Baseball Books and More: April 2018

(this is long, but the end is the "best" part)

If you remember, Dad and I had quite the adventure back in November for the Chimera 100. Well, yesterday we drove back up to the exact same turn in the road for the Old Goat 50. Our part of the course is the same, except we're at 34 miles and 36 miles or so. Runners don't do as many loops at the beginning and only go up 2.5 miles before they come back to us and then head toward the finish. The nice part about a 50 mile race is that our time on site is shorter. There is no overnight. In theory, everyone will finish before it gets dark. Or they're VERY close.

Dad and I left the pups at home at about 7am and headed out. We were on site by about 9:30 I think. Set up went quickly since I'm now able to actually help. I've finally watched and "helped" enough that I can put up the antenna all on my own! Technically, I think I could do it all but while I'm doing antenna, Dad is doing radio. It makes it go so much faster! We had plenty of time so I set out on a run. This was sort of the plan but it all kind of depended on timing and how my toes felt.

TMI alert - I had popped the larger 2 blisters, one on each big toe on Wednesday night and re-doctored them on Thursday night after my short run. They had mostly felt fine since them (with big bandages on them), so I didn't touch them again. I almost took pictures of all this process, but I didn't. Sorry.

Anyway, I really wanted to run up to the peak to see for myself what these runner had to do after they left us. We knew the radio guys were already up there which meant I could meet these guys whose voice I'd be listening to all day. I often find it interesting that I talk to radio guys (almost always men) all day and night and never get a face to put with the voice. So. I set off.

Oh my word that road is STEEP!! and ROCKY!! So, I pretty much hiked the whole way up. I ran when I could but it was seldom and it was slow. It took me an hour to go the first 2 miles. I was told it was about 3 to the top. But I didn't let it bother me that I was walking so much. I was there and I was doing it and I knew I'd be able to FLY back down!!

Santiago Peak has some beautiful views. I didn't take any pictures. It is also the home of a massive antenna farm as they refer to it. There are MANY LARGE antennas and things. For a plethora of communication needs. I have no idea what they all are. But it was cool to see them up close. They really are as gigantic as they seem like they must be from afar.

I chatted with Jim and Matt, the radio guys, and headed back down. Oh, I tried to talk to Dad on simplex but we couldn't actually understand each other. We connected but the static and noise was just too much to be able to actually talk. But I was pretty sure he knew it was me and that it meant I was at the top. I'd been gone well over an hour at this point.

My prediction was correct - compared to up, I FLEW down!! About 80 minutes up and 50 down. Or something like that. I probably could've run the entire down but some sections were steep and rocky and I don't like to fall down. I also had to stop several times to step off trail for vehicles to pass me. This particular dirt road is very popular amongst people who like to drive their fancy 4wd vehicles on first roads.

I got down before we saw any runners so yay! We then did our radio thing. We saw 53 runners. We had to turn around 4 of them though because the race director realized we'd all be there forever if we didn't activate a cut-off. Those 4 weren't very happy about being turned around. We saw 49 runners go up and 49 runners come down so we didn't lose any!! There were 84 who started the 50 mile race. Most of the difference in those 2 numbers dropped down to the 30k or 50k distance that were also part of the race. Basically at one of the early aid stations they turned right instead of left. We did have one young lady who switched from the 50k to the 50 miler. I have never experienced that before. Who decides in the middle of a race to an extra 20 miles?! But there was some radio chatter that it was an accident - she'd turned left instead of right? But who runs an extra 20 miles ON ACCIDENT?!

The only other memorable runners were a couple. The gentleman was back after having gone to the peak already when I a woman came in for the first time. They seemed excited to see each other and gave each other kudos and such. Then they kissed. And he commented on her skirt. They then went on their different ways. When she came back through, someone said something about the previous kissing and she commented that "there's always time for kissing". Quote of the day?
I almost forgot to mention that when we were told to turn people around, we thought we had 6 we were waiting for. So I headed down the road to catch them so they wouldn't have to go up that extra bit if they didn't want to. About half mile before they get to us, they come off an actual trail and turn left on the road. So if I could catch them there, they'd have one mile less and only about 2 miles to the next aid station. Dad said he thought it was about a quarter mile. I am here to tell you it's closer to half a mile. I actually recorded it on my watch on the way back up cuz it seemed even further than that and that was going down! Four runners were told within sight of the aid station so they went up to refuel and complain and such. When I got to the trail, I radioed to confirm that the other 2 were really on their way. There had been quite some issue with reconciliations all day because of the very large numbers of runners who switched courses. Indeed, they were not on course to me so I went back up the hill. It was steep but I did it! So my mile count for the day was technically just about 6 though I only attempted to run a little of the down on that short stint.

We packed up and started off as the sun was setting. We ended up getting out in the dark. As is habit, we stopped at the Starbucks in the Vons shopping center to get some caffeine for the drive home, and to borrow their flushing facilities and running water with soap. Dad mentioned wanting to check tires since we'd kicked a couple rocks on the drive. He did this while I went in cuz I was in desperate need of the flusher, if you know what I mean. On our way out, I asked if everything had looked good. Dad said yes, as I looked down at the back tire on my side. Tire looked great but there was a large puddle of something that I'm pretty sure wasn't there before.

One of those rocks had punctured the fuel tank. NOT GOOD!! Gas was SPEWING out. This could be a long story so I'm going to give highlights. A young man saw us trying to figure out what was going on and got down on the ground and stopped it with his finger. Then Dad and I and Aaron (the young man) and his dad tried to figure out what on earth we could use to patch the hole. We'd already talked to AAA but there would be no towing if we couldn't get it to stop leaking.

Dad went off to Vons and the gas station to see what he could figure out. Aaron and his dad went to Starbucks to clean up (later figured out that the barista was I'm pretty sure Aaron's sister). Aaron came back out with an idea. He used some guerilla tape in a ball as a plug of sorts and then taped it up. It seemed to work. They left. We called AAA again and a tow truck was dispatched. And that's about as long as the plug worked. Dad had bought some fancy leak fixing tape. It was leaking less but still leaking.

The tow dispatch lady called to let me know the truck was coming but the one that was about to pull in was actually for another call in the same parking lot. I told her that the leak was back and asked if anyone there had any ideas for us. Jimmy said to call the fire station. We did and WOW! They had some putty stuff that they just wadded up into a ball and bam, leak stopped!! I called the tow lady back and told her to keep the truck on its way!! The very nice firemen waited until the tow truck got there keeping us company. The tow truck driver, Darrick, had some cat litter to clean up the gas we'd spilled. We were on our way!!! Darrick drove us all the way home to Hesperia and the dogs were fed by midnight!! Golly were they glad to see us!!!

I highly recommend Steve's Towing out of Lake Elsinore, by the way. They were all very helpful and professional. Also, I thank God for the angels he sent in Aaron and his dad. They did not need to help!! But Aaron's short term fix gave us the hope we needed to get the tow on the way which led to the fire guys, etc. God is good. Also we were leaking gasoline many miles and nothing bad happened from it so YAY! Oh and also YAY for AAA premium which will tow you a long long way, like from Corona to Hesperia in the middle of the night!!

Dad has a good friend who is a mechanic in Big Bear. They chatted this morning and Nick assured us that the putty would hold it so Dad drove home. We talked almost all the way for my sanity and we had several contingent plans. We'd unpacked almost everything into my garage and Tuck stayed here. The car is now at Nick's garage and tomorrow he'll figure out what's next. But apparently the hole is in a large dent so there will be a new fuel tank for Dad! Also, we are both going to put some of this putty stuff in our glove compartment and recommend to everyone we know they do the same!! It apparently will stop any leak in anything. Who knows what a rock could puncture next time!! Also, my next car will be a high riding 4wd truck or jeep or something and will become our race vehicle!! Dad's car can go anywhere but with all the equipment it rides even lower than usual.

So apparently, Bear Springs adventures are BIG adventures. I guess I'll keep going back...

Sorry. I took not one single photograph. There is one of the aid crew but I don't possess it yet. Check back in a few days maybe.

Now that I've run in double digits, the options are endless. Or something like that. Anyway, during Spring Break I planned to head to Big Bear for several relaxing days, and a trail run of course. I told Dad I wanted at least 11 but my brain kept saying 12. At that point, what's a few more steps, right?

Dad and I looked at maps and mileage while taking into consideration what trails would be driest since we'd had so much rain the week before, plus snow melt off. We even did a little reconnaissance by driving over to see if the gate was still closed on Van Dusen Canyon Road. It closes for the winter but it had closed so late we were hoping maybe they'd open it early. No luck. This meant I could start at the dump road, but I'd have to go most of the run without seeing Dad. Although it's way awesome for my spirits to see Dad every few miles, it is incredibly important for refueling! So I didn't like that route. We finally decided that the best idea was for me to just run up the closed road to the trail. It's not too steep of a road and more or less, that was the worst of the up. Then I'd see Dad after 5 miles, 3 miles and 4 miles. Add that up and it's about 12 miles. Perfect.

Dad dropped me off at the gate and I headed up. It really wasn't bad at all. The up was broken up with some decent flat (ish - it's all relative) and I was able to run quite a bit of it. I told myself I'd appreciate all the down more if I ran as much of the up as I could muster. It wasn't quite 2.5 miles to the trail where I turned left and headed West (or North to Canada 😜 ). This part of the trail was new to me (or at least after I'd gone a mile or two). I was excited to get to the top of Cougar Crest since I'd never been there from this direction before. I knew I was getting close because I started seeing people who were headed up to Bertha Peak (I guess). There was mostly up to that point but it wasn't that relentless steep stuff that wears on the legs and psyche. It was beautiful trail and I was happy to be there.

At Cougar Crest, I turned right and headed down toward Dad. I had done the math after seeing a trail sign, more or less, and realized that I would be doing more like 13 miles. I was kind of excited that I'd be getting so close to the half marathon distance. Wasn't sure I'd feel like tacking on whatever was necessary at the end but I knew I'd be close so that made me happy.

After I saw Dad at Polique, I headed on to a more familiar trail which I think was my issue. I knew where I was but it seemed like it was 10 times longer than it should have been. Or something. I got inside my head, as they say, and I was basically miserable. I felt fine, run wise but I just wasn't having fun. I can't really explain it any other way. I felt like I was just lumbering along struggling mightily. Turned out I was actually faster in that section than the last time I ran it! So it was all in my mind. It happens.

I was also petrified of my inevitable toe blisters. I had tried moleskin and regular (non-toe) socks for the first time. The only way to figure out a cure is trial and error. Unfortunately until I find the right solution, I know I'm going to end up with some MEAN blisters. When I saw Dad at 3N12 (8.5 miles or so), I took off the moleskin and put on the gooey gunky stuff. In hindsight I can say BAD idea! Perhaps if I'd put on toe socks at the time it might not have been SO bad. But as it was, the next 4.5 miles gave me worse blisters than ever before. It was all downhill so I ran as much as I could but I just had to be careful how my feet landed so as not to hit the toes wrong.

The good news is that the rest of me felt FINE!! I was tired of course. I had started out in earmuffs and gloves, shed them and then reddened them here in the final 4 miles or so. It all kind of depended on which side of the mountain I was one and how much the wind was whipping. Wind can be very cool in the mountains!

Anyway, I was making my way toward Dad at Little Bear Springs where I was stopping. I was pretty sure I'd get to just about 13 miles. My head told me that a half marathon was 13.2 and I didn't think I'd quite get there but who cares - close enough!! I saw Dad and we walked the last .25 to the car together. Which put me at 13.15. I told Dad that was close enough to which he replied, "a half marathon is 13.1". I did it!!!

Last summer, I registered myself for a virtual half marathon through the Stars Hollow Running Club. It was originally "run" LAST winter. So I have awarded myself my medal finally (see pic below). And I have finally stopped beating myself up about my "bad run". Cuz well, I went a long way, and other than the blisters, I felt GREAT after!! And 2 days later I ran almost 2 miles (in the heat) and 2 days after that, I ran 5 (see next post). And I could be at 20+ by the end of the summer!