I Bleed Words Till I Am Read All Over: 15 miles

I now reached 15 miles a week in my training. Not too bad considering that last month I didn't do much other than the sporadic trip to the gym.

It really helps that I am outside, in the sun and with friends. Being on the treadmill and the ellipticals are great but they are not giving me a total body work out nor are they training my body for everyday practical movements. I need to train my body not only to by working efficiently but effeciently outside of the confines of a controlled environment.

It's easy to run on a treadmill with TVs in every angle of your line of sight, a well-charged iPod and air conditioning.

I need to work my body in the movement and conditions that are unpredictable and out of my control.

I need to be outside.

Eaton Canyon

Bryan has been supporting me in my health endeavors. He took me to an area he often frequent when he was living in Pasadena.

It was a pretty cloudy day and I didn't mind. It was better than being 80 degrees and up!

Cloudy days

A pretty wild flower. I have no idea what it is but I have never seen it before.

Bryan is a hiker and is familiar with being out in the canyons. I couldn't keep up with his long strides. He'd have to stop and wait for me from as I jog up towards him. I have a weak ankle (injured it when I used to play sports and it never healed right) so most of the time I was getting familiar with the terrain.

There were lots of rocks and turned up roots. There were fallen logs and boulders to look out for.

But with any hike, the jackpot is the view. In this case it was one of the Eaton Canyon Falls.

This picture does no justice as too how beautiful these flowers were.

I will be returning back soon.

Santa Monica Beach

I took Kat and her daughter to Santa Monica and took them on my route. The beautiful part of this route is that it's sports stroller-friendly so that parents with small ones can fit working out in their lifestyles.

Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves from the 4.8 mile walk with ceviche tostadas and fish tacos. Well for the grown ups. The little one got lunch from a bottle.

HollyTrail to the Hollywood Sign

The last trail for the weekend is the one that I have not been to in my how many years (not saying) living in Los Angeles. It is a tourist spot where people often go and I subconsciously avoided.

As a person raised in Los Angeles, you tend to not go to many of the tourist spots.

But this one was absolutely beautiful. Now it isn't as pristine as say Eaton Canyon or Santa Monica. There is a ranch there where city slickers can park their cars and ride horses. Because of that, you definitely have to watch your step.

Mel and I went there mid-day. By that time the mountain was hot and you were getting heat from the sun above and the ground below.

The incline kicked my ass!! It's so much easier to jog at the beach on flat surface. As painful as this hike was, it was something I must go througth in order to improve my lung capacity and endurance.