through this area. I assume that the loss of plants and the recent rains knocked rocks all over the pathway. The path goes through a dark tunnel. From Marham Saddle, you can choose either a path or fire road towards Mt. Lowe, or a steep path toward Mt Disappointment and San Gabriel Peak.

We hiked up towards Mt Disappointment through the clouds. Occasionally the clouds would blow away and provide an amazing view of the valleys below. We were really lucky that it was clear when we got to the top of Mt Disappointment, which is just over 6,000 feet. We then hiked back down a bit and up to San Gabriel Peak. At 6,209 feet, that is one of the highest points in the area. I have read that the views are amazing, but we were in the middle of the clouds. So we didn't see much. Still, it was a good hike.

Elevation

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         Time (h:m:s)             Distance (mi)     

After a quick snack, we headed down with the idea of going a few miles on the Mt. Wilson Rim Trail. Just as we got within a few yards of the car, it started to snow. As we headed up towards Mt. Wilson, it was so foggy, it was hard to see. We decided to stay in the car, rather than hike more. I was sure glad we did. It started to hail and rain soon after that. In fact, it poured and hailed all the way down the road back to La Canada.

So pretty short hike today, but a good climb. And although I am still breathing really hard on the inclines, I feel like I am recovering faster. I just need to keep working on it.

Summary

Distance:	4.10 mi
Time:	2:00:29
Avg Pace:	30:00 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	1,309 ft
Calories:	565 C

Avg HR:	128 bpm
Max HR:	160 bpm

Directions: