Trail Run: Circle X/Sandstone Peak

After a few weeks away from the trails and with no road races on the horizon, I was hellbent on making it out to the weekly Trail Runners Club run this week. Of course, once I had it in my mind to join in on the weekly trail run, it started raining hard and wouldn't let up until this morning. Still as long as it wasn't a torrential downpour, I was going. Well thankfully, the weather cooperated and while there was light drizzle on the long drive up the coast, it ceased by the time we reached the trailhead.

Today was just one of those days where I had a hard time putting the camera away. It would be my first time running this near-10 mile route and it turned into a click-a-thon the second my foot hit some dirt. We started out at Circle X Ranch and made the downward descent to the single-track trails that would lead us up to where Sandstone Peak Trailhead.

While we would be spared getting wet, the morning was still chilly and I wound up running with my long-sleeve + t-shirt + gloves combo for the entirety of our outdoor excursion. The rain from the past couple of days also left us with very muddy surfaces on most of the roads. Perfect day to break-in a new pair of trail shoes I suppose.

My left buttock and hamstring were still a little sore from last week's marathon, but when the pain flared up, I made it a point to ease back on the pace a bit. While still not a 100%, I didn't feel any other after-effects from running the 26.2.

After a mile plus out on the windy single-tracks from where we parked, we reached the base of Sandstone Peak. I was mostly running solo by now so I made the ascent up to the top for the next several miles, running when I could but also hiking when I had to. I hit the summit a little after mile 6 and it would be mostly downhill from that point. The sun also decided to poke its head out on Mother Earth which on a day like today, was very welcomed.

I would let gravity do most of the work for me as I had to stay focused on negotiating the technical roads that laid out a healthy dose of rocks and mud. The new shoes - other than now looking like a slice of cake that fell head/frosting-first into the ground, head up beautifully.


A little before mile 8, I found myself at the base of Sandstone again and I crossed the paved back into the single-track roads that would lead me back to the rest of the group. At the end of the day, about 9.65 miles were covered.

With a couple of weeks off since the last marathon and no schedule to adhere to (yet), it was great to get back out there again and play in the mud a bit.