It was another beautiful morning in northern California. We had blue skies, sunshine and temperatures in the upper 70’s. I couldn’t bare doing my MAF heart rate training on the treadmill … indoors… today. I decided to drive to the city and explore Old Sacramento with my youngest.
I am not familiar with the area, but knew there was a river walk and bike trail nearby. We parked the van and headed towards the water. T-man was in the jogger and my heart rate monitor was on and ready to stay in my targeted heart rate zone. I knew that I would be doing a lot more walking than running because pushing the jogger would add some resistance.
We walked the boardwalk and T enjoyed the bumpy ride. Then we crossed over this bright gold bridge, the Tower Bridge. Not knowing exactly where we were going, we decided to cross the river and walk where there was a lot of people walking.
We turned right over the bridge and found ourselves in the mix of many business people out for a mid-morning walk. When we hit the end of the trail, we attempted to off road to get to another trail beyond the railroad tracks. Mistake.
Never go under a railroad track. Lesson learned. You might encounter some questionable characters. We did. We met two gentleman who made my heart race (not in a good way). Which ultimately had my polar heart rate monitor beeping LOUDLY like crazy.
I said good morning and quickly went on our way. Only to find out that there was no way to access that trail and I had to go back under the bridge to get back to the trail. Sigh. Scary. Thankful we were safe and didn’t encounter real bad guys.
Back to the trail and where people were walking we felt safe… but come to find out the real trail was on the other side of the river. Who knew, apparently we did not and we looked lost and goofy.
Once on the trail, I was able to run for a short amount of time in my MAF heart rate training zone. However, a nice and easy power walk while pumping my arms kept me in the desired zone. Which honestly is a bit frustrating because I want to run. I should be running. Yet this heart rate training method has me power walking with short bursts of running… instead of running all the time.
It was such a nice day we decided to explore and walk around the state capital building. Again the people out and about were not your usual fitness fanatics but rather business men and women on their lunch break walking around the garden grounds.
Even the T-man had to get out and show me how fast he could run. I think he ended up doing fartleks for a half mile. Run. Walk. Hop in the jogger. Repeat.
We met and chatted with police men on horseback. They even kindly scolded me and told me to never walk/run under a railroad bridge. Again, lesson learned.
We made our way back to Old Sacramento after an adventure-filled morning run/walk. I think the next time I go exploring a new-to-me area I will be better prepared with where we need to go and the safeness of the area.
At the end of our run/walk we were happy to have enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine. This whole MAF heart rate training is much harder than I had originally thought. I am determined to stick to it and see the positive changes take place… even if it means I do mostly walking at first.
Carson says
I love to explore new places but am often deterred because of my fear of running into some shady people. So scary that you had to trek back under the bridge!
Rachel says
Yes. I was hesitant, but I was hopeful I was safe… and I booked it as quickly as I could.
brittney says
wow! this post came at the PERFECT time. i’m flying out to old sac in two weeks for my sister’s wedding and it just so happens i have a six mile run on my training schedule, and i was dreading the thought of doing them all on the hotel’s treadmill. thank you for sharing your experience; i will definitely not run under the railroad bridge!
Rachel says
Yay! Awesome. There is a trail that goes right alongside the river. If you are staying at the Embassy Suites there is a nice paved bike trail that goes alongside the river… on the side of the hotel. That trail I felt safe. It was when I crossed the river and explored the garden and river walk… the trail ended and thought I could go under that railroad bridge (don’t). 🙂
Lots of friendly people walking/running/biking. Have a great visit!