Jun 03 2012

4.5 miles – Slow with Bauer

Last Sunday we went to church in Dana Point and afterward had coffee with the BF’s family at the harbor. While we were there I saw a few runners and immediately became jealous that they were running in such a gorgeous place and I wasn’t. So, I decided to make the short trip back this weekend for my own run. Dana Point is only about 15 minutes away from my house, but for some reason I always forget it’s there. I grabbed Bauer on the way out, even though I knew he would be a pain in the butt with all of the people/birds/dogs around. I just can’t say no to those baby brown eyes…

We parked near the Ocean Institute, which is free. I definitely recommend getting there early on weekends. When we arrived at 9:30 there were plenty of spots open but by the time we left around 11 it was packed, and cars were circling the lot like sharks.

While I waited for my watch to pick up a GPS signal, we walked out on the little dock to take in the view. Gorgeous! It could not have been a more perfect day. Only one not-so-perfect thing: I realized my camera battery was going dead so these are the only pics from our adventure. Obviously, I’m a newbie to this whole blogging thing.

We first ran down Dana Point Harbor Drive past all of the Harbor shops/restaurants and toward Doheny State Beach. There’s also a sidewalk that runs along closer to the water, but we stayed on the street where there are fewer dogs/people to distract Bauer. Actually, even if I didn’t have him with me I would have stayed on the street. The harbor gets really crowded near the shops and restaurants, and I’m not a huge fan of dodging pedestrians while I run.

After we passed the shops at the harbor we turned and ran a loop around Doheny Beach. On the way in we saw at least a dozen awesome old Woodie Cars (this is where the camera would have come in handy).

After our loop through Doheny we headed back toward the Ocean Institute and across the bridge to Dana Island. The island has an awesome little walking path throughout, but it was starting to get pretty crowded so we stayed mostly to the dirt and grass. There were a ton of paddle boarders, so we sat and watched them for a while. I think I’m going to have to try this soon – it looked really fun!

Bauer’s not much of a long distance guy, so we headed back to the car once our island adventure was done. It was a short run, but very pretty and mostly flat. I’ll definitely do this run again, but next time I’ll arrive earlier and (if it’s a solo mission) do the loops twice for a longish 9 miler.

The history behind Dana Point is actually really interesting (ever read Two Years Before the Mast??). Check it out here.