Easy run around the grove. Foot still not too bad. I don't feel any distinct pain, just slightly different sensation in my left foot than in my right. I think I'll hold off on making an appointment with the podiatrist.
I got about 1300m for this loop, meaning I did about a 3 mile run.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3841976
Monday, June 28, 2010 (4xgrove)
Saturday, June 26 2010 (24 minutes)
Four grove loops. I didn't get the actual time because I got a call on the last loop telling me I had to go look for some missing kids, and was too distracted to notice the exact time on my watch when I stopped running.
Foot felt good.
Friday, June 25 2010 (17 minutes)
Three laps of the grove in the morning. I started up with a ten minute run a week and a half ago and have built up to this. I'm still unsure what to make of my foot, but it doesn't seem to be noticeably worsening, so I'm going to hold off on the podiatrist for now.
My runs feel awkward because I'm used to being in much better shape, but I'm still enjoying them.
Day 6: Oceano to Pasadena
After a very long day, I'm done the trip and am just about to fall asleep on the couch at Alpine.
Day 5: San Simeon to Oceano
begnning this mrning, there was a profusiin of bug seemingly inten on ying into my eyeballs, or, from their poit of view, intent on not getting out of the way as my eyeballs smacked into them. Consequetnly, I stopped at Cayucas, 220 miles from LA byroute 1, for some sunglasses, food, water, and pooping. They were all quite satiafactory. The woman who soldme the sunglasses asked where I was going, then wanted to know if I would make it to LA before dark.
I followed the guidebook's suggested route today. It worked well, and I had a nice, easy ride. The wind was mostly at my back. I occassionally saw riders coming the other way, looking like they were working hard, just because the wi d was blasting into them on flat road.
The scenery was pretty dull compared to what I've been trough so far, but I was happy not to be exhAusted all day. Tomorrow is longer And hillier, but it marks a milestone in that it goesover the place where I crashed on my previous attempt to bike the coast. Assuming I survive, I'll have biked the entire way from SF to LA, just not all at once.
I'm staying at a hiker/biker campground tonight, and plan to get an early start tomorrow morning.
Day 4: Somewhere south of Big Sur to San Simeon
It's been rough again since my last, semi-euphoric update. After leaving Carmel, I went looking for a campsite 30 miles south. I never found it, and wasn't ready for the long hills in that section of road. I wound up riding maybe 40 miles before stopping because it was too dark to continue safely. I slept on a dirt trail by the side of the road. It was uncomfortable, and I only got a little sleep.
The next morning I was feeling down again. I had a rough 40 miles on the hills still ahead of me. Fortunately I got started early in the morning and there wasn't much traffic, which was especially important since there was a lot of road work going on.
The ride was pretty uneventful. The scenery was nice for the first 40 miles. The remainder of the ride into San Simeon was preety easy riding. I'm very saddle sore again, though, and my lower back is starting to bother me. My legs are pretty much fried. The motel roomseemed to improve my attitude a bunch last time, so I got another one tonight.
I'm matched right up with the guidebook now, and it's directions are easy to follow since there are mile markers by the side of the road and the. Book indicates what mile marker each stop is at. If I simply follow the book from here on out, I'd be at Leo carillo campground, not fAr from LA, in four days. It looks like there is only one more day with the rough hills I've had over the last 24 hours. Tomorrow is an easy day, so after that ill see how I feel and think about a schedule for the rest of the trip.
Day 3: Watsonville to Dr. Shapiro's hummingbird camp
I'm writing today's post preemptively because I don't expect there to be an electrical outlet at the secret campsite Ian told me about by email earlier today. In fact, at the moment I'm enduring the crappiest coffee shop in all of Carmel because was the only place I found a socket.
One of the high points of the day was when I woke up and squeezed my butt cheeks together. The were mch less sore than they had been ten hours ago as I went to sleep. I was able to join up with the path suggested by "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" early on. That was good to know that route I was on should actually work. Right now I'm navigating by switching between the guide book and Google maps, both on the iPhone. The Kindle version of the guidebook as okay as long as you are simply progressing serially, but flipping back and forth is slow, and the electronic book has 3000 pages, making jumping around difficult. Overall, this is much better than a compass and Rand McNally road map.
Today's ride has been much better than yesterday. I'm still saddle sore, but my legs feel much better and I'm enjoying the trip more. When I saw a sign on the beach that said, "Clean up after dog", I thought, "but it's not even my dog!" and laughed at how funny I am for the next two miles, whereas yesterday I would just have ignored it.
I took a scenic route through Monterey because the guide book said to, but it was a very beautiful ride along the coast with beaches, se lions, waves crashing dramatically against the rocks, etc.
The ride has been undulating, but nothing like the hill yesterday.
Day 2: Sunnyvale to Watsonville
I headed out around 9am, going south to Los Gatos, then cutting east towards the 101 in hopes of finding a way around the daunting hills ahead of me.
I eventually went over the hills on Hecker Pass, a single climb to 1300 feet. Coming down from there I arrived in Watsonville and got a motel room.
I'm feeling sore and exhausted. I was already feeling irritated and unmotivated by 11:30 this morning, when I stopped to buy some cherries by the side of the road. An hour-long break and some food improved me significantly. I think I have not been eating enough so far
my lower back is okay, but my butt is viciously sore, and my quads are sore, too. I regret not bothering to get into better shape before beginning. I thnk the thing to do now is to take my time, traveling shorter distances for the next few days.
I road 60 or 65 miles today due to my roundabout route, but according to Google maps it is only 90 miles from here to Berkeley. If I try to ride 70 or 80 miles a day for the rest of he trip, I think I could manage, but I'd be thinking just about how tired I am and how far I have to go the entire time. Hopefully with a coupleof shorter days I can adapt to the exerciseand enjoy the trip some more.
Today wasn't especially scenic. Most of the land I passed through was agriultural. I did go through the wine country Shelley tells me was featured in Sideways. I would have stopped at a couple wineries if I were in a better mood. I haven't been to one before. That's the sort of thin I'm talking about with slowing down and enjoying myself some more.
I'm typing these posts out from my iPhone, so there will doubtless be some mistakes I will not bother to correct, and they will be briefer than if I had a keyboard.
Day One: Berkeley to Sunnyvale
I spent the morning packing intermittently between playing with little strips of paper. In the afternoon I took a hike with Shelley, so I only got started riding around 5:30. I had an uneventful ride to Sunnyvale. There was lots of traffic, stop lights, wind, and a fence in the way. Other than that it was good, but I haven't been riding much and am not in good shape. About fifty miles total, taking about four hours all told.
Tomorrow I planon going down to the beach, hopefully avoiding large mountains. Small mountains are not an issue because small mountains are an oxymoron and do not exist.
May 15, 16, 2010 (Pac 10 Champs)
I've been sick for the last week or so, but got back to exercising some this weekend. I did 1 hour on the stationary each day.
This weekend I watched the Pac-10 champs at Cal. I missed the marquee event (men's 1500), but the rest of the meet was very good.
The best story of meet was actually the men's long jump. I was standing right in front of it, but not knowing much about long jump I wasn't paying much attention until they announced that Ashton Eaton was passing his jump, and was currently in the lead. Then a USC jumper got a few inches past his mark on the next round, and Eaton had a sloppy-looking jump that did not improve his mark. In the last round there were no improvements until the last jump, and it was Eaton. Now I stopped to really pay attention, since one of the best athletes in track and field at the moment was standing right across the track from me trying to win the event on his last jump. He ran down and had a really big-looking jump, but I heard one of the Oregon coaches (I had unintentionally picked a spot right next to where Oregon was hanging out) say it was 7.75, an improvement, but too short to beat the 7.80 that was leading. Eaton himself was staring anxiously over the official's shoulder as he measured the jump. There was a moment of tension, and then Eaton leaped up in the air pumping his fist, and they announced 7.81. Even I broke into a smile seeing that.
The distance on the day was Chris Derrick and Luke Puskedra in the 10,000. The whole field ran 71/72 until Derrick took the lead and started pushing it with 6 to go. It quickly went down to 5 guys, then to 4 with a mile to go. Puskedra was following behind three Stanford guys (Derrick, Elliot Heath, Jake Riley). With 400 to go Puskedra moved to the front, but it wasn't a very serious challenge and Derrick passed him back easily on the back stretch, as did Heath. Riley came past him with 200 to go, and when the Stanford guys realized they were clear for 1-2-3 they pretty much cross together in 29:10 with Puskedra a few seconds back. The women's race wasn't very interesting - Blood waited behind the other top runners until 2 to go and won easily.
The second day I watched with Ryan. Eaton won the high hurdles easy before taking second in the 100. An Oregon woman ran sub 51 in the 400, and the men's 400H was very fast (2 under 49, I think). The 800 was a fairly easy win for Wheating, who started moving up on the back stretch of the second lap, but didn't take the lead until 100 to go, but moved away from the field pretty strongly on the homestretch. The women's 5000 was a really tight race. The early pace was not fast, but they started flying in the second half. Blood stayed at the back of the lead pack, and didn't cover every move immediately. Going into the last lap she was about 7m back of the leader (whose name I forget), who was still looking good in front. Blood made it up to come up on her shoulder entering homestretch, but they battled all the way to the line before Blood narrowly won. The men's 5000 was pretty much a repeat of the 10,000, except AJ Acosta and Michael Coe were in there. When the same 3 Stanford guys moved in the same way, Acosta hung on to take third in a hard, fast race, beating out Riley, and Puskedra again faded (low 13:40's for Derrick to win, and everyone was doubling).
The men's 4x400 was good too, until the USC stud anchor came from behind to win it over Arizona State.
Definitely fun to watch some good track again.
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