Upas Loop Encore

AM: 60 mins.
8+ miles
PM: 15 mins. ellip.

For our last morning in San Diego, Jordan and I were once again greeted by warm sun and clear blue skies. In light of the rest of the country suffering a severe cold snap, I'm equal parts appreciative of our mild conditions and dreading the return to Charlotte in a few short days.

We planned to run what I now refer to as the "Upas Loop," or, inexplicably, the "Oompa Loompa" (because it sort of sounds the same and I like midgets?), which essentially involves a big loop around the upper part of Balboa Park and across the Prado, then crossing the highway and making a mini-loop up the trails and across the Footlocker course, then a hellacious climb up Upas, then a return down the Prado and back home. It adds up to almost exactly 8 miles and provides a mix of grass, road and dirt surfaces. As one might expect, there was lots of action in the park, and the miles fell away quickly. The only downside is that my legs were more or less trashed. I guess it's to be expected; it's not too much of a spoiler for my forthcoming Week in Review to say that the quality and quantity of mileage I did this week is more than I've notched since before my August injury. As such, I was dragging up Upas, but fortunately retained my pride and managed to keep from walking. Jordan and I split up once back on the upper section of the park, as he had to run to pick up the rental car, but I tried to keep the pace as uptempo as possible until reaching home.


Which is better? A San Diego sunset...

Fast forward to a few hours later, and we loaded up in our new Chevy Aveo and departed back to the desert. Our time in San Diego, though relatively uneventful, was an absolute blast. I'm looking forward to enjoying our final few days in paradise relaxing in the comfort of the Biltmore. On that note, I'm headed to the hot tub. Strictly for rehabilitation purposes, of course.


...or a Palm Springs sunrise? I'll take both.