Florida Canyon Trails - San Diego, CA

It was noon and I was just starting my run.  The conference was over and it was time to find Balboa Park and the trails at Florida Canyon in San Diego, CA.  

I ran down Broadway Street towards Park Street.  Although the streets seemed a little less touristy and a little more gritty, I felt okay as I made my way to the park.  I missed my turn and ended up running up and down hills near San Diego City College until I made it back to Park Street.

I was not sure where Florida Canyon was located, so I started running around the park until I saw a group of military or law enforcement trainees running in cadence.  I saw them go over a hill and disappear and knew that was where I needed to go.

I ran over a pedestrian walkway and saw the coolest sight ever!  I was staring at a canyon with tons of trails up and down and all over!  There was cactus and brush everywhere.  The trails looked awesome; they would be my first true trails with hills I had ever run.

I ran down the trail and felt comfortable right away.  The trail went down to the bottom of the canyon and then moved back up using switchbacks.  There were tight turns, loose rocks, and steep hills to climb.  This was everything I had hoped for...

These trails would be pretty easy for the experienced trail runner, but they are a blast.   I would suggest them to anyone visiting or living in the San Diego area.

I ran several trails until I noticed that I was out of water and I had run over ten miles just on the trails!  I was on a huge high, but knew I needed to get back.  As I ran out of the canyon and back to the streets of San Diego, I could not keep the smile off my face...

Now on to the weekly recap (from www.damilymile.com):

Sunday - Rest
Monday - Six mile afternoon run to the Citadel and back to my office (9:18). Can not believe how hot it was today. Looks like the temp may come down later in the week though.
Tuesday - Ran four miles - negative splits this morning (9:15, 8:50, 8:30, 8:05). Felt pretty good.
Evening track workout - 1x800 warm up, drills, 4x1600 (mile repeats 8:25, 8:20, 8:21, 8:20), cool down (5 miles total).
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Ran by feel without looking at my Garmin. Was a little fast but it was an easy four miler before my twenty in the morning (8:52).
Friday - 20 Mile long run -  First ten miles were fine, then the humidity and heat took off and I didn't. I had the worst run of the entire year (I was going to say summer, but its fall now). Not sure what happened other than starting later in the day and the heat getting to me. I did my same routine otherwise. Flying at to San Diego tomorrow and I just hope I get to run in some cooler weather for a change.
Saturday - Traveling - Rest Day 

Total for the week = 39 miles

Sunday - Rest
Monday - Six miles around the San Diego Harbor.
Tuesday - Six miles around the San Diego Harbor.
Wednesday - 15 miles of trail running in Florida Canyon.
Thursday - Traveling - Rest
Friday - Rest 
Saturday - Rest

Total for the week = 27 miles

2 comments:

  1. Wow! I have been living in San Diego for 3 years and I never even heard of Florida Canyon trails! I thought Balboa park was just the museums and the rose gardens... I will have to add this to my list of things I must do before I move back to New Hampshire at the end of June. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Have you had a chance to run the trails yet? I had a blast running them. I loved San Diego and plan on going back soon. My wife is from New Hampshire, so I am hoping to get up there to run as well.

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