Sunday, April 29, 2007

What's a run for?

I probably ran too long considering how late I started. I probably ran too far considering how tired I was to begin with. I probably ran too hard considering my knee and hip are a bit stiff, my ingrown toenail is not totally healed and I am less than a week away from my longest race to date. However, this was not a run for time. This was not a run for distance. This was not even a run for any sort of training that I needed to get in. This was, pure and simply, a run for sanity.

Since my Friday afternoon run up Mission Peak, I have spent over 12 hours of this past weekend behind the wheel of a car. Friday night Freddy had a league game up in Oakland which is normally a pretty quick drive, but it was a 7pm game which meant rush hour driving combined with the fact that both the Warriors and the A's had games that evening. Considering all this we got pretty lucky on the way up and only hit normal slow Friday traffic. Our mojo ran out on the way home as a crash which included an overturned vehicle was on 880 south just below the intersection we would be coming off of. Saturday, we had to be up early to drive up to Sacramento where Freddy's team would be playing in the AAU Under-16 regional qualifiers. There's no traffic at 7am Saturday morning, but it is a 2 hour drive nonetheless. It was also a little over 2 hours home. We had to be back up there Sunday morning as well. We could have stayed up there, but Zane needed to stay home Sunday to pack for a business trip and get some work done. So, Sunday morning was another 2 hour drive. So far, it wasn't terrible. About 8 1/2 hours driving, but most of it straight forward and only one major traffic issue to get through. The team did well placing 3rd and beating a very tough team that beat us earlier in the tournament. So, it was time to head back. I needed to drop someone off in Oakland so I planned to head down 80 to 580. Anybody who lives in the Bay Area (or pretty much anyone who had actually paid attention to the news on Sunday) can guess what this meant for me. Had I been paying attention, I would have realized that earlier that day THIS had happened. I could tell the whole story of me not getting the news until too late, of my failed attempt to avoid the traffic by taking city streets along with all the (many, many) other clever people. Suffice it to say that somewhere between 3.5-4 hours after leaving Sacto, I finally arrived home.

Over 12 hours of driving. I thought about it and realized that I could have been at the Grand Canyon after that much driving. My legs were stiff, my back was achy and I was cranky. I needed to go for a run. I told Zane that I needed to go only shortly after I got in the house. She understood. She asked "How long? Or, are you just gonna go?" (She knows me too well). I said that I wouldn't be taking my normal route as I needed a run with no loops. I was going to head out toward Ed Levin and just turnaround when I was "done". I needed to just run to move my body and clear my head.

In the end, it was just under 12 miles and my head was much clearer. This ended my week with a little over 40 miles. A little unplanned taper week as time controlled the distance. My plan to keep at around 60mi/wk was a little off, but not too bad. This would be my last real run before Miwok as I plan to want to keep my mileage around what I have been at and the race is 62. My plan is to do some walking this week in place of my running. Since Freddy has early morning workouts at school this week, it will actually help with two of my goals. I will be getting up much earlier than usually helping to ease the transition to Saturday morning and I will be using the extra hour after dropping him off to walk near my work. I don't like the sluggish feeling my legs get if I make my taper a cliff and do nothing. I also always need to work on my walking especially of I want to complete a 100 miler in the (hopefully not-too-distant) future.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh man, no fun! glad you got to get out and clear your head, tho

Olga said...

Long drives suck!

I read your post on salt choices, and have to say I am sticking with S! myself. i do use NUUN (after all, they are co-sponsors), but since I prefer two bottles one of which has to have calories and one HAS to have pure water, it is hard to decide where to put NUUN. I tried to mix it with carb powder, but I like to go tasteless - and NUUN still has some (though less than I wouldn't stand). I also got splashed by fuzz from it:) that said, I used 2 of the NUUN tablets in Zane Grey, and I will continue to add it on as a supplement to S! and the rest of my "eating habits".

Steve Ansell said...

Angie, yeah, I think I always start to feel "trapped" when I am stuck in traffic. Not fun at all.

Steve Ansell said...

Olga, yes they do! I always carry one bottle with NUUN mix and one with plain water. I think if I needed to get my calories from liquids I might have to reconsider.

Miki said...

Do you guys really like the NUUN? Both times I used it, it worked fine I guess as far as replacement, but it exploded on me each time I had to take a sip. Once, no joke, the pressure pushed the cap out on it's own while the bottle was in my waist pack and I thought a snake was after me. I never used it after that.

Miki said...

Oh, and soo sorry you got caught up in that mess Steve.

Steve Ansell said...

Miki, yes, I have had trouble with exploding NUUN in my waist-pack bottle. Usually it was in the form of a nice streak of liquid sprayed up my back. However, since I run with one handheld bottle and one waist-pack bottle, I only use the NUUN in my handheld. While the tablet is still disolving I have to occasionally suck off some of the gas that is released. (That last sentence didn't sound right)

Miki said...

LOL!

Brad said...

Traffic has not been fun around here in Oakland! Luckily I only have to deal with it for about 5 miles!

Gundy said...

Hope you had a good time at Miwok!

Jonathan