Ode to Balboa Park

Since moving to San Diego a few years ago I have been lucky enough to live pretty close to Balboa Park. Balboa Park is a great place for runners and dog lovers, and I am both! I run and/or walk my dogs through the park almost every day, and can’t imagine moving away from such a great location. I have moved from one side of the park to another, and I’m amazed by the variety of neighborhoods that border this park. Each neighborhood has its own small community feel, and reminds me a lot of the neighborhoods of San Francisco.

Golden Hill Neighborhood

Running on the North Side

When I lived on the north side of Balboa Park I ran mostly on the sidewalks which split the park in half, and wound past the zoo and down past all of the museums. I had a nice 3 mile and 4 ½ mile loop worked out which I ran most weekdays. After beating that path to death for a year I finally discovered some trails heading in the other direction into the park! These gave the topographical challenge of a trail, but also provided the safety of being just off a major street which made me feel safe running alone.

 Entering the Trail

The Adventure of a Trail ...

... With the Safety of a Major Street Nearby

The Street is Always Within Sight

Life on the South Side

From my north side apartment I used to take a 1 ½ mile flat paved path out, and then the 1 ½ mile trail side back with some ups and downs to add more of a challenge. Ever since I moved to the south side though (South Siiiiiide!) I’ve stuck to running on just the trails about 95% of the time. I now live at a neighborhood at the top of a hill and enjoy a long semi-steep down, long mild up-down-up-down center, and a long steep incline to my turn around point. And then back we come! (Trail Map)

I Love the Ups & Downs

My turnaround point which is about two miles from home is one of the many dog parks that Balboa Park has to offer. At first I didn’t like this dog park because it wasn’t fenced in, but my dogs don’t usually stray from my side in the park (wimpos!) so I’ve finally gotten comfortable being here or one of the other unfenced dog parks.

Steep Incline Up to the Dog Park

Dog Park in Sight - By the Trees on the Right

Hello Hills!

Since the start of my run is a ½ mile long run downhill at a 6% incline, it also means that the end of my run is also a ½ mile long run UPhill at a 6% incline. This hill has me beat at first! The first week I tried to run up it I had to take two walk breaks. Wow! It wiped me out! I’m excited to say that now I’ve mastered this hill, and for the past 4-5 weeks I’ve been running hill repeats on it once a week. (3 loops down/up the hill)

Heading Back up the Hill

There's the Top of the Hill!

Cotton Fruit Tree

At the top of my hill is a very strange set of trees. About a month ago I saw ‘stuffing’ all over the ground and figured someone had thrown out a pillow or stuffed animal or something. Day after day the stuffing seemed to increase though which was weird considering the location of this area. (Off to the side, why would garbage pile up here?)

Cotton on the Ground?

One day, I finally looked up. There was the source of the stuffing! There were a few trees with ‘fruit’ hanging from them that looked like green mangoes, and the fruit would start to split open like orange or apple slices, and each ‘slide’ had little cotton ‘kernels’, which would then fluff out into just ‘cotton’! AMAZING! I stare at this tree every morning as I run by and wonder what kind of tree it is, and what takes it from a fruit to kernels to fluff. I then think “I need to google this when I get home!” and stay with that conviction for about a block, until my house comes into site and I immediately switch into mentally-preparing-for-work mode. Hence, a month has passed and I haven’t looked up this amazing feat of nature … until NOW! Are you dying to know what it is? Huh? Huh?

The Mystery Cotton Tree

Mystery Unraveled – Like Thread!

It’s a floss-silk tree (or silk floss tree), also known as the Chorisia speciosa , which is a member of the Bombacaceae, or cotton-tree family. Aha! Anyways, they’re neat trees and I enjoy running past them each morning.

Floss-Silk Tree Fruit

Bursting with Fluff!

Taper Week

I’m in my last week until the marathon (Four more days! Oh my!) so I’m going to stay off the trails this week to try to prevent an untimely ankle sprain on the rocky trail. I will trod along on my (once comforting, now boring) sidewalk path for the next couple days until the race. But a few weeks from now, it will be back on the trails!

Thank you Balboa Park for being the place for a running, dog lover to spend time.