Hello! How are you? I stayed at my parents’ house last night so this morning I ran in Pico Rivera. I used to feel like it’s not the best place to run because my mom got bit by a dog in the past! And there are often random dogs out. That scares me! Plus there weren’t a lot of path options – until recently!
This is new-to-me but a few years ago the city created a path for bikers and walkers around the Rio Hondo Coastal Basin Spreading Grounds. Basically it’s a riverbed that never has a river. We’re in a drought, remember?
So the signs warning against swimming are just for fun right now…
Send water!
You can get to the trail at Mines Ave or Paramount Blvd. When I looked it up for more info I saw it’s called the Paseo Del Rio. It’s about 6 miles that circle the basin area. It’s open 24 hours a day.
It was pretty quiet when I ran in the morning – I saw three walkers at various points but no runners or bikers. It was flat and the path was fairly wide. I didn’t see any water-fountains or restrooms.
For more information check out the city’s site with details on Paseo Del Rio.
(There’s another riverbed path in the area that goes all the way to Long Beach but I’ve only biked that one with a friend. When I was younger running solo I wasn’t sure about running that path but I’d give it a try now. Maybe another post for another day?)
I ran 8 miles and then did 8 strides in a park parking lot…
I got back and had breakfast with Bailey. He thinks he wants some of my cereal, but he wouldn’t really be into it if I shared…
Then, Matt and I hung out for a while running errands and other randomness.
I feel like we’ve been eating a lot of junk this week so I wanted to make a healthy, veggie packed dinner. Since my mom knew she’d be out of town the fridge was pretty bare. I grabbed a few essentials and threw together a healthy pasta dish.
Surprisingly, even though this is ‘cheap’ spaghetti sauce it didn’t have HFCS like so many of the other brands and was pretty low in sugar.
To make it healthier I added an extra can of tomatoes to the sauce and used a bag of frozen bell peppers for extra veggies. This took me 15 minutes max to make!
It was delicious! But when I went to take the first bite something felt weird – this fork is completely bent?! I don’t know how I didn’t realize right away. Matt and I have no idea how it got that way but since my parents are out of town we’re going to throw it away and pretend like it didn’t happen. Don’t tell them.
One last pic of the pups! They are hard to photograph since they’re always moving and begging for pets and love. Kinda like me.
Last night the family had macaroni & cheese with grilled kielbasa. I had left over grilled chicken, sweet potato and salad. Tonight we are having fish burgers and home made french fries with roasted veggies.
I grew up in Pico! Did you as well? Did we cross paths at some point in life? haha! So fun!
Last night it was taco Tuesday! 🙂 Hope y’all get some rain soon but glad you found a new place to run!
I am actually making spaghetti tonight and since we just got back from vacation, we are having a healthy week so thanks for the tips!
Last night was smoked chicken breast, roasted veggies, and watermelon! My fav 🙂
Ahhh the poor rivers! I wonder when it will start taking a turn for the better!
Last night I had a smoked salmon salad for dinner…yum! I even shredded some zucchini and put some olives in it 🙂
Miso glazed salmon from seriouseats.com. You broil it and it takes like 5-10 minutes and it’s soooooo good!
You often go on very long runs. Do you go by yourself? Do you ever feel unsafe? I’m jumping from half to full marathon training and I’m very hesitant of running through neighborhoods. I try to keep it to well travelled main roads or the trail by my house, which I usually run with my dog. I don’t live in a real “unsafe” area. I’m just paranoid. I was wondering how you deal with it. I’m very jealous that my husband, who is training for ultras, will just find a distance and go, even running at 3 am and doesn’t really worry about his safety.
I need to try that salmon! I love salmon but never cook it at home.
Yeah, I run by myself 98% of the time. I don’t feel unsafe but I try to stay on paths that have other people on them. I don’t run in the dark though – I think that would scare me.
I’d suggest running in places you are familiar with and keeping your headphones on low so you can hear what’s going on around you. Always err on the side of caution.
I run super early sometimes (like 4:30). I run with my phone, mace, and in a place I’m familiar with. I also run with a reflective band so cars can see me. I’ve done this for about 4 years and my biggest scare was running up on a skunk and some raccoons playing/fighting in a tree scared the daylights out of me. I live in the city, so skunks and raccoons are pretty random!
Eeek strides. When I see them on a workout I always cringe a bit. Seems like you do so well with your training. I had a random assortment of stuff already in the fridge for dinner: rice, ground turkey and vegetables. Nothing exciting but it was at least healthy!
https://thedogtribe.com/2016/07/18/college-friends/
I love random assortments like that for dinner. But I’m random 🙂
I had leftover quiche.
Running question … Can you explain what strides are … I don’t really understand how to do them. I’ve only been running for a couple of years and just starting to add speed work. Thank you!
Hi Jessica,
Strides are just 100m (or about that distance) accelerations where you run to about 90% of your max speed and then slow down / glide to a stop.
I forgot to eat dinner last night but tonight I’m meeting my friend for pizza!
That very dry river photo was pretty funny with the sign saying no swimming. I can’t believe it’s that dry over there!
The path sounds like a great place to run- flat, wide…
Dinner last night- shrimp, soba noodles, and corn 🙂