One Long Day

Well, the St George Marathon is about 4 weeks away and I really felt that I needed to get some real distance runs in thee next couple of weeks. So I decided on Sunday, that I would really challenge myself and would try running to school one morning this week and then run home again after school. I had measured the distance before and knew it was around 9 miles one way. Google Earth had the distance at 9.3 miles. I was pumped up and made the decision that Tuesday woul be a good day to do it.

For some reason, I forgot that I had a cold which was draining me of most of my energy and I believe most of my salt store was being blown out of my nose as snot. What made me think that this wouldn't affect me...I don't know.

On Sunday night, I ironed not only my clothes for Monday, but also some clothes for Tuesday, since I wouldn't me carrying them with me on the run. I would take them to school with me on Monday and leave them there for Tuesday. It felt like I was taking a trip somewhere and had to pack things like deodorant and of course, my hair gel. (Since I couldn't go one day without hair gel...Poofy Urmston Hair). I was actually a little excited.

Well on Monday, my cold was still going strong, but I now had clothes waiting for me, and I was bound to do this. I had to do something about the cold though. My Father-in-Law mentioned to me that he had taken the Rite Aid version of Claritin-D, and his sinuses cleared up and he felt great. So after school on monday I was in Rite Aid, and after making sure with my Brother Michael what the difference was between a couple of the different medicines (It's is great to have a Brother that is a Pharmicist), I got some.

The problem with the Calritin-D was that it was Non-Drowsy and it was 24-hour. I was determined to clear my head though, and so I took it telling myself that I would be able to get some good sleep.

The Claritin-D worked great. Exactly how it was supposed to. My nose and sinuses cleared up and I slept great...until about 1:30am. That is when I woke up for the first time...wide awake. The Non-Drowsy part of the meds was kicking in and this began a long night of several 1/2 hour naps, mixed with several short periods of total alertness. It was kind of a wierd sleep, because any other night I would have been totally upset about all the waking up, but for some reason I didn;t mind it too much. I actually think a lot of it was anxiety about my journey the next morning.

Well the alarm went off at 5:am and I was out of bed at 5:15. My plan was to be on the road at 5:30, hoping to arrive at school between 6:40 and 6:50. In my haste to get out the door, I failed to apply the much needed vaseline and nipple band aides. This was a mistake not realized until the afternoon shower. Ouch.

Out the door at 5:31, I was feeling great. I hadn't run for a few days and my legs were feeling good. I felt llike I could go hard, but I new I had a long way to go, and so I paced myself. I will admit, as I ran down Brimhall Rd, I questioned whether this was a good choice. I should have listened.

The 9.3 mile run to school actually went really good. I ran down Gosford Rd. to Stockdale Hwy, then took Stockdale (Which in true Bakersfield street naming fashion turns into Brundage for no good reason) all the way to Mt Vernon, where my school is located. I had never ran this route before and so there were lots of new things to see.

I was surprised to see so many cars out at 5:30 in the morning. I always like to think to myself whil running that the people in the cars are looking at me and are so impressed with my form and graceful gait. While in reality, they are probably thinking why I am running so slow.

About the time I got to California Ave (at the intersection where it mysterioulsy, in classic Bakersfield street naming fashion, turns into New Stine) my stomach began to hurt a bit. This is a bad sign and I began thinking about what fast food joints would be open this early if I needed to really go. I knew there had to be some places along the way, and kept running. I passed a McDonald's and a Burger King, but the hurt had gone away a bit and so i kept going.

One of the worries I had (and Jill had too I am sure), is that at some point on my run, the neighborhoods would begin to turn a bit more...well, let's just say more shootings take place towards the end of my run then at the beginning. Once I passed Chester Ave and H Street, I began to really become aware of where I was. Oddly, at this point of the run, I really was able to pick up the pace. It felt as though I could really go. I'm sure that had nothing to do with the various Pitt Bulls and other guard dogs wanting to eat me through their fences.

By the time I got to this part of my morning run, the sun was clearing the mountains, and it looked as though I was going to get to school with enough time to dress and prepare my classroom for my students. Then my stomach started hurting again, and I knew this time it wasn't just going to pass...I was going to have to take a pit stop.

On the Southeast corner of Union and Brundage there is a Jack in the Box/Gas Station combo store. I knew they had a bathroom, from the various times I stopped in there after school to get a Cookies and Cream shake. As I ran accross the street, I knew that I was going to make it, and so my body naturally began readying itself...if you know what i am talking about. I entered the store and turned toward the bathrooms, only to see yellow caution tape on the front of the mens bathroom. Panick. Luckily they had turned the womens bathroom into a co-ed and put a lock on the door. I was able to take care of business, exited right passed the Jehova Witnesses (Which I thought was interesting to see them out so early) and was back on the road.

I made it to school with time to spare. It took right aroung 1 hour 20 minutes. I was hoping to be able to just sneek in without being seen, but as i opened my classroom door, I realized the Custodian was vacuuming my room. She looked at me a little funny, and I just said hello, got my clothes i left from the day before and walked out again.

Since our school does not have any PE classes or athletic teams to warrant showers, I decided I would wash up in one of the single bathrooms that luckily has a lock on it. Lucky for anyone who might have walked in on me, because I'm sure they wouldn't have wanted to start their dayseeing what i was doing. Lets just say, I got cleaned up, deodorized, and threw some gel into my hair ready to begin class.

I was feeling great about my run until about an hour into class. I think the Claritin-D was starting to wear off and my body began to not feel so well.. I got real blurry eyed and my nose started up again. I also began to feel exhausted. About this time, I really started to doubt my run home. I needed food, but I had no cash (Something I forgot to plan for). Finally I came up with a few dollars, had ate a spicy chicken wrap from the snackbar. It was good, but i'm not sure if that was waht i needed at the time. With lunch, I took another Pill, in hopes that I would be feeling better by the time school was out.

I did feel better by the time school was out, but i knew that the run home was going to be a struggle. As I look back now, there were a few things that i overlooked as I prepared for this run. One thing was the fact that I was going to need to eat during the day. I didn't have any cash and so i did not eat enough. The other things I overloked was the weather forcast. That morning, it was nice and cool as i ran to school, but it had warmed up a bit as the day went on and by the time i headed home at 3:30pm it was pushing 100 degrees. This was not something I should have overlooked.

About two miles into the run, I had to stop and walk. This is not good, because mentally when you let yourself stop once, it gets easier and easier to stop again. This is how my run home went. Except the running parts became shorter and shorter. I made a return visit to the Jack in the Box and filled up my water bottle with some Gatorade, but Gatorade is not miracle juice. I was in bad shape. My feet felt like they were burning and I could begin to see to salt buildup on my shorts as my sweat began to evaporate.

This is not a good sign. A few weeks before, a Football player at Bakersfield Christian High School died from lack of salt and exposure to the heat while practicing. My thoughts took me many bad places and so I allowed myself to walk more and more.

While struggling down Brundage, I decided that I would tke another way home. Two reasons for this. First, my body was feeling the heat from the sun bad. My shoes felt like they were going to melt off my feet and I began to stop sweating. The second reason was because i knew that Jill would be taking the girls to Dance Practice at 4:30, and if I hurried, I might be able to cut her off and get a ride home. (I actually had the thought that I would be weak if I got a ride, but I then thought i could live with that) So, I made my way up towards California Ave. The bit of shade i got was nice, but not nice enough. the farther i went, the more I hurt. Everytime I stoped, the harder it got to start again.

At about 4:20 I was at the corner of California and Oak. To get to Truxton (This is where I was going to be able to cut Jill off) you have to go up and over some train tracks and I knew this would be bad. But i also knew that I really wanted a ride home, so I ran up and over the tracks hoping that Jill was running a little late to dance. I ended up on the North-West corner of Oak and Truxton because I couldn't cross on the South side. As I got to the West side, I scanned the cars at the stop light, and I couldn't believe it, but there was Jill. It was perfect timing. I silently congratulated myself for actually pulling this off and realized that a minute sooner or a minute later would have been too late. However, while I silently congratulated myself, I missed my one opportunity to actually get Jill's attention. Standing there, half dead (it seemed), I waved my arms just hoping she, or one of the kids, would see me. And as I sttod there, it became clear that she was not going to look my way. The light turned green and off she drove , destroying my hopes of a ride, and bringing to light the fact that I would now have to make it the next three miles to home on my own. (Why did I not run out into the middle of the road just jump into the car?)

The next three miles were horribly painfull. I soaked myself with water at Yokuts Park, but I was so drained by this time, that nothing was going to help me. I jogged, but mostly walked, my way down the bike path towards home. This is when my stomach started hurting again. However, this time it was not going away. Everytime I tried to run, it got worse. This was not good. I did not want to soil myself right there on the bike path, so I walked alot while squeezing. That morning it ook me 1 hour 20 minutes to get from my house to school. From the time I saw Jill to the time I finally got got (About 4 miles) a little over an hour.

I did make it home though...without soiling myself. I was tired and extremely sore. I had stopped sweating along the way and my calves began to cramp towards the end. I believe there was more salt on my shorts than I had in my body. I was in bad shape.

Total for the day, I had ran close to 20 miles. The route I took home was actually a bit longer than the route I took to school. I was beat, and I don't think I could have gone another 6.2 if I needed to. The marathon is four weeks away...hopefully I will be ready.

Nate